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Let me preface this post by saying that I have nothing against writing contests, per se. Contests are a great way for an author to get feedback on their writing from both fellow authors and agents/editors for a (usually) small fee. If you are lucky enough to place, you can then refer to yourself as an Award Winning Writer and bask in the glory the title brings. I had to enter a few, both as contestant and judge, to find out they just don’t work for me.
I entered three contests, all within a few months of each other. Two were easy to enter with electronic submission of both my entry and the contest fee. The third contest required multiple hard copies of the entry and fee payment was by check only; this seemed like a lot of trouble, but it was a Big Name Contest, so I took the plunge. The Big Name Contest was cancelled due to a lack of entries – surprise, surprise! Not. No big deal. I still had two contests left.
My entry was fantasy romance, one of the smaller romance sub-genres; however, each of the two remaining contests had categories that encompassed fantasy romance, so I was good to go. Or was I? Not one, but BOTH of the remaining contests changed categories – after submissions started – removing the category that encompassed fantasy romance; neither the contestants nor judges were notified of the change. This left my medieval-setting, non-earth-world entry without a home. Out of six judges (three per contest), only ONE understood that my entry was fantasy; each of the others commented (frequently) that I had entered the wrong category – I should have entered the Historical category. Um, no, I shouldn’t have; my entry was in no way historical. I also got points removed from my score for being in the “wrong” category. *sigh* Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a case of sour grapes for getting poor scores. I was actually very pleased with my scores, yet disappointed that they might have been better if not for the category confusion. One judge went on and on about how she couldn’t get into the story because she didn’t know when it took place, she couldn’t connect with the heroine because she didn’t know when the story took place. Double sigh. However, she finished her critique by saying she loved my voice and would read anything I wrote; that meant a lot to me.
Of all of the contests I’ve seen, only a couple have actually provided training for their judges. Writers, in general, are an insecure bunch and putting your work out there for critique by strangers is unnerving at best. Add to that the dynamic that those reviewing the work may not know how to provide a constructive critique. None of my judges were rude but several said they really liked my story but it would be better if I just rewrote it the way they would have written it. No, it wouldn’t. If I did those things it wouldn’t be my story any more, it would be theirs. There are plenty of horror stories out there about contestants being told they should “never write again” by a judge that was out of his/her element. Just because a judge doesn’t like erotica, or inspirational romance, or whatever doesn’t give them the right to crush the soul of someone who writes it. Bad judge, no cookie.
That said, judging isn’t easy. In my one tenure as judge, I had two entries to critique: one was flawlessly written, the other was not; it was full of typos and poor grammar. I labored over the second entry trying to provide constructive criticism – and emphasize why it’s important to proofread your entry before submission. Later, I learned that the second entry was submitted by a published author. To be honest, I really felt kind of gypped that I poured so much effort into critiquing a sloppy entry by someone who should have known better. However, I was apparently the only one that felt that way – the poorly written entry finished in the top three in its category.
I’m a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and as such, have discovered another trend I find greatly disturbing. RWA’s RITA and Golden Heart contests are Really Big Deals in the romance world. It bothers me that some of the authors entrusted with judging will malign the entries on various social media outlets such as Twitter. I haven’t seen anyone go so far as to call out an author or entry by name (thank goodness), but I still think it is both wrong and very unprofessional to go on social media and whine and complain about the quality of the entries. In my opinion, anyone caught doing this should be banned from judging in the future. It is for this reason that I do not plan to ever enter one of these contests, no matter how prestigious they may be. I don’t want to wonder if the work I have poured my heart and soul into is the one being dissed on social media by a thoughtless judge.
However, the biggest reason I no longer enter contests is that all of the feedback causes me to lose my voice. I actually like my voice but, post-contest, I struggle to write at all. Would a judge like this? What would they think of that? What would they suggest I change? That way lies writerly madness. I’ll just stick to feedback from beta readers and editors that get me and my voice. I may never be able to call myself an award winning author, but that’s all right – I’ll at least remain sane.
Do contests work for you? Why or why not?
I’ve only entered one contest. It was one in which we were provided with a topic and requirements. Mine was that it had to include a detective, romance and a threat to the main character. I wrote a story about an undercover detective who has infiltrated a mafia organization and risen to the level of the primary guard of the head of the family. The romance was that the main character was involved with the boss’ daughter. The threat was whether or not the main character would be caught as a detective or for dating the daughter; It was for dating the boss’ daughter — and the main character’s life was genuinely in danger for a while. I got points for creativity and the overall story; however, I wasn’t selected to move forward because they didn’t feel that the story met the criteria and could have been more descriptive in a couple of areas. I had 2000 words. It’s hard to tell a super-descriptive story in that short length. I’m proud of the work as it was written, but I haven’t considered entering any contests since then.
I definitely feel your pain!
I’ve entered a couple contests and luckily never ran into any problems like you’ve had. I can see why you’d be frustrated. Not being able to have your book properly categorized makes moving forward difficult!
I’m glad that you have had better luck with contests. I was flabbergasted that both contests had the same problem!
Early on, I entered contests simply to get feedback. I got some great feedback, but I also got the category shuffle with the resulting “This is not a Regency inspirational”-type comments (I write historical erotic romance and always choose the erotic romance category; I’m usually switched to historical and if the judge does not know to expect sex, then, well, um, surprise!).
Re: the RITAs: we’re not supposed to comment on the books we are reading as judges. It’s against the rules. That said, I did tweet that I loved one of the books (unnamed) and was annoyed that my doggy bag leaked lamb stew on it, so that book is no longer a keeper! That is as far as I’ll go. Author bashing is a professional no-no; dish in private with close friends if you need to! Plus quality of writing issues can be problems associated with the publisher and not the writer, i.e., quality of content editing, proofreading, contracted story requirements, etc.
I’m still a “new” writer, so I’ll continue to do a few choice contests for published authors simply to get my name out there to my colleagues.
Surprise, indeed! LOL!
I’ve seen several RITA judges tweet about how excited they are to have received their books and how much they are enjoying reading them. I have a problem with the tweets such as the one that said “these characters are too stupid to live, much less win a major award.” Of course, this individual didn’t seem to have anything nice to say about any of the books she received.
I may some day decide to try some different contests. I write in several genres, so I may choose an entry that isn’t as likely to be mis-categorized.
Thanks for stopping by!
I entered one contest. It was a ” big deal science fiction” contest. I got an honorable mention and was told that my story was too heavy on the message. That was twenty years ago. The reason I entered was for the feedback, but that was minimal and pretty much unhelpful.
I have since written a lot and taught a good deal and I think a good writers group is a better place to get my need for feedback met. Classes are good too, especially when students are trained to give effective feedback. That is an art in itself.
I think effective feedback is key. In my opinion, all contests should provide training for their judges. As you found, much of the feedback isn’t really helpful.
I have entered a handful of RWA contests and have been frustrated with the quality of judging. In one contest, I never received one of the judges feedback or scores even though I was promised it was coming soon. When I have entered in the YA category, the judges are unfamiliar with YA. And more often then not, the judges in the chapter contests are unpublished. I am a published author and it is frustrating to get comments from judges who do not understand basic craft such as what is a setting. My feedback often swings wildly from one judge saying things such as she loved the secondary characters to another saying they were unnecessary. I wish RWA chapters did a little better either training judges or insisting they be published. One of my worst experiences was a contest where the entry had been previously critiqued by a former Harlequin editor and come within a point of finaling in a different chapter contest. I entered it, thinking it would do well. and received some of the lowest scores I have ever received.
I agree. I think as a minimum, the judges for all RWA contests should be trained and familiar with the category they are judging.