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What Is It You Really Want? By Jacqueline Floyd Contests--are they worth the time, trouble and expense? Based on my reputation as a recovering Contest Junkie, I have some observations to make on that subject. The real question is--what do you want to get out of the experience? Do you want impartial feedback on a work in progress? Let’s say that you’ve started a new project. Your mother loves it. But one of your critique partners thinks the conflict needs work, another thinks the characterization is weak, still another thinks you should dump the whole project. Or on the brighter side, maybe everyone who reads it thinks that it’s oh, so fabulous, but you have a nagging feeling there’s a plot or characterization problem you haven’t yet identified. What’s a writer to do? Enter a contest with a good reputation for solid judging comments. I recommend one that will give you three judges in the first round, but those are getting harder to find. One of the judges might make the perfect suggestion that you intuitively recognize will strengthen the manuscript and give it just the right punch. Two others might agree with the critique partner who believes your conflict could use some tweaking. Now, you it’s time to give the problem a little more serious consideration. And if all three judges are in agreement that a particular area needs work, sad to say, but the majority rules here. Start accepting the fact that they’re probably right, and you, gasp, might just possibly be wrong. Do you want the validation of your peers? Everyone needs a pat on the back once in a while. If you’re tired of getting beat up by rejection letters, sometimes a contest can be the place to get that emotional boost you need to keep going. I have to admit, I love seeing my name listed in RWR as a contest finalist. When you’re unpublished, that’s one of the best ways to get your name out there. I’m amazed by how many people around RWA recognize my name just from my contest entries. Plus, contest placements are a great thing to mention in cover letters to agent and editors. And remember, even if you don’t score well enough to place in the final round, most contests these days encourage their judges to praise the strong points as well as pointing out the flaws. Contests are one of the few places you can go to find out what you’re doing right, not just what you’re doing wrong. Do you want the notice of that one particular agent or editor? You’ve worked really hard on a manuscript and you think you’ve got a project that has a real shot at publication. Because the slush piles are so high, you might have to wait three to six months for an agent to look at your work, and six months to a year – or longer – for an editor to get around to finding your work in the stack of submissions sitting on her desk. Check the info provided in the RWR to see what agents and editors are judging which contests, then enter the ones that are using the agents or editors you’re dying to impress. Editors and agents have been known to pick up authors based on contest entries they’ve volunteered to read. While I’ve heard some agents and editors say contest wins and placements don’t influence them when reading a query letter, they sure don’t hurt. And there are those who do say the mention of contests makes a positive impression of your work before reading your submission. Do you want to win contests or do you want to sell your book? Oddly enough, sometimes the line gets blurred. There are many ways in which a contest can benefit you, but if your real goal is to sell a book, don’t get so focused on submitting contest entries and so wrapped up on those results that you lose sight of what you really want. Always remember that contests are a means to an end. They are not the Holy Grail. Publication is the goal. Contests are only one of the ways to go about achieving the goal. I encourage you to enter one today. Good luck and good writing. Please note: In the upcoming months, I’ll address many of these individual issues at more length. If you have a particular topic or question you’d like to have answered or discussed, please email me. I’ll be happy to include the topic in a column or answer you personally with an email.
Jacqueline Floyd has been a member of RWA and OVRWA since 1995. She’s been a contest finalist in more than a long list of RWA chapter contests as well as a three time finalist in the Golden Heart contest. Her manuscript Babe in the Woods won in the Single Title category in 2001, and Cursed by Love won in Long Contemporary in 2004. Her short contemporary entry, Meet Your Mate, was also a finalist in 2001. |
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