This year, my new year's resolution was to enter more contests, and I am happy to say that so far I've followed through with gusto. I have won a DVD of the film "The Town" in a giveaway from an entertainment website. I am in a three-way battle for fitness supremacy in my office weight loss contest. I put a great deal of thought into choosing dates and times in two separate baby pools. Unfortunately, I haven't heard any news on the sweepstakes for the sapphire and diamond earrings or the fabulous Australian getaway I entered, but I knew I wasn't going to win eveything I tried for. The point of the resolution was just to remember that I'd never win anything if I didn't give it a shot.
But it's easy to submit your email address to an online sweepstakes, or speed dial a radio station for concert tickets (as long as you're not driving, of course) or throw a few bucks into a baby pool. It only takes a minute of your time. And if you've been planning on shedding a few pounds anyway, why not engage in some friendly competition with your coworkers and take your chances on earning a little cash incentive for your efforts? I entered all of these contests knowing there was minimal risk involved. But that is not true of all competitions, which is why there is one type of contest I have yet to enter this year- a writing contest.
There are three main incentives for writers to enter contests: 1) for a chance to have some fun practicing their craft 2) for exposure to new audiences and/or potential publishers 3) for money, something that most inspiring writers could always use a little bit more of. At first glance, competing for The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award seems like it would provide all three. It would be fun to polish up a manuscript that's been collecting virtual dust on my hard drive and compete in something that's as close as we're likely ever going to get to having a literary equivalent of American Idol (which you undoubtedly would've seen me audition for had I been born a singer instead of a writer). Making it through to even the second round would be a great source of pride and exposure to the publishing world. And I could think of about thirty ways to spend that $15,000 advance for the winner in less than thirty seconds.
Whenever I enter any type of contest, I have to ask myself one question: what do I have to lose? Unfortunately, there's a long list of potential answers for this contest. Even worse, the answers include "my prospects for a long term career as a novelist" and "possibly lots and lots of money". This is the fourth year Amazon has held this contest, and none of the prior winners have exactly rocketed to the top of the bestseller list, leaving questions of whether Amazon and the publisher (Penguin) are truly committed to promoting the winning novels, and whether or not readers are willing to read a book selected for publishing in such an unusual manner. And in the world of publishing, it's much harder to get published a second time when your first novel flopped than it is to get published the first time as an unknown. Also, there's the matter of that publishing contract the winner has to sign without the guidance of a trusted literary agent or legal representative. A good literary agent is skilled in negotiating the best possible deal for their clients. The winner of the Amazon contest doesn't get to negotiate any terms for their publication contract. So common sense would tell you that this contract may not be the best deal a writer could get for their work. Common sense would tell you that there's too much to lose here.
The carrot of publication is an extremely tempting one for most writers. With this contest, Amazon is dangling that carrot right in front of our faces. But for those of us who have dreamed of publication for many years, I wonder if Amazon is counting on our hunger to cause us to hallucinate that it's a big slab of chocolate cheesecake that they're offering us instead of a plain old raw, unpeeled carrot- maybe even a baby carrot. (Sorry for the food metaphors- remember, I am in a weight loss contest right now!) I'm not the type of dieter who would eat a carrot and try to convince myself it tastes as good as that cheesecake. So I don't want to be the type of writer who accepts a questionable deal and lets myself believe I'm on the path to literary superstardom.
Luckily, there are plenty of other writing contests out there that offer more modest prizes, but also more modest risks. Addison posted a link to one the other day that I am very interested in entering. The prize may not be that decadant slice of cheesecake, but it's better than that trickster carrot, too. Entering that contest would be more akin to treating myself to a fat free vanilla frozen yogurt topped with fresh strawberries- a sweet reward that isn't going to undo all my hard work at the gym.
What are your thoughts on writing contests? Do you think I'm making a mistake not entering the Amazon contest? What have your experiences been with putting your work out there in pursuit of a prize? Feel free to share in the comments section.
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