Is it really worth to participate in Writing Contests? For every offer I read, hear or get in person I always ask myself “who benefits?” and so I study always the “fine print”. Here is an essay contest as example:
“An Essay Contest, 6 Winners Get Manuscript Critiques:
Pick one of the following stories from Book Wish Foundation’s new book, What You Wish For, and write an essay of no more than 500 words about how the wishes in the story relate to the Darfur refugees in eastern Chad. The stories were contributed for free by their authors so we could use the book’s proceeds to develop libraries in Darfur refugee camps. Essays will be judged on style, creativity, understanding of the story, and understanding of the refugees. (1)
If you win, either the story’s author or the author’s literary agent will provide a one-page critique of the first 50 pages of a middle grade or young adult manuscript of your choosing. You will have six months to submit your manuscript and the agent or author will have six months from submission to provide the critique. Stories you may write about:
- “The Protectionist,” by Meg Cabot.
- “Pearl’s Fateful Wish,” by Jeanne DuPrau.
- “Nell,” by Karen Hesse.
- “The Lost Art of Letter Writing,” by Ann M. Martin.
- “The Rules for Wishing,” by Francisco X. Stork..
- “The Stepsister,” by Cynthia Voigt.
You may submit essays about more than one story for a chance to win more than one critique (2). Essays and winners’ manuscripts must be written in English. To Enter:
Essays must be emailed to contest at …. no later than February 1, 2012, either pasted into the body of the email or attached as a Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or PDF file. Essays must include the name and email address of the entrant. Book Wish Foundation staff will judge the initial round of the contest and recommend finalists to the agents or authors, who will select the winners. Winners will be notified by email and announced on bookwish.org on or about March 1, 2012. Winners’ manuscripts must be received by September 1, 2012. Manuscript critiques will be sent to winners within six months of receipt.
Essays may be published on bookwish.org (3). By submitting an essay, you grant to Book Wish Foundation the right to edit, publish, copy, display, and otherwise use your essay, and to further use your name, likeness, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, without further compensation or permission (4), except where prohibited by law. The preceding applies to the contest essays, not winners’ manuscripts. Winners retain all rights to the manuscripts they submit for critique.(5)”
My conclusions when reading this “offer”:
(1) To understand the story and to understand refugee camps you will have to BUY the book, it is not easily available in libraries or bookstores.
(2) If you really want a good chance to win, you might have to write several essays – this way “donating” all your essays that will not be considered a winner.
(3) Essays may be published on bookwish.org. You can look at it as a donation or a way to get your name out (also bookwish.org is not a popular website per se) but it is not given that you have a link to your authors website.
(4) You give them permission to alter, publish, copy the essay and use your name in ads and PR WITHOUT COMPENSATION.
(5) Only winners retain all rights to their manuscript – also it does not specify if they are compensated in any way other then the critique.
A really clever roguish PR trick to get free content – for the agency – not for the authors. What is really in for you as an author? Or am I too critical? Do you partizipate in writing contests, no matter how benefitial it is for the other party and no matter if they profit from your writing without compensatingyou?