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Appeared in the Romance Writers Report, 2004...
"Ten Ways to Have A Lousy Chapter Contest
Experience"
Warning Signs for the Unpublished Contest, its Coordinator AND Entrants
Dianne Drake
©2004
Chapter contests - big money for the chapters,
big opportunities for unpublished entrants. Right now, RWA chapters
sponsor 108 contests, and that changes all the time.
So what's the lure of a chapter contest? For an aspiring author,
it's feedback from peers, trophies, exposure to editors and agents
and ultimately the hope of being published. "We look at judging
a contest as another way of reading submissions, except contest
entries are often of a higher level of quality," says Michael
Psaltis, agent with Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. "It is
common for a writer's career to be launched by winning certain contests."
Bottom line - chapter contests are a vehicle to promote a writing
career. So the rest should be simple. Right? The entrant picks the
best contests to achieve his/her personal writing goals, and the
contests are conducted in a manner that supports those goals.
So why all the contest fussing? And in case you haven't been listening,
there's a lot of it out there.
The answer is simple. Somewhere in the contest process expectations
aren't being met. Naturally, when you drop that entry, plus the
check, in the mail, you don't do so with the expectation of losing.
Somebody has to lose, though. That's a fact of the contest life.
It's also a fact of the publishing life. Even so, all those entries
go out with that spark of hope that this could be the winner, that
a judge will read it, think it's brilliant, and slide it on into
a final round where an editor or agent will take a look. (COORDINATOR
HINT: secure your editor/agent judges early - 6 months is not out
of the question - and promote them well in advance. Smart entrants
plan their contest entries early and search out the contests they'll
enter according to the final judges.) Then . . . Ta dah! Accepted,
published and your career is happening. Sound far-fetched? Don't
kid yourself. Says Cynthia Rutledge, (Love Enough for
Two, Love Inspired, 8/04), "I was published as a direct result
of a contest win in 1998. I've since sold a total of eleven books."
With three books under her belt so far, Patricia Frances Rowell,
(A Scandalous Situation, Harlequin Historicals, 8/04), was
first published with a contest final, but it wasn't a first-place
win. "I sold it as a direct result of sending a proposal with my
thank-you letter to the editor when I placed third."
According to Kim Nadelson, Editor, Harlequin Intrigue, "Getting
an aspiring author's name out there in the publishing industry is
always a plus, and contests provide a good training ground for polishing
and honing writing skills. Additionally, there's always the hope
that entrants will strike the interest in a contest judge/editor
who is on the lookout for bright new voices." That's the best of
the best in contest situations. "The upside of contests for many
entrants is the possibility of having an editor or agent review
your entry. That could lead to either an offer of representation
and/or a sale," says agent Paige Wheeler, Creative Media
Agency, Inc. "However, contests also have a number of downsides.
They can be expensive to enter; the feedback could vary from excellent
to horrible; the entrant could be so focused on winning contests
that she is not concentrating on submitting the manuscript to editors/agents."
Nobody enters a contest to lose it, and no chapter puts on a contest
with the goal of making it bad. But some contests are a bad experience
for some entrants. For the entrant, it's a wound-licking, walk-away
situation because there are other contests to enter. For the contest,
though, word of the good, the bad and especially the ugly has a
way of getting out there, and the bad and ugly can certainly put
a major crimp in a chapter's financial resources if its contest
drives entrants away. More than that, the publishing industry is
tight. Editors and agents don't have a lot of time to judge contests,
and if they know they're being asked to judge a dog, they're not
going to do it. Simple as that. Why judge one with a bad reputation
when there's something better out there? And don't think for a moment
that editors and agents aren't contest-savvy. Says Paige Wheeler,
"I'm more inclined to say "yes" to a well-known and respected contest
that has produced successful authors."
THREE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD CONTEST
According to agent Jessica Faust, Bookends, LLC, "Honestly,
I think a contest is only as good as the competition. So the best
contests are those that are able to get the best entries and of
course judges who are professionals - editors and agents." Kim
Nadelson believes a good contests consists of several components.
First, "A well-organized contest coordinator who is mindful of the
constraints on a judge's time and gives plenty of advance notice
and deadlines and follows up on receipt of the entries." That's
the contest coordinator's responsibility. But the next element lies
strictly with the entrant. "Vibrantly-written and polished final
entries that are professionally formulated, suit the genre they
are targeted for and are clearly in publishable (or near-publishable)
condition. And most importantly, high-caliber final round entries
- i.e. entries that "raise the bar" in terms of quality."
So we've tagged two elements of a good contest - good organization
and good entries.
Allison Brennan, whose second-place unpublished entry is
soon to be published as part of a two-book deal (Dead Letters,
Ballantine, early 2005), had a specific goal in mind when she sought
out the good contests. "I wanted to be published, so when I started
entering contests, I did it for feedback and to get my work in front
of people I felt might know more than me. Some contests had great
feedback, others didn't. As my writing improved and I learned more
(moving from beginner to experienced unpubbed), I entered to final
-- because of the final judge. The feedback was less important because
my work had already gone through a critique group I trusted."
And that's the third element - good judges, first and final round.
Now it's time to take a look at how these three things can go wrong.
TOP TEN CONTEST BOO-BOOS (And How to Fix Them)
When I started this article, the first thing I did was send out
some general appeals for contest experiences - the good, the bad
and the ugly. And boy, did I get them! A big ol' can of worms, but
a very insightful one. I discovered that RWA members care about
their contests. They take them seriously, invest time and often
considerable financial resources in their entries, and as a result
they have some pretty strong opinions. So, here are ten of the most
consistent contest complaints with a little fix-it advice. Coordinators
take heed. Contest entrants really know what they want!
10. Judging things not on the scoresheet. A lot of judges do
it, but if it's not on the scoresheet it shouldn't be judged. That's
a hard line contests must take to maintain credibility. When judging
goes off that scoresheet, the process becomes a crap shoot for the
entrant, who's having things judged he/she didn't know would be.
Talk about a way to wreck a contest's reputation. The easy fix is
to let the judges know that if it's not on the scoresheet, don't
judge it. Include that warning in your judge training and instruction
sheets. Highlight it, capitalize it, do whatever it takes to ensure
that everybody knows it's an important standard of your contest.
9. Playing the role of expert. In other words, contradicting
facts in the manuscript. Big no-no, unless it's a contest designed
for fact-checking. Another judge rule to emphasize - Don't mark
down for a questionable fact. If your judge thinks it's incorrect,
instruct him/her to write, "You may want to check this fact," then
move on.
8. Contest categories not clear. What's a single title? A
mainstream? How is long contemporary defined? Contest categories
for every contest must be crystal clear because if an entry
is submitted to the "wrong" category, it'll be disqualified, even
if the entrant believes he/she was submitting it to the "right"
category. The problem could be a simple misunderstanding or misinterpretation,
but in a contest that's a fatal error. Understanding all the categories
of romance is always one of the great big questions marks for entrants,
especially beginners, so it's up to the contest to make sure all
definitions are correct. Simple fix, go to the RWA website and look
under The Romance Genre for your category descriptions. Cite some
popular examples so entrants can take a look. And entrants, if
you're unclear, take a look!
7. Unresponsive coordinators. Two more problems are lumped
with this one: delay in notification of finalists and slow return
of scoresheets. Sure, some of this can be attributed to eager entrants.
But most of the responsibility does rest with the coordinator. There's
nothing more frustrating than waiting - for anything. So if you're
that coordinator who's a little slow to get back to entrants, the
solution's simple. Get help. An assistant coordinator will
work wonders. Set deadlines, post them, then stick to them. And
entrants, if you don't hear back, don't give up. Send another e-mail,
or pick up a phone. Persistence is an absolute must in the publishing
industry.
6. Judge doesn't normally read the category he/she is judging.
It's easier to judge a category you know and like, so coordinators
must work hard to fit their judges into the categories they request.
"A good contest is judged (at all levels) by knowledgeable judges
with experience in the genre being judged," says Paige Wheeler.
One way to find those genre-knowledgeable, first-round judges is
using specific advertising - Contest needs historical judges.
Sometimes, no matter how hard a coordinator tries, a judge won't
receive his/her preferred category. If you're that coordinator,
it's your responsibility to let the judge know there's been a switch
and find out if that judge is agreeable. Don't just drop those entries
in the mail to him/her and assume it's okay. It's not! And if you're
that judge who didn't get what you wanted, never write on the entry
that you don't read/like/understand it. A good judge is a good judge,
and judging preferences can be put aside for the good of the contest
when the judging criteria is specific.
Here's a co-complaint - the judge who simply doesn't "get" the story.
Most contests require opening pages, and the full story may not
reveal itself in a quick format, making it difficult to judge objectively
if you don't get a peek at the last page. The simple fix here is
to give judges that peek in the form of a brief synopsis, one for
reference only. (ENTRANT HINT: Skip the superfluous stuff; stick
to the plot points.)
5. Formatting. Even thought it's in the middle of the list,
this one drew the :loudest" complaints. Some contests stress formatting,
some don't. If yours does, be specific about your requirements.
Don't ask for a legible 12 point font if you're going to raise issue
over what an entrant considers legible. If you want TNR ask for
TNR. Then instruct your judges on how to handle formatting issues.
Or, if formatting isn't an issue, make sure your judges know that,
too. Set some general formatting guidelines - legible 12 point font,
1" margins, double-spacing, yada yada - then let it go. However
you handle formatting issues, don't leave them hanging out there
for interpretation. Interpret them for both your entrants and
your judges! One more thing. If it's a non-U.S. entry, note that
on the manuscript because entries from outside the U.S. come with
a variety of differences, from punctuation to spelling to phraseology
to paper size and an unaware judge might mark these down.
4. Higher scores without feedback. Yep, high scores deserve
feedback, even if it's a simple, "Good job!" This one draws a lot
of opposition from some judges because there's a notion that the
numerical score says it all. But in writing there are so few pats
on the back, so do a little patting. Even a happy face works.
3. Discrepancy judging. A lot of worms in this can! An entry
receives two high scores that put it in contention for finaling,
and one so low it throws it right out. Contest fact of life - there
will always be judge inconsistencies. Certainly, judge training
can help alleviate some of the problems, and many contests do offer
training. But you can't train out the human factor. So in fairness
to the entrant, a means to offset the human factor should be available
in the form of a discrepancy judging. (ENTRANT HINT: If you're entering
a contest, you may want to see if there's a discrepancy judging
in place.) So, how do you do a discrepancy judging? There are a
couple ways, says Lois Winston, Daphne du Maurier coordinator
& multiple-contest winner. "One is a discrepancy round that gives
an additional judging to any entry that has a significant point
difference between scores and then drops the lowest score after
the discrepancy round." Note here that you should set a cutoff line
below which scores that won't final won't be sent to a discrepancy
judging. If you don't you'll be faced with absorbing a lot of extra
postage cost for low-scorers that can't final. "Another is the way
some contests are doing it now," says Winston. "They have four judges
per entry and automatically drop the lowest score." (COORDINATOR
HINT: No matter what discrepancy rules you set, post them! Discrepancy
rules are a big contest draw these days.)
2. Unkind/hostile remarks. I asked for them and I got some
doozies. "Someday you'll figure out how to do all this stuff properly."
"I hate your hero." "Their names were dumb." "Go back to your job
at McDonalds and quit writing." "Pure crap!" Get the picture? This
is never acceptable and it's incumbent upon contest coordinators
to get rid of judges who do this. Coordinators, if you catch these
remarks before you return the entries, disqualify the judge who
made them and have every entry he/she scored re-judged. Entrants
- be patient with coordinators who haven't seen that nasty remark
on your entry. Coordinators juggle hundreds of returned entries,
and they can't catch everything. But when you catch it, tell
the coordinator. That's the only way to stop a bad judge.
Okay - drum roll, please.
1. Lack of feedback on low scores. By far, the biggest complaint.
One of the reasons unpublished writers enter contests is feedback.
If an entry deserves a low score, it also deserves an explanation.
Entrants pay big bucks to get that feedback, and any contest that
allows a judge to slide by without giving it isn't fulfilling a
basic reason for its existence. It's also breaking a trust with
the entrant who expects it. The reality is, most entrants will not
walk away with a win. But every entrant who doesn't win should walk
away with a handful of reasons why he/she didn't. A low numerical
score without a reason is wasted money, wasted time and yes, even
wasted emotional investment. So, even though this is the biggest
contest boo-boo, it's also the easiest fix. Require your judges
to comment on low scores! Tell them it's required while you're
recruiting them so they can't complain later on.
BEYOND THE BOO-BOOS
Wow! That's a long list. But it's an important one because overall,
chapter contest entries are declining a bit (economy, more contests
from which to choose, disillusionment) and contest hunters are becoming
more enlightened in their search for the right ones to enter. Meaning,
any contest that wants to succeed must meet the demands of those
entering.
Now, let's get out of the boo-boo mode and take a look at what some
of the contest gurus like to see in good contests.
-Angi Platt, Great Expectations co-coordinator, ContestLink
advisor, former RWA national board member: Feedback, good final
round judges, experienced or trained first-round judges, scoresheets
made available to entrants, working website for contest information.
-Lois Winston, 31 contest finals since 2000, 11 winners,
2004 GH double-finalist: Category-specific scoresheets, public listing
of the final round judges, making a point of asking the final round
judge if he/she would like to see more of the finalists' work.
-Nina Bruhns, contest winner, former Jasmine coordinator
(Ghost of a Chance, SIM, 9/04): allowing judges to judge what they
write because the know the genre intimately.
- Debby Conrad, multi-contest finalist, former Romancing
the Novel coordinator: good feedback for good work, responsive coordinators
who make sure all feedback, including editor/agent emails, is returned
to the entrant.
FINALLY . . .
"Contests are a learning experience," says Jessica Faust.
"I have a number of authors (published and unpublished) who credit
contests as one of the best ways to help improve their writing."
That's true, and the learning goes both ways. Entrants must learn
how to be better entrants and coordinators must learn how to hold
the best contest possible. Simple? Not really. Worthwhile? Absolutely!
Just ask Cynthia Rutledge, Patricia Rowell and Allison Brennan.
Should it Go to the Final Round?
Not all entries deserve to go, even if they're the top scorers.
It's a tough decision, but as a coordinator, it's up to you to preserve
your contest image and keep from invoking the wrath of your editor/agents
judges. Do this by setting a score average under which no entry
will move to the final round. Remember what Kim Nadelson
wants to see? "High caliber final round entries - i.e. entries that
"raise the bar" in terms of quality." If your entries aren't raising
that bar, an editor/agent doesn't want to read them, and putting
him/her in the position to do so can risk your relationship. Sure,
it's a hard call, but as the coordinator, it's your duty to protect
your contest. "The quality of submissions is always going to be
variable," says Michael Psaltis, "but the contest organizers
can aid in any process by having a very organized structure."
Strictly for Entrants
Choose your contest wisely. With so many of them out there, that
could be a problem, so here are a few tips to help you make the
best decision.
1. Consider what is being judged. Contests focus on many
things (hooks, synopsis, love scenes, suspense, endings) but you
many not need everything every contest is offering. If you're strong
on the hook, why enter a contest that's judging the hook? Go
for a contest that can help you grow as a writer.
2. Look at the guidelines/scoresheet before you decide to enter.
Find them on the website or send for them, then make sure your manuscript
fits the contest. Check the criteria; does it fit your entry? Synopsis
required? Is the scoresheet category-specific? (Writing mainstream
and being judged by a category romance scoresheet puts you at a
major disadvantage.) Is there critiquing on the manuscript? Are
comments mandatory for lower scores? It's up to you to discover
the specifics you want before entering so you won't be disappointed
after.
3. Weigh the cost. Is this a good economic decision for you,
or can you buy a better contest for your needs? If you're entering
for feedback, will this contest give you something your critique
partner/group isn't? Does this contest produce published winners?
Are you getting the most for your contest dollars? (COORDINATOR
HINT: Check out the competition to see that your contest isn't under
or overpricing itself for what it offers.)
4. Check the judges. In the first round are they trained?
Pro? Experienced? Published? In the final round, can the judges
advance your career? An agent? Editor? More than that, is it an
agent/editor who could represent/ buy the work you're entering?
(COORDINATOR HINT: Always match your final judges to the categories
they will judge. "I usually prefer to review material which closely
matches the type of projects I represent," says Paige Wheeler. Likewise
from Kim Nadelson, " I almost always judge contests that directly
correlate to my specific sub-genre of interest." HINT TO EVERYONE:
check out editor and agent specifics on the RWA website.)
Point Box:
- Math errors have altered contest results.
Judges & Coordinators - double check the math!
- Submission Length? Keep in mind that
if an editor/agent likes it, they want to see more, not less.
A good contest allows the entrant enough room to show off, and
the final judge enough read to make a decision.
- Everybody wants to enter contests, but
don't enter the one you're coordinating. Bad reputations happen
even when it's a fair win.
- Publishing rules vary from contest to
contest. If your contest is specifically for unpublished writers,
make sure the rule is clear who may enter: someone never published
in romance, someone who hasn't been published in romance in 5
years, someone who has not been published by an RWA-recognized
publisher. There are a lot of ways to interpret "unpublished"
so be very careful.
- When your contest winners get published,
take advantage of it. Put that information on the website, include
it in contest literature. It's a big selling point. In fact make
a big deal about anything that's agent/editor-requested as a result
of your contest.
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