6 Reasons I Don’t Enter Writing Competitions with Entry Fees

I know, I know, you’re going to say, I should, that competitions need to pay their administrative costs and their judges—and I agree, but I no longer enter them, and here are six reasons why:

1. Poor return on investment: I write with the aim of making a living. Even if I stick to a minimum potential return rule of 5-1, the time the entry spends not earning money outweighs the gain. This time is usually due to the wait for place getters to be announced, the exclusive first-rights release of the competition anthology and the wait time before I can release the entry myself after the competition anthology is released.
2. No guaranteed return on investment: Usually only the top three placings earn prize money. Runners-up and Honourable Mentions don’t usually earn a dime, but often come under the same restrictions for publication as place-getters.
3. Market limitations resulting from publication in competitions: Many magazine markets count publication as a result of placing in a competition as being published, even if no prize money was earned. This means that the competition piece no longer has first-rights to offer, but must compete for reprint spaces in a market.
4. I don’t need to pay to compete: I compete every time I submit work to a publisher or agent. I compete every time I publish my own work, and I can do that for free.
5. Limited competition tarnishes the award: When there is an entry fee, the competition is no longer against an open playing field. Paying to enter a competition, might give you limited prestige if you place or win, but it does not mean you have competed against the best in the field; only against those who cared to pay to compete for the award – and that diminishes an award for me. While no entry fee does not guarantee a wide field, it does, at least mean the field was open to all.
6. I don’t pay for validation: If readers like my work, they can buy it, or download it for nothing if it’s on my free list. I publish independently because I like the benefits of doing so, and because I love the concept of the reader voting for themselves, rather than a third party. While judges and editors can be considered third parties, an open competition allows anyone to compete, just as publishing does, but a paid competition has an extra gatekeeper in the form of a fee, similar to the limits a traditional publisher faces when coordinating what they accept against the places in their publishing schedule. However, an editor sometimes rejects good work because it doesn’t quite match the market they have chosen, but a paid competition can reject good work before the judges even see it, based on the writer’s ability or willingness to pay.