Shirley Link was at the end of her rope. In fact, she was just one tight grip away from falling off of it. As she contemplated the waves below, frothing like they couldn’t wait to eat her up, she wondered if she’d ever see her friend again.
Wylie had been missing for a week. Not like him.
Her search had led to Torrey Pines Beach. A red sand, unique to the area, was found all over everything in Wylie’s bedroom.
Shirley had been about to rappel down when she was shoved off the cliff.
But who did it?
“Looks like you could use some help,” someone said from above.
He peeked over the edge.
“Wylie?”
No, it couldn’t be. He’d never do this to her. They were best friends!
He reached his hand toward her, and smiled.
She’d come to save him, but now he was saving her.
If you’re searching for the best way to submit to fiction writing contests, you may be a bit overwhelmed. There are hundreds of options that range from scams to high-exposure, free-to-enter blockbusters. Through a lot of trial and error, some research and a propensity to have strong opinions about one thing or another, here’s what I’ve discovered.
(Please note that I focus on contests that offer the widest range of entry requirements. None of the contests, as of this writing, require your story to be about food, technology, zebras or any of the other rules that contests force upon us.)
The top 5 writing contests
Here are the top 5 writing contests, as measured by BANG! for buck.
Independent Book Publishers Association runs this one. I’m a member, but don’t get any dough for recommending them. The cost is $225 for non-members (which includes one year membership to IBPA). While there is no cash prize, the competition has a lot of cred. It’s been around for 25 years. First call deadline: September 30th, 2016. Final deadline: December 15th, 2016.
Writer’s Digest has a pretty good rep as a place for authors to find useful advice and tools/services. Their contests have thousands of dollars in prizes, but more importantly, they have clout. Not Klout. Real clout ;-)
All the contests, except the Your Story writing contest, cost something — but not more than $110. Prizes include cash, up to $3000.
Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition (their catch-all contest which allows almost everyone to enter).
Short story Competition
Self-Published Book Awards
Popular Fiction Awards
Your story (this one is free and the winner’s 750 word story is published in their magazine) Rolling submission deadlines, so enter away
Entry per category for the first book was $75. Winners get a nice flood of exposure, notably through Publisher’s Weekly publications and emails. Deadline, February 25th, 2017.
These guys have been around forever. Lots of cred, a little on the stuffy side, and a nice, big deal if you place in the competition. They’ll take books from small publishers, but no self-published books are allowed. The cash prizes are up to $10,000 They have $125 fee per submission, which they’ll take off your hands during the submission process. (Thanks to Jennie Goutet for pointing out a rule change)
This is a bit more specific than the other contests but Romance is eternally hot and I want all of you to know about it. The Inkitt Amour contest is more like a publishing deal. A good one. In fact, I thin it’s where traditional publishing is going. Check out the perks:
$6,000 in Book Marketing A dedicated marketing team Professional editing & cover 25% Royalties
The 25% royalty means that this is a contest for talented newcomers who want to build a fan base. You can do better in percentage profit on your own. But will you have your own marketing team dedicated to making your book a success?
Okay, looks like this post is now the Top 6 contests!
Amazon’s back in the game! After phasing out their annual literary award they’ve launched the Kindle UK Storyteller Award. Here’s the deal:
Competition entry period begins at 00:01 (GMT) on 20th February 2017 until 23:59 (BST) on 19th May 2017 (the “Entry Period”). To enter, during the Entry Period you must go to the Kindle Direct Publishing (“KDP”) sign-in page at (https://kdp.amazon.com) (you may select the language for your region in the upper right corner of the page) and follow the instructions to upload and publish to KDP an original, previously unpublished, English-language book authored solely by you (the “Book” or the “Entry”), and include the exact phrase “StorytellerUK2017” in the “keywords” metadata field in order for us to identify your Entry. Entry into the Competition also requires that you have an Amazon account and a completed KDP account and you have accepted the KDP Terms of Service and the Terms and Conditions for KDP Select Program located at (https://kdp.amazon.com/terms-and-conditions)
The prize? A cool £20,000 and a prize ceremony in London. Classy.
Go shopping!
Don’t see a contest that you like here?
Browse two local booksellers!
Skim the shelves where your book will one day be prominently placed (if there’s any justice in the universe). You’ll find stickers or emblems on some books with contests/competitions that the publisher felt were worthy of mentioning up front. These are usually the big boy awards, but you’ll also find some niche awards this way, too.
Try it, it’s fun! You get to scour books and work at the same time!
Gotchas!
Be careful of two things.
One, rights. Make sure the fine print doesn’t lay claim to your work. You’re not giving them the right to anything, except the privilege of giving you an award for your great writing. A number of contests offer publication of your work as a prize, and if that’s what you want then go for it. Just be careful they don’t overreach.
Two, rules. You don’t want to prepare your submission and then find that your story exceeds the limit by a thousand words!
Don’t rush in. Read the teeny, tiny, itsy, weeny print. It’s adorable!
Free or fee?
Should you pay, or should you go for the free contests only? That’s a tough one, since most of us are made of 90% water, and 0% money.
The bottom line is that if the contest is perfect for you, and you’ve checked your writing with a pro editor, then it’s worth paying something.
Important point: It’s best to set out with a budget for contests before you start looking for which ones to enter. You don’t want to go broke when your ambition starts arguing with your income. In my experience, ambition can be a hell of a debater.
Finally, when you have a list of five contests, STOP! One way to make sure you never catch a bunny is to chase two at the same time, right? So focus on your top five. No more for now. You can get to more when you’re done submitting to the ideal choices.
You won! Now what?
If you win, or earn a finalist/honorable mention title, then the hard work starts.
Announce it everywhere. Tout it on your Twitter/Facebook/ G+/Amazon author/Goodreads profiles.
Post a press release with the award name next to your name in the H1 of your site. This way Google will make the association between you and the award. If enough people pick up the story (don’t forget to leverage friends and fans!) your chances of having your name attached to the award’s name in search results grows.
Add the award to your email signature.
Resubmit the story to any agents or editors you’ve reached out to. Winning an award usually pushes the reset button so it’s worth a shot.
Conclusion
Contests are a great way to hone your craft and show the world how much better you are than that other dude writing over there. The one with the empty coffee cup, who’s been hogging the electrical output,
Now head on over to Poets and Writers website and dig into their awesome list of writing contests! You can also see a current list of contests here. And good luck.
Wait! More!
I’ll add to this list as I run across reputable and influential contests. Be sure to these check out, too.
The Guardian is now doing a monthly contest for self-published novels. UK authors only. Who in the USA has the guts to match this? The Atlantic? Reader’s Digest? New Yorker? Anyone?
Does advertising on Goodreads work? My first step into their self-serve ad system shows promise. I know there’s interest in the writing community about advertising on Goodreads, so I thought I’d share the results of my first (ten bucks!) campaign.
I advertised two middle grade books in my Shirley Link series. The campaign started 12-6-2012.
While I’m somewhat pleased with the overall views, I can’t measure the actual sales since Amazon and BN.com are black boxes. I plan on making my own landing page for sales so I can measure conversion next time! Sigh. I knew that, but I didn’t account for it. No soup for me!
I targeted one ad using genres and authors as filters. I used no targeting for the other ad. The ctr was higher for the targeted ad (.01 vs. .02).
daily cap $2.00
total credit purchased $10.00 transactions
total views 116,129
total clicks 20
ctr for all time 0.02%
cpc for all time $0.50
The ten bucks started to go quickly, but after a couple of days it dropped to a trickle. I probably wouldn’t have spent the whole ten bucks if I hadn’t redone the creative on one book, including copy. I also adjusted the link for the ad and made it point to my Goodreads page, and not to my books’ Amazon pages. That simple move seems to have pushed it over the top and my ten bucks quickly got spent. Another benefit of linking to Goodreads page is that I saw a spike in my books being added to Goodreads shelves. It implies that the Goodreads community likes to stay on the site. It also implies (though I have no proof) that Goodreads gives preferential treatment to ads that link to their book pages, and not someone else’s.
[divider divider_type=”gradient”][/divider]
[blockquote author_name=”” width=”50%” float=”left”]My goals for next campaign:
Get a full half percent ctr (you read that right! .5, not .05!)
Target the ad, but not too strictly. Limiting it to a few genres and several authors is a good place to start.
Adjust the ad when the views drop. Change the copy and graphic, if possible.
For first-timers/dabblers advertising on Goodreads: If you don’t have a landing page of your own where you can sell the book directly, then point the ad to your Goodreads page, NOT an online retailer. Since it’s probably really attractive to link to the online retailers (just to see what happens) I’d wait to do it on your second campaign. That way you can spot your own ad’s performance and adjust around the most important part…the conversion![/blockquote]
The Shirley Link mysteries for kids has a new volume!
I love writing mysteries for kids, so I hope you enjoy the first two chapters of my upcoming middle grade book, Shirley Link & The Treasure Chest. Follow Shirley on an adventure to find a hidden pirate treasure chest!
Chapter One
I’m watching my two best friends have one of their fake arguments again. It’s been happening more often recently. Usually, Marie (best friend number one) will say something about the way Wylie (best friend number two) lives his life. The way he flicks his bangs back when a cute girl walks in the room, for example. Wylie will then try to say something clever, which works about zero times out of a thousand. Marie will make fun of his wit. Then they’ll laugh together.
It’s really, really irritating.
“I don’t smell! You smell!” Wylie says, flicking his bangs back.
“That’s your comeback?”
“Give me a sec. I’ll think of a better one.”
Marie watches Wylie think hard. She always enjoys this part. Not because she’s mean. Because she thinks he’s so cute.
“Nothing?” she asks.
“Nope. Nada,” he says, shrugging. “That’s Spanish for nothing.”
“Muchas gracias por aclarar. That’s Spanish for “Thanks so much for clarifying.””
They smile at each other. Then they finally notice that I’ve watched this whole scene unfold from two paces back.
“What?” they both ask at exactly the same time, slowing down to let me catch up.
I’m tempted to say something like, “Why don’t you two just admit that you like each other?” or “Can you please just kiss and get it over with?” but I stop myself. For the hundredth time this month.
“Nothing,” I say, instead, pushing my way in between them. Now they’re playing catch-up with me. The way I like it.
“So when are you going to…” I instantly know she’s going to ask me a very sensitive question, so I shoot her a look. She catches herself and recovers pretty well. “… do that totally useless thing you mentioned?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Hope you wear a rubber suit,” Wylie says, making a face like he just licked a salt and lemon lollipop.
“Shirley, are you sure you want to do it? It’s disgusting!”
“Everyone will thank me later,” I say, veering left onto my front lawn. I’m home just in time to avoid a grilling by Marie. My lucky day! “When the next flood hits I bet you I get hired to help.”
My friends stand there, looking at me as if I suffer from some condition. I guess I do. It’s called boredom.
I’m a detective who lives in a town that always seems to need a detective, so I’m usually caught up in something that my parents don’t approve of. But there are those long runs where nothing happens. The town of Shelburne Falls wakes up at dawn, strolls through the day, then settles in for the night.
All while my brain screams out for some exercise.
It’s times like this where I have to make things happen. Even things that sound kind of crazy.
***
It’s 6am. I’m packed and ready to go. I need to grab a couple of trash bags and then Operation Mapmaker can begin.
I listen for Mom downstairs. She’s a police officer, so there’s always a chance that she’s returning home from a late night. But I don’t hear anything. So I tiptoe downstairs, grab a couple of trash bags from the kitchen drawer and throw my backpack on.
I write a note:
——-
Mom and Dad
Out doing a project.
-S
——-
I leave the note on the butter plate in the fridge. It’s the only place where it’s guaranteed to be seen in the morning.
My parents will be on to me, of course. They live in a constant state of being on to me, especially since my detective work really took off. Let’s just say I’ve managed to get caught up in a few dangerous situations thanks to my job. Fortunately, they only know about one instance — the time I almost got clocked by Bob, the janitor. He stole thirty thousand dollars from the school and caught me snooping around his supplies.
But Mom and Dad still don’t know about the time I was kidnapped and dangled from the Town Hall flagpole. It happened last month. Jacob Graham, a classmate, did it because he wanted to be friends with me.
Don’t ask.
So I can expect my parents to have a hundred questions about my note when I get home from school.
***
I arrive at the waterfall. It runs under Shelburne Falls’ bridge and pulls in a lot of tourists who like to see water falling and splashing around. Or something. To each his own, I guess.
I arrive at the old steel door under the bridge. I break out the garbage bags. I slip one over each leg and tie them to my thighs with string.
I make sure no one is watching. All clear.
I open the door and aim the flashlight into the long tunnel that waits for me on the other side. It’s dark in there. Like drop-a-bucket-over-my-head dark.
I’ve decided to map out the town’s sewers. Yes, for fun. It’s a pretty complex sewage system because of the waterfall under Main Street. The flow of hidden water beneath our town has been a challenge for a few hundred years, ever since the first settlements made camp at the base of the hills.
I checked the town records for documentation on the sewers, but they weren’t very good. So I figure I’ll do a public service and draw up a thorough map. It’ll be handy for everyone. Besides, it will let me practice my mapmaking skills.
I close the steel door behind me. I don’t want anyone to see it open and freak out. My flashlight’s beam bounces off the stone walls of the sewer, casting long shadows across the wet floor. Even though these tunnels don’t carry human refuse anymore I expected it to smell, but the musty odor isn’t unpleasant. I wouldn’t want my bedroom to smell like this, but I think I can handle it for thirty minutes.
I reach a fork in the tunnel after walking 27 long steps. I make a mark on my graph paper. Today, I’ll take the right fork.
Something just ran past me. Oh, wonderful. I catch a rat in my flashlight’s beam. It screeches at the sight of me. I try to keep my cool. Most people don’t know this, but rats don’t like water at all, so I kick a puddle and douse him. He scampers up a ledge and disappears in a crack in the wall.
I shake off the creepies and make much more noise as I walk. That way I won’t catch anything else by surprise.
After about 60 more long strides, I stop and make another mark on my paper. Just ahead of me, there’s a hook in the wall. Maybe meant for a torch? No, can’t be. The gasses that can build up in a sewer would make that really dangerous.
I pull on the hook gently and it slides down. It’s attached to a very fine chain. That doesn’t seem normal. It’s almost like I’m pulling on a chord on the back of a talking doll. I look around for other hooks but don’t see any.
But I do see something else unusual.
I take a few steps back to get a better look.
Yeah. Most of the tunnel wall is a gray-white stone, covered in moss. But right in front of me is a rectangle of coal-colored stone. It almost looks like…
The boys were nowhere near friends. They didn’t hate each other, but they didn’t know enough to hate straight away yet. Each kid would give the others about five minutes to fit in. Or not.
They were varying levels of six years old, with their own sense of what the world owed them. They shared a willingness to call this whole first day of school a loss, and see what goodies they could extract from Mom and Dad at pickup time.
Grant started. “I like football!” Maybe if he was loud they wouldn’t bully him. He hated bullies.
“Me too,” said Ethan.
“Me too,” said Quinn.
Jack wanted to say “me too” but he didn’t know what football was.
He watched them watch him. They glanced away, ready to ride their bridge of footballs to friendship without him.
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