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The Ins and Outs of Free Writing Contests
Free writing contests are available by the thousands. They are virtually a dime a dozen on the Internet. No matter
what your niche is in the writing community there is a free writing contests out there for you. How do you know
which ones to enter and which ones are legitimate? That’s simple. You do what you do best-- research.
While providing the story for the free writing contest will probably be the easy part, researching the thousands of
available contests will be a daunting task. If this is un-chartered water for you, you have the start at the
beginning. Finding what free writing contests are available. Grab a notebook or start a word document and list the
contests that are available. Beside each contest name you will want to put what kind of writing they are looking
for and when it needs to be done by. By doing this first you will be able to eliminate any that do not coincide
with your writing niche or with your schedule.
Now the free writing contest research begins. Finding out if a contest is worthwhile and legitimate is comparable
to running a background check on a person. First check the contest website. Do they have all contact information
available? Do they tell you what company is hosting the contest? If they are not, you will have likely found
warning number one that it is a scam. So scratch those off your list or at least move them to the bottom until you
can find out more information on them. Start asking around to colleagues and writers groups. Search the writing
forums and the Internet scam sites. The Better Business Bureau is also a good place to look.
Once you narrowed the free writing contests down to the legitimate ones, read the contest rules and regulations.
Some contests require you signing over all rights to a story even if you don’t win. Are you willing to do this?
Giving up rights to you writing is a lot easier to do when you are getting something in return. After you enter
there is no going back, so make sure this is what you want to do.
The final thing you need to look for is if the contest is just a cover up to get you to buy services or products.
This does not necessarily mean they are a scam or don’t actually award winners. It simply means that they will try
to entice you to use their critiquing services or offer you a book at a reduced fee that your work will be
published in. Being published sounds like a great deal but is it a book that carries prestige that people are going
to see?
Many authors think that writing contests will launch their career into a successful endeavor. This is not the case,
especially for free writing contests. Even winning the grand prize of a smaller known contest is not going to
affect your literary journey. Even though they may not springboard your career, there are good reasons to join
writing contests. You will get unbiased opinions and valuable feedback from the judges. If you make it into the
higher rounds, editors could also see your writing.
Ultimately whether you enter a free writing contest the choice is yours. Just ask you self if the time spent
writing and researching the piece you choose to enter is worth writing for free in most cases. The critique and
feedback may be the most worthwhile thing you receive from the contest. But then again the judges opinions are a
dime a dozen just like the contests.
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