Congratulations. You’ve
just completed the final draft of the children’s story you’ve been working on
for months now. You’ve revised it so
many times that you can recite it by heart.
It has passed through your critique group and they even commented on how
your characters leapt off the pages, into their hearts. With adverbs and adjectives at a minimum,
active verbs immediately drew readers into the plot. So what do you do now: (1) Pull the “Children’s Magazine Market”
from the bookshelf to find the right publisher to submit to, or (2) Enter your
story into a writing competition for children.
Why not do both?
Competitions benefit writers in many
ways. As a novice writer, you might
discover, as I did, that you lack discipline in not only completing stories,
but also submitting them. Entering
writing competitions will keep you on a strict writing schedule and force you
to complete projects on time. Unlike
fastidious editors and assistant editors, judges read and consider every entry
regardless of publishing credits, plus you don’t query before submission, or
have an agent.
There are many contests available to writers for children and
young adults. If you don’t own publications
such as, “Children’s Magazine Market,” “Children’s Writer Guide,” “Novel and
Short Story Writer’s Market,” or “Children’s Book Market,” then check your
local library. These books not only list
book and magazine publishers, but writing competitions as well.
Also, take time to
research writer e-zines, magazines, and websites for
competitions that interest you, but be careful.
There are scams out there. Always
compare the entry fee to the prize. If
the winning entry wins $50.00, but it cost $10.00 to enter, then it’s not worth
the time or money. However, if the
prize is worth $50.00 and costs only $4.00 or $5.00 to enter, by all means
enter. Of course, the
bigger the prize, the stiffer the competition. Always refer to “Writer’s Beware” sections on
the Internet for competitions that have earned a bad name. Don’t enter them no matter how good they
look. A few good websites to check are:
Here are a few of my favorite places to check for writing
contests:
c.
www.chopeclark.com/fundforwriters
e.
www.inscriptionsmagazine.com
h.
www.coffeehouse4writers.com
There are many more. Go
to your favorite search engine, type in “Writing Contests,” and witness the
opportunities available to you.
Create a “Competition File” to keep a copy of guidelines and
deadlines of specific contests. Maintain
a competition calendar, listing deadlines and result dates. After you enter a specific contest, jot down
which story you entered and file it in a “Contests Entered” file. Keep a tracking sheet for every story
submitted.
Enter every free writing competition you can. You have nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing.
Read guidelines CLOSELY. Don’t make serious errors by
haphazardly scanning guidelines and being disqualified. That can be a hard lesson, especially when
it’s a FREE competition. READ THE
GUIDELINES, MAKE A CHECKLIST, AND DON’T SEND IT UNTIL YOU’RE SURE IT’S PROPERLY
COMPLETED.
Just because
you enter a writing contest doesn’t mean your piece is out of commission. Some guidelines may read, “No work is
eligible for submission if AT THE TIME OF ENTRY, it has won an award or been
published or accepted for publication.”
Key phrase is “If at the time of entry.”
However, some may read, “All entries must be original, unpublished, and
NOT SUBMITTED ELSEWHERE UNTIL THE WINNERS ARE ANNOUNCED.” Each competition is
different. Some contests may publish
winning entries and therefore reserve first time rights. Others, like By-Line Magazine competitions,
allow the author to retain all rights.
Read the guidelines very carefully.
I can’t stress that enough.
Many competitions are geared specifically for children and young
adults, while others have no children’s or young adult division. Don’t ignore invisible opportunities. Three of my young adult stories that covered
deep emotional subjects placed in adult competitions. Keep that in mind.
Never enter writing competitions to defeat other writers, but to
improve your writing skills. Read and
analyze winning entries. What set them
apart from the rest? Character? Plot? Technique? Uniqueness? What?
Study those entries like you would a classic in school. You’ll be surprised at how much you learn.
The Grand Prize entry in the 2000 Writer’s Digest Writing
Competition, which had more than 19,000 entries, was a delightful, humorous
children’s story entitled, “Up Ned’s Nose.”
Be proud of writing for children and young adults and never feel that
your work isn’t up to par. Opportunities
are out there, even for the novice writer of children and young adult
literature. My résumé was built on
winning or placing in various writing competitions, and opened doors to other
writing opportunities.
Accept
challenges that come your way. You’ve
got nothing to lose and everything to gain.