I publish an opportunities list two or three times a week –
in fact, usually when there are a minimum of five opportunities on them. I’m thinking
mainly of my students- both undergraduate and postgraduate. These are
opportunities I stumble across and from a couple of lists I check. People are
now beginning to send them to me.
Some of the opportunities are competitions, others are just publishing
possibilities. I’m looking for certain qualities. The writer must get something
out of this. This usually means being paid but not always. Sometimes a good
line on the CV might be worth having or an opportunity to get detailed feedback.
Or sometimes their writing might be exposed to a lot of people.
Some competitions have an entry fee. Up to £5.00 for short
fiction or a few lines of poetry is fine, up to £10 for a novel extract and
synopsis – presuming that eventually you will have to send the whole novel – is
also fair. £20 might also be fair for the latter but it depends on what the
prize is. Anyone who has been involved in judging a writing competition will
tell you that they are rarely paid anything near minimum wage, unless they’re
famous and just judging the final selection. Most of the takings go to cover
admin and the prize.
And in competitions, what of prizes? Publication or cash is always
welcome, though sometimes the quirkier prizes are actually better value for
money and more interesting. A year’s supply of chocolate would aid any writer
as would a two week retreat in a beautiful villa on an isolated mountain.
Most of the publishing opportunities on the list are with
small press. This is not a bad place to start. You can make your mistakes while
you are not over-exposed and you can start to build up a following.
It’s important also to take stock when you’re rejected or
not placed in a competition. What is different about what did get it?
Finally, what gets put on my list and what doesn’t may be a
little subjective. However, my bottom-line question is always “What’s in it for
the writer?” I doubt that I get it right all of the time, but most people seem
pleased with the list.
If nothing else, it gives you something to aim at.
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