Contests vs Mags

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Elladog

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I'm newish to the short story medium and have been sort of surprised by the perpetual number of contests looking for short stories. Can anyone walk me through the pros and cons of submitting a completed work to a contest vs. a mag? And I know this would vary widely based on genre and so forth, but which contests and publications are generally considered most prestigious? Is there a Holy Grail?
 

grayworld

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I've never submitted a story to a contest, but I know it's generally a good idea to steer clear of any contest that requires an entry fee. As far as magazines go, it depends on the genre, like you said. There are literally thousands of publications (both print and electronic) out there, each with their own guidelines and payscale. Things were so much easier when Duotrope was free...

Best of luck, and hopefully someone more seasoned than I will come along and actually provide an answer to your question :)
 

mrsmig

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Many reputable literary magazines have contests requiring an entry fee (Glimmertrain comes to mind, for example).
 

Elladog

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Thanks for your reply!

If it helps, I write just regular old fiction (is there a term for that?), and I'm in Canada.
 

Lady MacBeth

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Quite often your entry fee also buys a year long subscription. The journals use them to increase their circulation.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Magazines are contests. Good magazines have no entry fee, and they have several winners each and ever month.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Quite often your entry fee also buys a year long subscription. The journals use them to increase their circulation.


I haven't found any contests where the entry fee pays for a subscription. This, at least, might not be a bad idea. At least the writer would be getting something for his money.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Many reputable literary magazines have contests requiring an entry fee (Glimmertrain comes to mind, for example).


Thankfully, Glimmer Train also has standard submissions that require no fee.
 

mrsmig

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I haven't found any contests where the entry fee pays for a subscription. This, at least, might not be a bad idea. At least the writer would be getting something for his money.

The $20 entry fee for Nimrod International Journal's annual Literary Awards includes a one-year subscription.
 

Lady MacBeth

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Magazines are contests. Good magazines have no entry fee, and they have several winners each and ever month.

James, what magazines are you referring to? I don't know of any literary journals that do not charge for contests. Could it be the genre?
 

Jamesaritchie

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James, what magazines are you referring to? I don't know of any literary journals that do not charge for contests. Could it be the genre?

What I've not come across is a magazine that gives you a subscription in exchange for the contest fee.
 

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Shadow_Ferret

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James, what magazines are you referring to? I don't know of any literary journals that do not charge for contests. Could it be the genre?
I think he was.being facetious, meaning submitting to a magazine for publication is like a contest, except there are several winners per issue.
 

Lady MacBeth

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I think he was.being facetious, meaning submitting to a magazine for publication is like a contest, except there are several winners per issue.


That makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying! :)
 

Jamesaritchie

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James, what magazines are you referring to? I don't know of any literary journals that do not charge for contests. Could it be the genre?

I'm sort of being factitious, but not really.

I mean all magazines. There is no difference between a contest and a magazine, except a contest usually charges a fee, and has only one first place winner. A magazine, just like a contest, chooses the best stories that come in, gives the winner money, plus awards them publication. Most magazines also choose several stories each month.

Why submit to a contest that often has no meaning, awards very little money, and has only one first place winner for each contest when you can just submit to magazines?

Magazines are contests that have no entry fees.
 

Lady MacBeth

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I'm sort of being factitious, but not really.

I mean all magazines. There is no difference between a contest and a magazine, except a contest usually charges a fee, and has only one first place winner. A magazine, just like a contest, chooses the best stories that come in, gives the winner money, plus awards them publication. Most magazines also choose several stories each month.

Why submit to a contest that often has no meaning, awards very little money, and has only one first place winner for each contest when you can just submit to magazines?

Magazines are contests that have no entry fees.

Okay, I understand where you are coming from now. :) And I totally agree.
 

maryland

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Yes, I often think of a competition as a sheep-dip - you all go through, one by one, and someone chooses the winner.(They also choose second, third and sometimes even a shortlist.) Everyone else is a loser, and it has cost them money to enter, plus postage in some cases.
Sending stories to magazines is cheaper - no entry fee, no deadline.
 

Hoplite

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Can anyone walk me through the pros and cons of submitting a completed work to a contest vs. a mag?

I don't have enough experience to comment on "Holy Grail" contests, so I'll just give my two cents on this part.

In my experience, a contest will have 1-3 "winners" where the "winners" are the only people who get paid. I was part of a contest-anthology where the top 3 got paid, and they along with everyone else got a free copy of the anthology.

If you get accepted in a magazine/non-contest-anthology you get paid, and may even get a free copy.

The cash-rewards are concentrated at the top for contest entries, whereas non-contests it's spread out. So if you want to take a gamble you could submit to a contest and get a larger payout than you would otherwise get for getting paid per word at a magazine.
 

dantefrizzoli

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Magazines publish every month and contests often have a type of reward or incentive for a purpose- both should have specific topics/prompts though.
 

V1c

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I had one prof say to keep a budget for contests (the ones you trust, there are places to look that up like if they follow CLMP regulations and the like). Less people enter them, so less competition than regular free submissions. Some practically BEG for submissions because they easily have under 100, sometimes under 50 or 25 while the submissions queue is huge. Just something to consider. Still doesn't mean you'll win or place, but less people than the normal queue and then you can say you won 'magazine here' s contest.
 
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I had one prof say to keep a budget for contests (the ones you trust, there are places to look that up like if they follow CLMP regulations and the like). Less people enter them, so less competition than regular free submissions. Some practically BEG for submissions because they easily have under 100, sometimes under 50 or 25 while the submissions queue is huge. Just something to consider. Still doesn't mean you'll win or place, but less people than the normal queue and then you can say you won 'magazine here' s contest.

Yes, this is something I just learned in another thread that I started. Short story magazines have thousands of submissions and might only publish 12 stories a year. It's insane. You're competing for that little slot with NY Times best selling authors. Scary.
 

badducky

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I have published a few things, in and out of my usual genre, and I have always been surprised at the number of contests out there, and the willingness of people to enter them.

The entry fee thing reeks of academia, to me, and the influence of academia. Not a terrible place to be, but not exactly known for business sense and fair practices.

The question to ask before entering any contest is simple: If I saw a winner of this contest's book or story somewhere, would I make a point of reading that work because of the award?

There are very, very few awards that actually have that outcome for me, as a reader, and even fewer that influence the general book-buying population. Even fewer, still, the number of editors who would likely be influenced by any award that isn't appealing to the book-buying population.

Nobel, Pulitzer, Booker, and...? Hugo? Maybe a Hugo?

Until I can enter the Pulitzer for an affordable fee, I'll avoid paying any fees for contests.
 

shadowwalker

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There are a lot of reputable contests out there that charge an entry fee - Poets & Writers has an extensive list. The fee helps pay costs, including the money prizes. For many, the fee is $10 - 15 and the prize $1500 - 3000. I wouldn't make contests the number one choice for publication attempts, but entering the ones run by the more prestigious journals on occasion certainly won't hurt.
 
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