In a writer’s
world, contest means a competition for prizes — either of a financial,
professional or industrial sense. The biggest, most prestigious contests carry
huge payouts the Man Booker, Nobel and
Pulitzer are probably the best known, usually run by publishing houses or their
affiliates and bookstore chains. No doubt the online booksellers will get into
this act soon, if they haven’t already.
With other
contests within the writing industry itself (as opposed to publishing or
selling books), the prizes are less fiduciary and, consequently, less
prestigious. In the mid-1970s, the BBC presented a mini-series, The
Glittering Prizes which was shown on American television a few years
later to wide acclaim. The series, written by Frederic Raphael, has
been lauded as “a golden age of television, when the BBC made British
dramas for a British audience rather than overblown costume nonsense for
international consumption” (Amazon customer review)
— Upstairs, Downstairs / Downton Abbey fans take note.
Hayyim Bialik |
Prizes awarded within the industry are often genre-specific: the RITA, the Agatha, the Dilys, Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel, The Bram Stoker; community specific: the Bernstein, the Koret, the Bialik, Edgar Lewis Wallant, Alice B Readers, Prix République du Glamour, the Orwell Prize, the Spear’s Book Award; social issues: the Bellwether; the Pinter; the William O. Douglas.
Alice B. Toklas |
The Man Booker, Pulitzer etc. are judged by a particular
elite group of people who may or may not reflect the thoughts and
considerations of the general public. The criteria for winning such an elevated
accolade are, of course, based on the author’s craftsmanship but often there is
a socio-political element that must also fit the judges’ narrative or
world view.
There are also the industry-related awards such as: the Publishing Innovation Award, for digital
publishing; the Hugo, for magazine publishing; the Herman Voaden, for
playwriting; the ABC Award, Golden Heart and the Three-Day Novel Contest for
the unpublished writer.
RITA |
For the writer,
some of the most rewarding contests are those judged by readers, especially
readers in their genre. Among the best are: the HUGOs (Science Fiction), the
NERFA,(for Romance novels), the ELLA (for Romance novellas) and the RUBY for
(Romance novels) — both the RUBY and ELLA are offered by Romance Writers of
Australia, not to be confused with RWA (Romance Writers of America).
RTN-PAC |
Some of these are
not what I call “reader-judged” because the readers are members of the writers’
organizations offering the contest. While they may also be readers, these are
more peer-judged than the “real deal readers” who judge our work when they take
it out of the library or buy a copy, read it and pass it along to someone they
want to share it with.
I used to enter contests - no more. I ran into a series of mean judges and it damped the spirit of the contest. It's nice to say you are an Award-winning author, but to me, now, the real reward is a satisfied reader.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Kathye about the real reward being a satisfied reader.
ReplyDeleteThe only contest I've entered since I've been a published author is RWA's RITA this year with SMALL-TOWN MIDWIFE. My last contest before that was the NJ Romance Writers Put Your Heart in a Book in 1999 (I think), My MANDY AND THE MAYOR (which I hope to revise and re-release later this year) won for Short Contemporary Romance.
I've never entered a contest. I'd like to say that I'm above such things and find my reward in the writing itself, but, truth be told, I have to admit I'm a coward. I can't stand the idea of being judged. Nice post, Leigh.
ReplyDeleteHi Leigh--
ReplyDeleteA good round-up of contests. I sometimes serve as a judge in contests and I'm always sad to hear comments like Kathye's where she encountered mean judges. Being mean is not the role of a judge. Discouraging writers is not the purpose of a contest. It's too bad that some contests still let judges do that.
Victoria--