Writers love competitions. There’s the creative stimulus of an interesting prompt, the promise of kudos, validation if you do well, and, of course, publication and prizes. Running your own competition is fun, too. It can develop your network and author brand, and may lead to other offers of work such as reviewing or webinars. Best […]
When You Talk to People…
/ 2020-08-01When you open a discussion with someone, do you lead with “Once upon a time I lived in Michigan. I was twenty-four. I was working at the mall and was trying to figure out my life.” No. BIG YAWN. You don’t start with the backstory. Frankly, I’d bet you’d be embarrassed to start with the […]
Ten Lessons from Entering Hundreds of Short Story Competitions
/ 2020-03-28Do the Obvious Stuff Follow the submission guidelines. Get the formatting right. Make sure the story is anonymised if it has to be. Check you haven’t left any details in the doc from a previous contest requirement. Don’t send a 500-word bio when they want 75 words max. Look for Author-Competition Fit Contests typically change […]