Contesting
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
There are two kinds of contests I want to mention today. One for writers and one for readers. When it comes to contests for writers, I'm not a big fan. In fact, I despise them. Yeah, it's weird. Probably not the majority ruling on this issue. Here's my take. A contest costs money to enter and IF you win, you might have an editor or agent you want reading your manuscript. But that's a big, huge if. It's a heck of a lot cheaper to simply query the agent or editor and see if they're interested in your work. The upside is if you do manage to win the coveted editor or agent has to read your whole manuscript and won't toss it aside after the first paragraph to send you a form rejection. There are people who final in the Golden Heart (THE contest of contests) who never sell that manuscript. What does that tell you? The benfeits of contests are limited and totally uncertain. In my opinion, a waste of money. Yeah, I said it. It's my opinion and feel free to disagree.On to the contests I like. Reader contests. These are contests that writers hold to reward their loyal readers (or to draw in new readers) for well...reading. Below are two contest giveaways that I'll be using in my upcoming contests. No these aren't up for grabs YET. (Keep an eye on my blog if you want them though, because the contests will be announced shortly.) The first is obviously a christmas giveaway because I have a holiday release coming out soon. I haven't decided what I'll make people do for the contest yet, feel free to make suggestions, but it will probably entail some kind of scavenger hunt or signing up for a newsletter. Thus I can keep a readers attention long after I've given up the goods.
The second is a valentine's day giveaway for a chick lit story I'm writing. See the upside down heart? I thought it appropriate. Why do I do these kinds of contests? It's a promotional gimmick, yeah. But it's also my way of saying THANKS to readers for showing up and taking a moment to play along with me. That's all folks!
Posted at 7:43 AM by Crystal Jordan
2 Comments:
I totally agree with you Crystal. I hate contests. It's money spent for one, with no material return for the cost. Okay, I'm not saying that you have to have get something for your money, but it should be well spent just the same.
Paying money for the option of a chance to catch an editor's attention... Too big of a leap for me there. And too broke to waste the cash...that's the honest truth.
I'm not even a big reader contest player. Mostly because as a writer who also puts out stuff for readers, I like the readers to win it. Yeah, I read fellow writer's work, but I also know more about their work, their voice and the books than most readers who only visit groups and read blogs. I don't need the perk of a gift to encourage me, although if I somehow win, I won't turn it away. I've won a few books by being on group during a chat and stuff, but I don't purposely hunt contests for the goods.
Probaby makes no sense, but I like to see others win, not necessarily myself.
Didn't we just talk about this? LOL.
LOVE the bling bling. I need to think of something for my Christmas releases. Both of them. Eeeek!
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