GUEST BLOGGER, ROBIN LEE HATCHER

THOUGHTS ON CONTESTS FROM GUEST BLOGGER, ROBIN LEE HATCHER

I have a love/hate relationship with contests. Perhaps that comes from being a member of Romance Writers of America for almost 25 years and having served for two years as its president. Over the years, I’ve entered a ton of contests for published books, and I’ve seen lots of unpublished writers enter their manuscripts or partials in contests for unpublished books.

This past experience has also revealed to me the downside of contests, including that they can be demoralizing to writers, published and unpublished alike. They can cause us to compare ourselves, our books, our career paths with others. That kind of comparison is never a good thing. They can lead to feelings of envy and jealousy. Also never a good thing.
So are there any good reasons to enter contests? Yes.

But before I get into those, may I first state a pet peeve that has nothing to do with my topic except that I see it come up in context with contests?

There is no such word as “pre-published” unless, perhaps, you are referring to someone who has sold her first book and is awaiting its release. While I understand the positive-thinking element behind using that term, the truth is that less than 1% of the novels written every year get published. Not all writers who aspire to be published in book length fiction will be published. Most won’t. Making up a word doesn’t change this truth, and it smacks of dishonesty and is unprofessional. In years passed, I have heard ABA editors snicker about this term (which is when it became a pet peeve, I think). They know that very few of those who call themselves “pre-published” will ever actually be published. So let’s stop using that word. There is nothing embarrassing or wrong about being unpublished. It is simply a fact.

And since I’m rattling on, I’ll say that “aspiring writer” (a term I sometimes use but shouldn’t) isn’t much better. If you are writing a novel and are trying to improve your craft and are doing the best you can and are in it for the long haul, you are a writer already. Nothing aspiring about it. What you aspire to is publication. And I hope you get there.

I also hope I haven’t discouraged anyone too much with this minor rant. Remember, if God has called you to write, then you should write, no matter the outcome. His plans are so much bigger than what we have for ourselves. Who is to say that the manuscript that is never published might not have been read by the one person who will become the next Billy Graham or who might give birth to the son or daughter who will lead the next great revival?

So keep writing and trust God with where He will use it. Persevere. Run the good race. Keep the faith.

Now back to the topic of contests.

Can a contest help you achieve your dream/goal? It’s possible. Certainly many, many first novels sell that have never been entered in contests and many, many that have been entered in and even won contests but have never sold. But there are plenty of manuscripts that have found homes because of contests.

For the unpublished, I think there are two reasons to enter contests:

The first reason is for early in your learning curve as a writer of fiction. Enter contests that will give you feedback from the judges. You want to look at those score sheets and the comments the same way a published author looks at the revision letters she gets from editors. After the initial shock that the judge didn’t find your story the best thing since [NAME OF FAVORITE NOVEL HERE], sit down and consider everything that was said. Even more, read in-between the lines. Often times when an editor points out a problem, they aren’t completely sure what the problem is or how to fix it. Or they may point out something that isn’t truly a problem, not if you fix something else in the manuscript.

And remember this. Many manuscripts have been rejected by a dozen or more editors only to sell to someone who loves it. Judging is a subjective discipline just as reading is. So a writer must learn to be open while remaining true to herself and her vision. I look back on my first books and want to gag at how poorly written they were. I had much to learn, and I have been learning for over 25 years. I learn with each new book I write.

If one judge dislikes your entry but four other have praised it, then you may have hit that one judge’s hot button. However, if three or four of your judges are pointing out the same weakness, then you probably need to take another look at your work and see if you can fix it.

Here’s an important tip: If you don’t like criticism or handle it well, you’d better find yourself another line of work. The writing life is full of criticism and rejection, and it doesn’t stop when you get published. It just widens the circle of those who can criticize and reject. Readers may reject your book or send you a scathing letter because you hit their hot button. PW and Romantic Times may tell readers to skip this book of your heart or give it a 2 rating. You may turn in your 35th book and your editor may tell you it isn’t right and you must start over. Rejection happens. Consider the criticism you get from contests as part of your learning curve and the toughening of your required rhino hide.

The second reason for an unpublished writer to enter contests is to get your work before an editor or an agent. This should be at the stage when your manuscripts have been garnering consistent praise. Not perfection. None of us will ever get there. But if contest judges and the trusted writers you let read your work are giving you mostly positive feedback, then it is time to focus on contests that have editors and agents as preliminary and/or finalist judges. This is your chance, if your work is ready, to bypass the slush pile. Just make sure it is your best work. Believe it or not, editors and agents have remarkable memories. You don’t want them associating your name with poor writing.

What about contests for published books?

I believe there is only one reason for an author to enter her book into contests, and it is this: To grow readership.

Awards are very nice to win, and they look pretty as part of your bio and on your shelf at home. But outside of the writing community, few readers pay any attention to awards. Sad but true. Therefore, since my goal in contests is to grow my readership, I seek out contests that are judged by readers rather than fellow writers. I want my books to get into the hands of readers who’ve never read my work before and I hope they will then want to read more of my books.

Two exceptions to this rule are RWA’s RITA Award and ACFW’s Book of the Year. In these two

cases, I want to be judged by my peers.

If you have been writing for any length of time at all, your “world” becomes peopled with other writers who know you and who think like you think. This narrows our world and can make our judgment a bit weak in some areas. We novelists pay attention to which publishers are publishing what books. We forget that very few readers care at all about what the name of the publisher is on the spine. But if our main readership is only other writers, we won’t last long in this business. We need tens of thousands of readers, and we must grow our readership beyond our circle of writing friends and acquaintances.

Three contests I enter every year (unless I miss the deadline as I did on one of them this year): the Booksellers Best Awards, judged by booksellers; the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest, judged by readers; and the National Readers Choice Award, judged by readers. I consider entering these contests to be marketing. If I never final or win, I have put my books in the hands of 12 to 15 readers who may have seen my work for the first time.

Well, there you have it. My uncensored thoughts on contests. I hope they prove helpful to someone.

In the grip of His grace, Robin
_____________________________________________________
Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd's Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 55 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Look for her latest releases, The Perfect Life (Thomas Nelson/Women of Faith Fiction, Feb. 2008) and Wagered Heart (Zondervan, May 2008).

You’ll find her on-line at her web site http://www.robinleehatcher.com/ (book excerpts, testimony, and more) and on her blog http://robinlee.typepad.com/ (where she bloviates about all sorts of things, from Bible studies to American Idol to her novel-in-progress to current events).