I saw a call for submissions yesterday that really made me shake my head in wonder. In order to submit to this anthology you had to be a member of a the local and national chapter of an organization ( I won't name names here ). Membership for the two was $60, even if you were already a national member you had to pay $20 to the local in order to submit. The pay if your story was selected? $10 or a copy of the anthology. Money flows to the writer, folks, but it sure seems like a great money-maker for the local chapter if writers take the bait. And yes, I'm being snarky. Paying for the privilege to submit isn't in a writer's best interest.
Writers living in the UK might be interested in this short story contest. The three finalists win tickets to Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival. They're looking for 2000 - 5000 words with this starter sentence by Stuart McBride. "In my experience, those who beg for mercy seldom deserve it." Cool starter even if you can't enter! You can find the details here http://uktv.co.uk/alibi/homepage/sid/8165/homepageID/3604/ There's no fee to enter.
And finally, the lovely Brian Lindenmuth sent me this link. http://io9.com/5457388/12-secrets-to-being-a-super+prolific-short+story-writer?skyline=true&s=i This is a great essay with twelve tips for speeding up your productivity with the goal of writing a short story a week. I use most of these rules though there are a couple that make me stumble, like not knowing where I'm going when I start. I have some lovely openings that just...well...stop because there's nothing else to say.
10 comments:
There are a LOT of contests that charge an entry fee, or reading fee as they're generally known. Borderline scam if you ask me.
Yes, I tend not to post contests that charge a fee, though some people swear by them. I guess they figure the prestige is worth the entry fee if they win.
Have you changed your name, Anton? I like the new avatar.
Hi, Sandra. I'm not a member of the Desert Sleuths chapter of Sisters in Crime - yes, I'll name the entity of which you're speaking - but as member of the Chesapeake Chapter, let me speak up for my sisters:
Sisters in Crime was started more than 20 years ago to help promote gender equity in the mystery field and help women authors, particularly new authors, get a leg up. One way many of the chapters have helped do this is by putting out anthologies.
Anthologies give the authors a chance to submit to a publication the authors might have a good chance of getting into and getting their name out there. I've had two stories published in anthologies coordinated by the Chesapeake Chapter, and published by legitimate publishers, and I'm proud of them! Each volume of the Chesapeake Crimes series has had stories nominated for the Agatha and/or Anthony Award. In some cases, the nominated authors' stories (mine included) were their first published works in the mystery field.
The chapters don't put out these anthologies to make money. The do it to help their members. Indeed, the Chesapeake Chapter will have our fourth volume of the anthology come out in April. I'm one of the coordinating editors. We received 40 some-odd submissions. 20 were chosen blindly by editors who were precluded from submitting. The authors whose works were chosen recived strong editorial assistance from the editors, which helped improve the authors' stories and their skills.
Now, back to Desert Sleuths - do they have to limit membership to chapter members? No, but I don't have a problem with them doing so. We in the Chesapeake Chapter have done it both ways, some of our anthologies we opened up to all members of Sisters in Crime, whether you were a chapter member or not. Others we limited to chapter members.
I could go on, but that's the gist. Yes, there are scams out there, but I don't think this is one of them. For folks who are members of the Desert Sleuths chapter - the ones the anthology chiefly is designed to assist - it doesn't cost them anything to submit, because they are already members.
That all said, I read this blog every day, I usually agree with the things you say, and I so enjoyed being published with you in The Gift of Murder this past fall, so I hope you'll take this long response in the spirit in which it is sent. Feel better!
barb
I've got nothing against the chapter, Barbara, nor with SinC ( the reason I didn't name names ). Putting that call out to members of SMFS who are flung out across the world didn't seem quite right to me.
Most of them can't be active members of the local due to geography, so just being a member of SinC should have been enough to satisfy their requirements if they wanted outside ( of their area ) submissions. That was the part that bothered me.
It's almost like saying, "We want your dues but we don't want you."
I expect the chapter didn't look at it that way, but that's the way it reads.
Hi, again. I see your point about the SMFS posting, but you never know if there might be SMFS members who live in the Desert Sleuths' chapter area and who - somehow, some way - don't know about Sisters in Crime or who aren't a member of the local chapter. Maybe they'll get a few new members out of this, whether the new members submit to the anthology or not. Seems like a win win to me.
Oh, and by the way, the only reason I named SinC in the first place is because I bet there are other SMFSers out there, like me, who saw the SMFS post earlier today then read your blog and thus knew about whom you spoke.
Overall, I avoid contests that charge a reading fee, but like Barb, I believe there are a few exceptions. And the one I make is for a local small group that
a. is small and charges a small fee to join
b. you don't have to belong to the group to enter the contest, it just has to be about the region and it's a small fee
c. I know what they use the money for, and it's to run the group
d. it's a type of writing I don't usually do, and no matter who wins I learn a great deal from the writing
e. these people are my friends.
Well, I'm probably just digging myself a deeper hole here, but...the bottom line is they require you to spend $60 or at least $20 in order to submit to their anthology. It's not a contest with prizes, its a submission process for which you're paying to submit.
Yes, you get some perks by joining SinC and if you're a local at the chapter, it might be to your advantage to join. But this wasn't a membership drive, it was a call for submissions that required writers to pay.
And yes, Conda, there are times when paying a fee is to your advantage. As long as the writer takes into consideration all the pros and cons of paying a fee and feels it's worth their dollars, that's fine.
We're always told that money should flow towards the writer, I couldn't see that happening in this case. For those in the area it's probably a win/win for them but for anyone outside of the area, there is no upside that I can see.
I do see your point, Sandra. I'm a SinC member and honestly, I'm a bit on the fence about this one because the chapter is limited by geography. I wouldn't have any problem if the chapter put out a call for submissions within the SinC group and left it up to the members to decide whether or not joining the Desert Sleuths chapter is beneficial.
I think the way the call for submissions is worded is very important. Does it emphasize the benefits of belonging to both the national organization and chapter? If not, I think it could potentially come across as a pay-to-play situation. SinC has a wonderful reputation and I wouldn't want that reputation to be harmed in any way. I love my Sisters.
MWA puts out an anthology each year. In addition to contracting with "name" authors, there's an open call for submissions from MWA members. Membership in MWA is 90 bucks. So one could make the same argument. However, I don't know if MWA limits their advertising to members and on their website or not.
Anon again . . . Okay, I'm a SMFS member and just read the call for submissions. I'm not terribly comfortable with the way the call was presented on the list. It does come across as, "Hey, you need to pay us $60 if you want to submit," which is NOT the way I would want SinC to be viewed. There are so many iffy publishing "opportunities" out there and most writers are so desperate to be published, I would hate for anyone to view SinC as an organiation that's trying to make a quick buck. (Which they are definitely not.)
I think it might have been better if the call was posted as an FYI to SinC members on the list (as I'm sure there are many). Then there should have been a clarification that membership in Desert Sleuths does cost $20, but it's a great chapter for those who live in the area.
The MWA call is always to those who are already members, anonymous, they don't make an open call on other boards, that I'm aware of. When they do make open calls, they don't require membership to submit.
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