Saturday, January 15, 2011

Warning!! Warning!!

I feel like the robot from Lost in Space!

For those of you who have seen First One Digital Publishing's contest please check out the following links before you consider entering.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/01/15/todays-writing-contest-to-run-like-hell-from/

http://suricattus.livejournal.com/1342214.html

Always read the fine print, the world is full of sharks!

6 comments:

Sean Patrick Reardon said...

That is unbelievable, almost comical, and $149 to enter..absurd.

sandra seamans said...

Yes, but the problem is some writers are so desperate to be published that they will fork out that $149 and that's what this company is banking on.

David Barber said...

WTF?? I certainly hope they get zero entries. Surely people aren't that desperate. Like one said, if you've got something good enough send it to a publisher. That'll only cost you the price of postage and not $149.

Is it legal, Sandra??

sandra seamans said...

Legal? Yes, because everything is stated in a contract that the writer has to sign. Ethical - not a chance!

I've found quite a few contests around that once you enter the story belongs to them, this is both paying and non-paying so it's something you have to watch out for. And one of the reasons I don't list a lot of contests on the blog.

EA said...

Sandra, thank you for pointing this out. Although our online writing community has lots of support and opportunity for writers, it also has a dark side. This is just one of them. Thanks for the alert.
Elaine Ash

sandra seamans said...

Yes, there's been a lot of darkness exposed this past year, Elaine. From the plagiarist to this, we always have to take care. And most important is to remember that money flows to the writer, not the other way around.