Maybe it’s just me but I have never been able to understand the whole concept of pay-to-enter competitions. I view the winning of such a competition as being less desirable than a competition I did not have to pay to enter. The money thing takes the edge off, know what I mean?

Some of these pay-to-enter things are quite high profile, with big name companies running them, big companies who want you to pay big bucks for the pleasure of entering your work into a competition you most likely won’t win. It wouldn’t be so bad if you got your money back if you didn’t win but just losing the money and getting nothing seems a bit nutso to me.

If you want to throw money away, throw it at me. I’ll post on my blog that you’ve won a competition and I’ll even design and send you an E-certificate as a prize which, along with the considerable kudos of course, will make you feel all fuzzy inside. No?  Why ever the fuck not? It’s exactly what you’re doing when entering all those other pay-to-enter competitions so why not pay me to enter mine?

Seriously though, why are authors so desperate to get rid of their money? Have they no discernment? No common sense?

I seriously doubt whether winning such a competition actually translates into real lasting sales increases. Oh you might get a spike for a day or so until something else on facebook catches people’s attention, but will that increase continue for years into the future? I don’t think so. The other thing I wonder about is whether normal everyday readers actually give a shit whether you’ve won this or that competition when they’re wondering whether to shell out their hard earned on your book or not.

Maybe these competitions are more for authors to promenade and display to other authors, rather than to impress readers.