Tips For Submitting Poems To Poetry Competitions
It is known that editors usually only look at the first paragraph of a poem or any written piece to make their judgment. The stack of incoming work is so great that the editors don't want to waste their time on something that they know will not make it into any writing or poetry competitions. The judges of the actual contest will face even larger stacks of written work, so they might be even harder to please in the first line or two. Give the judges a reason to want to continue reading your work. Your written piece should be prestigious and unique. When looking for a competition to submit your work into you should be in search of a contest that actually has an entry fee. If you take the route of searching online you will be faced with many competitions and contests that are advertised as free and no fee. While looking into these types of contests you will have to take a quick step back to think of where the funds come from for the prizes. It's unlikely that there is actually a sponsor that will cover all the costs of that contest. The fees are used to pay the winner their much deserved reward and to help put the entire contest on in the first place. If you go into a contest knowing that you have to put money down it is more likely that you will do your best work to get your moneys worth out of the competition. The average entry fee should be under $75. If you come across a competition that has a larger entry fee you might be looking at a scam. Always be certain to look into the competition prior to entering. Do a background check to see if the contest is really legit. Are the previous winners actual people or are they just names to make you think that you can win money? Who is sponsoring the contest and what kind of reputation do they have? These are all important questions that need to be answered before you make any major decisions. Also, keep in mind that after you have entered into the contest you will be offered numerous services that you really do not need. Save yourself time and money by preparing yourself ahead of time to say no to these things. The work that you submit into writing or poetry competitions should have been proof-read by you and other authors. Make sure you're using proper English, or whatever language you are proficient in. Punctuation should be put in the correct places. If you are submitting your work to an online source this next step will not pertain to you; your work should be submitted on high quality paper, standard size print, with black ink. Try not to have the saddest poem in the contest. You will most likely win more votes if you have a strong beginning, theatrical middle, and leaving your readers with joy at the ending. Most of all, you need to learn what the rules and regulations are for each contest. Follow these rules so that your work actually will make it to the judges. One simple mistake will cost you the entire competition. You might have the best work at the contest, but without following directions 100% you have lost your right to win. |
