Contest entry fees

[Jada59]

I don't know why but writing contests have ben popping up in my FB feed. Some require you to sign up and pay monthly fee. Others have a one time fee such as $5
If memory serves, way back when I subscribed to Writer's Digest, they listed contests qn many had entry fees.

I have never entered a contest with an entry fee.

I'm just wondering how common this is.

 

[KeithD]

It's common. Even some very respectable contests have fees. I don't enter in contests that require fees either.

 

[SamScribble]

Just yesterday I was sent an invitation to enter a contest. I think they wanted £8 – something like that. I think I'm busy that year.

 

[Jada59]

Thanks!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hell, they probably get the money for the prize fund from the fees, so they are out of pocket zip for running a contest.

I wouldn't enter a contest that had fees either, actually I have only entered a lit contest twice since I have been here.

 

[oggbashan]

My local writing club had an annual contest open to members and non-members alike with a 50 pence entry fee per submission.

My creative writing tutor mentioned it. I annoyed her by winning third prize with a story and second prize with a poem. - total winnings twenty-five pounds. She had been entering for twenty years and had never placed.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Some perfectly reputable contests have fees to cover the costs of organising, but in general I assume everything advertised on FB is a scam. Anything that isn't, I'll hear of elsewhere.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Some perfectly reputable contests have fees to cover the costs of organising, but in general I assume everything advertised on FB is a scam. Anything that isn't, I'll hear of elsewhere.

I work on the theory that if they want you to pay them to write a story for them, it’s a scam, much like vanity publishing.

 

[Ian_Snow]

I work on the theory that if they want you to pay them to write a story for them, it’s a scam, much like vanity publishing.

I subscribe to the same philosophy. Never pay to put your work out into the world.

 

[PennameWombat]

I don't know why but writing contests have ben popping up in my FB feed. Some require you to sign up and pay monthly fee. Others have a one time fee such as $5
If memory serves, way back when I subscribed to Writer's Digest, they listed contests qn many had entry fees.

I have never entered a contest with an entry fee.

I'm just wondering how common this is.

One of my favorite resources (SFWA Writers Beware - Contests and Awards section) doesn't flat out say it's a scam if there's a fee, but close to that.

But that's for one-time fees, to submit to that contest. Paying an ongoing subscription sounds... uh, bad. Like those thirty day free trials, give us your credit card, just remember to cancel before the thirty-first day... and they count on (and get) plenty who forget.

They link to a second one that has an interesting guideline: Red Flags of Writing Contests:

Entry fees can be relative. A $5 fee might sound fine, unless the first prize is a T-shirt or a $10 gift certificate. A $10 fee could be reasonable, unless the first prize is $25. Fees in themselves are not a negative--but the ratio of entry fee to prize money is the tell-tale sign.

FundsforWriters.com has listed contests for thirteen years, and we've reached a point where many sponsors send us contests. If the entry fee is over five percent of the first prize, I scrutinize the contest harder. If it's over ten percent, I decline the request.

Some prizes consist of publication, a hard item to pin down to a dollar amount. In those cases, the publishing venue must have a proven reputation, one that empowers your own reputation if you win or place. But many young, obscure, small presses and indie publishing houses use contest entry fees to finance their operations. To be safe, seek financial compensation AND publication. FundsforWriters doesn't list any contest offering publication only.

Another point these make is if a contest claims the fees "fund the awards", a common bit of fine-print is "if we don't get enough in fees, we chop or eliminate the awards."

YMMV. I've never entered a fee paying contest.