I’ve been absent from the MFRW blog hop for a few weeks due to family visits and an author event. Je m’excuse. This week’s topic: Why you should or shouldn’t enter a writing contest. Join the conversation here: http://mfrw52week.blogspot.com/

The chief draws of writing contests are threefold:

• getting your work in front of agents and editors
• getting detailed feedback on your work
• bragging rights, if you win or final in a competition.

So far, I’ve collected two nifty finalist badges, one from RWA Kiss of Death chapter’s Daphne du Maurier Award for Romantic Suspense, and one from RWA Contemporary Romance Writers Stiletto Competition. The Daphne badge will go on my other website when I finally publish that cozy mystery romance—on the back burner for now as I work on my schmexy contemporary romance series. The Stiletto badge was for Through the Red Door. Did finaling help me? Well, I can’t put the badge on my cover, since that book’s traditionally published. I have slapped that cool shoe onto some social media graphics.

I don’t need an agent or editor at this point, since I’ve decided on the small press/indie path. At age 57, I don’t have time to wait around for the nod from the trad pub gatekeepers. I’d rather build my own publishing career than wait for that nod, which can take years—decades, even.

Did the detailed feedback help? In both cases, it gave me a giddy ego boost. The judges’ negative feedback gave me something to work on. So sure, competitions in which you’re guaranteed detailed feedback are helpful. Of course, most competitions I’ve participated in only provide detailed feedback to finalists.

So—are competitions worth it? To me, less and less. I’ll probably continue to enter the biggies, as the boost from being a RITA finalist would be worth the time and $$ involved. Otherwise, meh.

This Friday, September 20, is Reader Appreciation Day at Midnight in the Garden’s Facebook Reader Group. Just click on the link to join. You won’t want to miss this awesome day full of giveaways! I hope you’ll look for my post for your chance to win ebook copies of the Book Nirvana series. Over 120 authors in multiple genres (not just paranormal and suspense) will be giving away books and other goodies all day long! But you have to join the Facebook group, so do it now! (pretty please)  

I had a blast last Friday at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Author Autograph Party in SeaTac Washington. Especially fun was meeting so many Wild Rose Press Authors, including PNWA President Pam Binder. I wasn’t a conference attendee, but from my spot in the “bookstore” I got to listen to the evening’s entertainment, an Actor’s Studio type quiz for the panel of presenters, including RWA President-Elect Damon Suede and romance bestseller Julia Quinn. Funny story: During the signing, I was wracking my brain trying to place the good-looking man chatting up an author at the next table. His face was so familiar—an actor, perhaps? It was Robert Dugoni, y’all! The workshop lineup was most impressive; I look forward to attending this conference next year!

If you’ve made it to the end of this rambling post, thank you. I hope you’ll leave a comment about your experiences with writing contests. Have you found them helpful?