Warning Signs of a Bad Literary Contest (2024)

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The typical goal of a bad literary contest is to extract money from authors rather than honor excellence. Other questionable contests seem to be an attempt to hoover up a large amount of content on the cheap. Bad contests typically show several of these warning signs. When in doubt, check with your local poetry society.

1. An unusually large number and size of cash awards (e.g., $58,000/year)
   
2. The contest claims the right to publish your work as soon as you enter it, even if you don't win a prize
   
3. Contest sponsor tries hard to sell you products that incorporate your work, like anthologies
   
4. Contest is free to enter, but 'winners' have to pay a high price for own copy of book
   
5. Contest turns up on "Scam Warning" pages when you search for it with Google
   
6. Hard to contact sponsor with questions—responses are slow or evasive
   
7. Low standards—not choosy about who gets published
   
8. Name is close to that of a prestigious contest but for a small difference
   
9. Prize is not money or publication, but 'agency representation' or something you must pay for
   
10. Hard to find the work of past winners to judge their quality for yourself
    
11. Hard to find information about who judges the contest
    
12. Hard to find information about who sponsors the contest
    
13. Small prize relative to reading fee (e.g., $5 fee for a $50 top prize)
    
14. Advertised in mass-market magazines (Parade) and newspapers (Sunday comics) unrelated to literature
    
15. You win a prize—but have to pay to attend a convention to receive it
    
16. Only short poems (30 lines or less) are accepted—the better to pack them into an anthology