Writing Contests

I’m going to take a break from books this week to talk about writing competitions. I mentioned recently that I judged a novel contest, which was more taxing than the poetry and essay contests I’ve judged because I had to include feedback for the authors.

Submitting work to contests makes up an essential part of a writer’s marketing strategy. An author’s bio should include at least a couple of awards, especially if the author has not yet published very much. Not quite as uncertain as playing...