Newbie question re: contest publishing

[jandrewhamilton]

I just found out I won a writing contest award for the first chapter of my WIP novel! It is my first award for writing so I am excited. The contest sponsor publishes winners in an online journal, although I can opt out of that. First thought was why would I want to opt out? Then I starting thinking that there might actually be reasons that I do NOT want to have this published...like the novel is not finished...the first chapter will undoubtedly change during revision...am I giving up anything by publishing part of the novel so soon, etc. Am I over thinking it? Any advice/guidance? Thanks!

[Sommer Leigh]

This is not my area of expertise, but if you want to do something in the future with this WIP, you might run into some problems with First Publication Rights if you've already published the first chapter. Someone else might have first hand experience with this, but my biggest advice would be to make sure you read the fine print on that contest VERY VERY VERY CAREFULLY. And in fact, I would suggest you ask other writers to read the fine print for you as well and see if anything stands out to them.

If you have not done so already, I would do a search on the contest and the sponsors are google and in other writing forums for anyone who has had dealings with them in the past. It might not be fair to legit groups, but I've seen enough writers get burned by underhanded, so-called "contests" that my first knee jerk reaction is to think they are all a scam until proven otherwise. It might sound paranoid, but better safe than sorry right?

And of course, check out Writer Beware! http://accrispin.blogspot.com/ to make sure they haven't written about the publisher, contest, or organization before.

Of course, if they end up being totally legit and my warnings are for nothing, then CONGRATULATIONS! It is awesome that you won

[jandrewhamilton]

Thanks so much for the response. The contest was sponsored by a state writer's group, is associated with their annual conference, had a nominal fee, and the journal they publish clearly states that authors retain all rights. I have heard about contest scams in the past and I this is nothing like that. I just was thinking about any reason why I should not have the work published, given that I basically no experience.

[Sommer Leigh]

Thanks so much for the response. The contest was sponsored by a state writer's group, is associated with their annual conference, had a nominal fee, and the journal they publish clearly states that authors retain all rights. I have heard about contest scams in the past and I this is nothing like that. I just was thinking about any reason why I should not have the work published, given that I basically no experience.

The rights thing isn't necessarily an issue for them so much as it's an issue for anyone you want to publish with in the future if they have a clause about it not being published anywhere else prior. I've seen it with time limits too, like within the last two years, etc.

[polymath]

Agency scouts tend to follow reputable contests. A state-sponsored organization falls into a highly reputable category. If a work excerpt is sufficiently artful to place high in the competition; one, it might garner agency attention; two, it might not matter to a publisher that partial first publication rights have been impacted. The only issue that might arise is acknowledging previous publication of the excerpt. A best form and common practice that accrues prestige and publicity for all concerned.