competitions

Uhh... as long as it isn't 'published published', ie is in a book with its own ISBN number or a magazine, then I fink you're okay. After all, you retain the copyright on any poems on this site and you don't get paid. You can still offer First Serial Rights (or whatever that thing's called) to a publisher, so to all intents and purposes it's not published. I'm not an authority on this, but I did phone up Bridport to ask about the stories I planned to enter - because at that stage the CWS was going to publish an anthology (wot never 'appened) and there was the outside chance of my own collection seeing print. The guy said non-paid publication online was not a problem. I think that's the case pretty much across the board. What comps are coming up, btw?

'Fraid that's not quite correct, Rokkit. Most (if not all) competitions will consider stuff published on the net as being 'in the public domain' and therefore 'published'. I learnt a long time ago (and to my cost) NEVER to put anything on the net if I wanted to either enter it in a competition or submit it to a print mag, whether they pay (even if it's only a complimentary copy) or not. Some mags (like Carillon) don't mind if a piece has been on the net, but others (like Pindeldyboz) will have nothing to do with it if it has, no matter how much they like your piece. As always: If in doubt, contact the editor/organiser and ask. As regards competitions, I'd never take the chance personally. Being blacklisted ain't much fun. Not that I ever HAVE been, you understand :-) Oh, and if you're interested in forthcoming comps, you could do worse than to check out www.ukauthors.com which has loads...

where is this competition and what is it?

Thanks for the forthcoming competitions infom Andrea. I'm only going by what the guy at the Bridport Prize office told me. Having said that, I didn't take any chances and entered 'unseen' material. I guess it's different if it's an online competition and you've been published online already, cos it's kind of the same sphere. If in doubt and all that. But hey - does this mean I can attribute all my non-wins as the result of rules infringement? I'll bet they were all like 'Hot damn! If this isn't the *best* thing I've ever read in my life! Oh shoot... it's on abctales. Well, we'll just have to give the three grand to this retarded semi-autobiographical piece written in Key Stage 2 English by a middle-aged divorced mother of two about the spectre of her dead father as manifested in an old barn in Herefordshire... again.'

If the only place it is "published" is here, then you could take the piece off the site when submitting it to a print publication. Strictly speaking that probably is a meaningless gesture to a lawyer, but it might be sufficient for a little magazine.

'...But hey - does this mean I can attribute all my non-wins as the result of rules infringement?...' 'Course not, Rokkit :-) You can always chance it of course but, if you DO get 'found out' (and the writing world is actually a very small one), you're rep's shot and you COULD get blacklisted. Agree with Justyn to a certain extent, although the small press world is even smaller - so again, if it's against their policy and they find out (easy enough to do, let's face it) that's buggered your chances with all the other small press mags. Really IS better to be upfront and ask first.

Thanks very much for your help guys. Rokkitnite - I gotta few details of different competitions, most with November 30 deadlines, but am in Norwich library and don't have them on me (they're on the back of an envelope is why!). Will email them to you next time I have computer access.

It's a difficult one. In terms of the magazines I edit, I wouldn't really worry as long as a piece isn't likely to have been read already by most of the people who read my magazine. I think there's a limit to how picky you can be about these things if you're not paying people. Not sure about competitions. I get entry forms for competions saying you're not allowed to enter stuff that's either been published or submitted for publication anywhere else. That generaly rules out everything I've written that's halfway decent, so I don't enter their competitions. I think people who run small competition and expect you to write stuff specifically for them are taking the p.iss.

If you've tested the water with a piece of work by posting to ABC say, and then do a major edit on the back of any critisism your receive. Would that count as being 'already published' ? What about a title change ?

I haven't as yet entered a competition where the organisers live in a hut in the North Pole and have entries forwarded to them by carrier seals. (now *there's* a non sequitir of an opener if ever I heard one - don't worry, I'm in danger of making a point here) You *can* contact them, if push comes to shove. Phone or email the organisers and be honest. Say I've published my work on a non-paying internet site - would you consider it ineligible for the competition as a result? And bottom line - competitions offer a brilliant incentive to whip up something new and even better than anything you've done before. I do have a back catalogue but I try to push myself to come up with something specifically for the contest, on the basis that even if I bomb out (which is the norm) at least I'll have a brand spanking new story in my portfolio.

'...If you've tested the water with a piece of work by posting to ABC say, and then do a major edit on the back of any critisism your receive. Would that count as being 'already published' ? What about a title change ?...' No, it wouldn't because, in theory, you have a totally new story/poem. It's an old 'trick' with article writing. You can milk 'em dry (the article, that is!)by changing the title and the text and submitting is elsewhere. Another one is to send exactly the same article (title an' all) to different countries offering 'First British', First American', 'First Canadian' etc Serial rights. All perfectly acceptable, honourable and legit.