A Guide to Sites with Writing Contests

The internet is over flowing with writing contests. There are thousands of sites with competitions for all types of writing. Writers use these sites to try and earn extra money and exposure for their work. What is required for each contest entry? What exposure do the sites offer writers for winning or placing in a contest? How long does it take to receive a response? What are the possible prizes for some of the contests?

In this article, three such sites will be examined for how much positive exposure they give a writer's ability. Along with exposure, they will be evaluated based on the ease of contest entry, the prizes given for each site's contests, and how many winners are chosen per contest and how their winning writings are promoted by each site.

Helium.com is an internet writing site with over a dozen contests with dozens of specific titles sought weekly. One particular contest, the "Channel Champions Contest" runs for six days each week Writers must produce high quality articles to be rated higher in the site's percentile rating system, points are assigned to higher performing articles in correlating order of performance. The more points an article attains the closer it comes to winning or placing in this contest. Winning writers earn 75 dollars for first prize, 25 for second prize, 10 dollars for third prize, and five dollars for fourth prize. There is one winner for first, second, and third prizes respectively and three for fourth place. The higher an article ranks, the heavier it is promoted. Entering their contests and writing for Helium.com is free.

Bookhabit.com is the site for a contest solely for the authors of unpublished books. Entrants upload an unpublished book to the website, site viewers pay to read each entry, and then they download and rate each book. The author is paid 40% of every download cost and the ratings can help each book move on to the next leg of the contest. After the ratings for rounds one and two are collected a "wildcard" book is chosen as a competitor. In the final week of the contest a winner is chosen from among the top ten books in the first two rounds. The winner receives $5,000 and the site provides website widgets for promotion on one's own website of their book. Entries into the contest on Bookhabit and site sign up are free.

Thewritingshow.com is a site presently under construction. It presently contains links to multiple writing sites with contests, jobs, and classes. There are links about writing essays, books, stories, and articles. Tools for teaching creative writing are also linked in at the site. Poetry contests are also linked on the site.

When considering entering any writing contest, every writer most consider what is most important to them in terms of their work being used by any other website or company. Some may advise that people only enter contests where they get good promotion and there is an easy entry process, while others only care whether they maintain the right to their work.