Understanding Poetry Contests

April is National Poetry Month 2009, which means there will be loads of poetry contests for the aspiring poet to enter.
Sifting through the piles of contests available to find the ones best suited to your poetry can be a challenge. Among the varying types of poetry contests, there are scams to be aware of.

Finding a Contest
When trying to discern between a real contest and a scam, the Utmost Christian Writers Foundation advises poets to avoid contests with large cash prizes but no entry fee or visible sponsors. The UCWF suggests asking these questions when checking out contest:

• Who is judging contest?
• When is the deadline?
• What are the requirements for payment of prizes?
• Is there a brick-and-mortar address available?

Visit the Utmost Christian Writers Foundation for more information on telling the difference between a real poetry contest and a scam.

Submission Guidelines
When submitting your work to a to a poetry contest(or any kind of contest), it is vital to read the submission guidelines and rules. Be aware of the submission deadline, mode of entry, entry fee, and manuscript format.

Submission Deadline
Know when the contest ends. If the rules say that the submission must be postmarked no later than April 1, your poem must be in the mail no later than April 1. If you mail your poem on April 2, it will be disqualified.

Mark submission deadlines on your calendar so that you don't miss them. This is especially useful if you are entering more than one contest. If your submission must be postmarked by a certain date, you may want to mark it on your calendar a day early. If your submission must be received by a certain date, you should mark your calendar a week early to ensure that it is received on time.

Mode Of Entry
There are a couple of ways that you can enter a poetry contest. Some contests require that you mail or e-mail your submission, while others want you to type your poetry into a little box and submit it on the website.

Follow the directions carefully when submitting your entry. If the contest rules state that you should use snail mail, do not send your poetry by e-mail and expect them to accept it.

Entry Fee
Although some contests are free, others have entry fees. Be sure to send the entry fee at the time of submission, unless otherwise directed by the contest guidelines. Do not send cash through the mail. A check or money order is best.

Some contests allow you to submit more than one entry. Generally, this means that you would be expected to pay an entry fee for each submission. For example, if the entry fee is $10 and you submit 5 poems, you would need to pay a total of $50 in entry fees.

Manuscript Format
Use extra care when preparing your poetry for submission to a contest. Does the contest require a cover page? Are you expected to submit two copies of your poem? Avoid disqualification by following the directions to the letter.

For e-mail submissions, know whether you are to send your submission in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment.

For website submissions (type your poetry into the box and submit), take care when entering your poetry. The best choice is to type your poem directly into the box.

If you must cut and paste, use care when doing so from a Word document. Word document formatting sometimes messes up the look of your writing when it is pasted it into a website box.

A way to avoid this formatting issue is to save your work to Notepad or WordPad first and copy it to the box from there.

Grammar
Be sure to check your spelling and grammar before submitting a poem to a contest. Do not rely on spellcheck alone. Proofread your poetry, set it aside and proofread it again later, and then ask a friend to read it.

Your Poetry
Plagiarism is unacceptable in any writing.

Any poetry you submit to a contest should be your own original work. Your contest submissions should be previously unpublished.

Previous Contest Winners
Read the poetry of previous contest winners to get an idea of what the judges look for. If the judges tend to lean toward humorous poetry, a dark melancholy poem may not go over so well.

Submit, Submit, Submit
Never give up. Continue to follow your dream and pour your passion into your poetry. Enter contests whenever you can, but don't measure yourself by whether you win or lose.

Poetry Contests
Boston ReviewTwelfth Annual Poetry Contest
Grand prize: $1500
Deadline: June 1, 2009
Entry fee: $20

To find out more about the 12th Annual Poetry Contest, visit the Boston Review contest page.

Paws for Poetry 2009
Grand prize: a prize package worth $50
Deadline: March 31, 2009
Entry fee: free

This contest is open to children ages 7 to 12 only. Visit Paws for Poetry 2009 for more details.