Business Plan for the Contest Diva

With all this talk about contests lately (American Title—vote for Trish!) (The Golden Heart – deadline's coming up!) (And hey, our own Susan Seyfarth won Best of the Best in Indiana's Golden Opportunity contest!), I think it's time we brought up a very important topic. Okay, it's a dry, boring, left-brain topic, but if you’re serious about entering and winning contests, you're going to need a plan.

A Business Plan.

I speak from experience. I’d been entering chapter contests for years, intermittently and without any particular reason or goal in mind. I was lucky enough to stumble into finalling in the Golden Heart in 2002 and I won a Daphne that same year. Pure luck, I assure you. I didn't know what the heck I was doing or why.

Then two years ago at my RWA chapter meeting, someone announced that one of our members had just become an American Title finalist. A few minutes later, they announced that that same person had just won two other contests. The applause was thunderous, the excitement was palpable, the room was buzzing.

I turned to my friend Maureen and said, “Do you feel that?”

She said, “Yeah, what is that?”

I said, “It’s BUZZ. And I want it.”

Yeah. Buzz.


Uh, no, not that kind of buzz.

I'm talking about the kind of buzz where people are talking you up, they're buzzing, and it's all about you. Your name comes up on the short list when Oscar comes to town. Okay, maybe not Oscar, but you know, Maggie. And Susannah. And Emily. And Marlene. And RITA!! Yeah, that Buzz!

Okay, but back to me. I was an unpublished, unagented nobody, so there was only one way I was going to get the Buzz. Through contests. I needed to figure out the best contests for my purposes and then enter them. A lot of them. Oh, and I needed to win. A lot.

What I really needed was a plan.

So for the first time in my life, I wrote out a business plan. I created a spreadsheet. It was a little frightening. I was left-brain-free, a writer, a geek. But I was slowly transforming myself into a ruthless Business Diva.

I won’t get too specific and I don’t want to brag, but my spreadsheet was a thing of beauty. It was color-coordinated with a time line and pretty border shadings, and it listed the contest names and information (cost, page length, other requirements), the name of each manuscript I was entering, the final round judges, the deadlines, the announcement dates, the prizes, and other pertinent information, including the reason I was entering that contest. One contest had a really pretty necklace as the prize. I wanted it.

(Now, all this presupposes that you've got a fabulous manuscript or three to send out. Of course you do! At this point, all you need is good luck and fortuitous timing.)

For me, I wanted to reach my favorite editors but not come across as a pesky stalker. It's a fine line. I tried to be selective and I tried not to get too greedy. I think I did okay. When I became a Golden Heart triple finalist in 2006, then found out I’d also finalled in the American Title contest, it made for one hell of an amazing conference experience. But I was beginning to worry about that greedy factor kicking in, so after winning the GH, I decided not to tempt fate or karma again. It was time to retire my Contest Diva crown and make room for others to play the game. I’d already hit the jackpot. I’d reached my goal.

I got the Buzz. Yeah!

We're all Contest Divas here, right? And even if we're not up for it this year, we all have friends entering the Golden Heart and RITA, along with all sorts of other contests out there. Care to share some of your strategies and goals out there on the contest circuit? Any fun memories? Horror stories? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours!

But first, if you haven’t voted for Trish’s American Title entry, today’s the last day to vote – so go vote here! Then come on back and talk!