In the Writer Unboxed newsletter (http://www.writerunboxed.com) an anonymous correspondent warned writers not to spend more than you can afford to lose on a contest placement or auction that include the prize of a critique.They say they were stung in one of those situations, with repeated nudges for getting the promised critique getting no response.
The person writes, “Short of notifying the contest or auction sponsors, and shaming an industry professional into providing a response, there’s nothing one can do but swallow the cost and move on. Who’d trust a critique from a defensive person, anyway?"
I find this a maddening attitude, and all too typical of writers who seem to go around with a “kick me” sign on their backs.
What’s wrong with notifying the contest or auction sponsors if you don’t get the prize you were promised? What’s wrong with shaming an industry professional into providing a response—or, better, getting the sponsors to get someone else to give you the promised critique?
If you paid for a product and it was never delivered, would you just shrug your shoulders and "swallow the cost"? I don’t think so, and this is no different.
Some writers think that publishers or agents are doing us a favour by taking us on. They’re not. It’s a business arrangement and they get as much out of it as we do.
Likewise, if someone runs a contest they get something out of it. It may not be money, it may be a raised profile, a way to find authors whose work they want to publish, or to build a list of authors to whom they will market products or services.
That’s not to say their motives are in any way bad, or that they don’t also want to help authors be discovered. But a pure motive doesn’t excuse bad behaviour. They don’t get a free pass to be rude or to take advantage of us and the less we get them away with it, the less it will happen.
(For a friendly guide from idea through to publication, get my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
