Crack the Spine - New Season, New Submission

[crackthespine]

Crack the Spine publishes a digital literary magazine once per week. With our first print anthology featuring the best of our recent publications nearing completion, we need new submissions! All poems and stories accepted for publication in our weekly digital magazine are eligible for print publication in our next quarterly anthology. View our complete submission guidelines and find our contact information at: http://www.crackthespine.com/p/submissions_03.html

We welcome the experimental and the traditional equally. Send us work that offers more questions and answers and we're sure to love it!

[mammamaia]

what do you pay?

[lesliemunnelly]

Just looked them up. They don't pay, but they also don't charge reading fees. May be a way to get a foot in the door for some; I'm sticking with the contests in established periodicals, though.

[mammamaia]

for anyone wanting to attain professional status in the writing field, i wouldn't recommend wasting time and effort on either freebies or contests... neither will help much, if at all, to become established as a bankable author... the only way to do that is to submit your work to paying venues and get paid for it...

[lesliemunnelly]

So, if I win a contest, or get an honorable mention, that doesn't count? Leslie

[mammamaia]

it won't count with agents or publishers... they're only interested in whether what you have to offer them is marketable, or not... and winning or getting an honorable mention in some dinky, obscure contest isn't going to make them think you're a good writer... the only proof is in the pudding they can see--your query letter and submitted chapters...

of course, if some previous published book of yours has won a pulitzer, pen, or edgar, that would indeed be impressive... but in that case, you'd already have an agent and publisher, right?... contests you enter with unpublished works aren't usually worth the fees they charge...

[Crono91]

it won't count with agents or publishers... they're only interested in whether what you have to offer them is marketable, or not... and winning or getting an honorable mention in some dinky, obscure contest isn't going to make them think you're a good writer... the only proof is in the pudding they can see--your query letter and submitted chapters...

of course, if some previous published book of yours has won a pulitzer, pen, or edgar, that would indeed be impressive... but in that case, you'd already have an agent and publisher, right?... contests you enter with unpublished works aren't usually worth the fees they charge...

Maia, I usually love your no-nonsense attitude on here, but I have to disagree with you on this. My opinion comes from my observation with interviews. When your interviewer asks you a question--you can either answer, or don't answer. Even if your answer sucks, it is 10x better than saying, "I don't know." The reasons is behind the human memory. When your interviewer looks back, they will remember the person who gave an answer over the person who didn't. Trust me.

This same scenario can be placed in using contests as "badges." True, Maia's impression is correct--it is your marketable work that will sell you, not necessarily your accomplishments. That being said, an agent is more prone to remembering you if you had something to offer. The words "I won" stick in an agent's mind. It would stick in anyone's mind. And your name will inevitable pop in their head than the name of someone who had nothing to offer. But obviously, as Maia was pointing out, if the other person has a spectacular story then they will stand out.

My point is, having won a contest can no way hurt you (unless the contest is childish or sketchy, like the feeling I'm getting from this e Magazine. (No offense, I could easily be wrong))

[mammamaia]

My point is, having won a contest can no way hurt you (unless the contest is childish or sketchy, like the feeling I'm getting from this e Magazine. (No offense, I could easily be wrong))

read my last sentence again... legit agents are in agreement with that... and they won't think highly of someone querying them who brags about winning anything but one of the most prestigious, well-known literary comps... the general consensus among pros in the writing/publishing world is that amateurs and hobby writers enter contests... serious writers submit their work to agents and paying publishers... mentioning that you've won some obscure contest in a query is a red flag to an agent, not a dollar sign...

[Crono91]

My point is, having won a contest can no way hurt you (unless the contest is childish or sketchy, like the feeling I'm getting from this e Magazine. (No offense, I could easily be wrong))

read my last sentence again... legit agents are in agreement with that... and they won't think highly of someone querying them who brags about winning anything but one of the most prestigious, well-known literary comps... the general consensus among pros in the writing/publishing world is that amateurs and hobby writers enter contests... serious writers submit their work to agents and paying publishers... mentioning that you've won some obscure contest in a query is a red flag to an agent, not a dollar sign...

Well if that is true; if entering a contest makes you appear as weaker than others, then I guess you shouldn't include it in the query. I've never entered a contest, so I always feel a little weird not having anything to put in the "about me" section of the query. But if you're saying that's better, then now I'm happy ^_^

[mammamaia]

I've never entered a contest, so I always feel a little weird not having anything to put in the "about me" section of the query. But if you're saying that's better, then now I'm happy ^_^

yes, if you don't have any relevant paid credits to list, or any expertise connected to the book you're querying about, it's best to say nothing about you and let your book sell itself...