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Hi, everyone.

Welcome to Week 12 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge.

This Week's Topic is: My Contest Experiences (Win, Lose, Get Signed?)

(queue the laugh track, please)

(crickets?)

Yeah, I have nothing to contribute to this week's challenge topic, sorry.

I think we've gone over this before, but, I'm too sensitive and spineless to set myself up for anything that involves the possibility of failure or judgement via peer evaluation.

I play the Lottery when their jackpots go sky-high, but even then I don't get anything in return.

An old friend of mine took her little ones down to some zoo in Ohio, and they were having a raffle that particular day, and of the thousands who went to that zoo that day, SHE came home with a brand new Chrysler convertible.

She told me she 'just had this feeling' she was going to win, and she did.

There was the time, ages ago, when some fitness club phoned to say I'd won their contest, (free 3-month membership) which they claim I had filled out a form to enter.

Trouble was, I hadn't joined nor visited a fitness club in all my life, so I said, "Yeah, sure." and hung up.

Even before that, I had also received an 'urgent' snail-mail saying I had the winning # for a car drawing, so I went to the dealership, stood in a long line of noise, too many helium-filled balloons for my nerves to handle, and a bit of anticipation mixed with doubt rolling around inside my head.

One by one, all of us 'winners' entered these steel doors.

When my turn came, the doors flew open, a salesman waved me inside, and... nothing.

From noisy chaos to dead air in less than a second, and one hell of a you've-been-suckered moment for me NOT to be utterly embarrassed of myself.

Two other guys sitting at a cardboard table with more entry forms, some pens, more balloons, and my 'consolation' prize... a cheap, fake gold chain not even big enough to fit around my wrist.

And, for the record, my wrists are really tiny!

Earn The Necklace

Please don't get me wrong.

I wanted to win!

The car, the lottery, a gym membership...

I'd be tickled PINK to say I actually won something, believe me.

Just as much as I'd love to win some writing contest.

If I had the nerve to enter and not think about that stupid car dealership thing at the same time.

It might just be me, too, because I've been in 3 separate classrooms now, in 3 separate schools all within the past 12 months or so where some contest or another is being held while I'm the sub.

Never has anyone from the class I'm subbing ever won any of the prizes 😞

The last contest actually took place that day I told you guys about in last week's post, and the prizes were amazing!

A Mac iPad, a $150 Amazon Gift Card, 4 Tickets to one of the March Madness basketball games, and then some lesser prizes of restaurant certificates, t-shirts, and some school supplies.

I felt as let-down as the kids with the sad faces who'd all gambled and lost that day.

I am the Charlie Brown of the real world, folks, even if I always felt so sorry for him and never actually identified with him until I was too old to think it mattered anymore.

Now, I'm not much of a Facebook fan anymore, nor Social Media in general, since they have all proved time and again how useless they are for anyone WITHOUT a huge following.

However, Facebook seems to be the leader for Authors who self-promote, and sometimes I see posts asking us to UP vote their work in order for them to win some award or contest.

Even if I haven't read the work?

Yep!

Just click on the link, follow the instructions, and ta-da!

So, again, more proof that I am right about an author not necessarily needing talent or ability to become a Best Seller... just tons and tons of willing 'friends'.

They are legal Pyramid Schemes to my way of thinking: you recruit your friends, who recruit their friends, who recruit their friends, who recruit their friends...

The more recruits, the more votes, the higher your chances of winning become.

Don't matter none if the book hasn't been read by any of them, just that they vote!

I even saw one that said, "Enter As Many Times As You Wish!"

and another that said, "Only One Entry Per Hour, Please"

As for writing contests that involve judgment via Peer Groups, that is something different and obviously far more prestigious in the Contest Winning scheme of things.

I honestly don't know if any of these types of Awards exist anymore, (Pulitzer aside, of course), so I don't want to get in too deep with this one, except to say that if you are entering a legitimate contest where a select few Established Authors are going to be reading and reviewing your entry, then judging it as a group, well... jeez, if you win something like that, you are AMAZING!

I would be interested in entering as well, but not with the hope of winning.

Rather, I would hope that those judging my work would give me some tips, pointers, helpful advice, and loads of upbeat and encouraging words of wisdom.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

Lastly, if you want to look at the quarterly #PitMad events that occur on Twitter for us authors as being some type of Contest, so be it.

I can't win that one, either.

One time I even received the help of a lady who actually liked to write blurbs, and she did a terrific job reworking my convoluted sentences into something decent.

Still, no takers.

No up-votes, no 'likes', and no interested publishers or their editors.

So, while I totally agree with the You Can't Win if You Don't Play logic, I am not gullible enough to believe I still have a chance at winning.

And, unlike everyone else, it never does my heart good to say, "Well, at least I tried!"

No, instead I cry, sulk, mope about, hide under the covers, and then vow to never again set myself up for that type of a let-down.

Because it hurts.

As always, I thank you kindly for stopping by and reading my post!

Please scroll down to the LinkyLink tool and click on the next in line to read about Their Contest Experiences.

Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. To help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose, Marketing for Romance Writers is announcing the 2018 Blog Challenge. Each week, authors use our writing prompt to create a meaningful blog post. We'll be posting every Friday... join us as often as possible.
All authors with blogs are welcome to participate.