Competition problems re publication
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:19 pm
In another thread (‘Just a question’) Bob raised the issue of loss of anonymity when written competition results are published…a problem that judges have to deal with. But there is another problem that often arises in competition-land, and this is one that organisers can, and should, address.
A lot of competitions these days produce guidelines which include a provision that entries cannot have been “previously published” (some also specifying that this includes on-line publication). But is this requirement reasonable, and can it be observed?
I ask these questions because experience has taught me that it is impossible to know with any certainty whether or not some poems of mine have been published because sending them off to a competition opens up a whole range of possibilities. For example, a number of competitions state that “winning entries” or “selected entries” may be published in an anthology and/or in a local newspaper and/or on-line. But unless competition organisers send a copy of the anthology (sometimes happens) or a copy of the local paper (never happens) then poems can be “published” without my knowledge.
Just last week, quite by accident, I found a poem of mine on a website. Late last year one appeared in a magazine (not ABPA) which, fortunately, I subscribe to…but there was nothing in the competition guidelines to say this might happen, nor was my permission sought for publication. So although we retain copyright over our poems, we have very little control over where and how they might be published once they’ve been submitted to a competition…and we don’t necessarily know if they've made it into print. Therefore a blanket rule banning entries that have been “previously published” is unreasonable and unworkable.
The provision needs to be more specific. It would be simpler and fairer to say that entries should not have been previously published for the individual profit of the author. That would, quite reasonably, preclude poems from books that the author has published and sold. It would also preclude poems that have been published for payment in a magazine. But it would allow anything that has been posted on this website and any non-prize-winning poem that might have appeared in an anthology.
A vague statement is counter-productive for competition organisers because it can reduce the number of entries they receive and this affects revenue. There are so many modes of publication these days that it’s impossible to keep track of them all, and competition organisers need to keep this in mind when framing their guidelines.
Any thoughts/suggestions/alternatives?
David
A lot of competitions these days produce guidelines which include a provision that entries cannot have been “previously published” (some also specifying that this includes on-line publication). But is this requirement reasonable, and can it be observed?
I ask these questions because experience has taught me that it is impossible to know with any certainty whether or not some poems of mine have been published because sending them off to a competition opens up a whole range of possibilities. For example, a number of competitions state that “winning entries” or “selected entries” may be published in an anthology and/or in a local newspaper and/or on-line. But unless competition organisers send a copy of the anthology (sometimes happens) or a copy of the local paper (never happens) then poems can be “published” without my knowledge.
Just last week, quite by accident, I found a poem of mine on a website. Late last year one appeared in a magazine (not ABPA) which, fortunately, I subscribe to…but there was nothing in the competition guidelines to say this might happen, nor was my permission sought for publication. So although we retain copyright over our poems, we have very little control over where and how they might be published once they’ve been submitted to a competition…and we don’t necessarily know if they've made it into print. Therefore a blanket rule banning entries that have been “previously published” is unreasonable and unworkable.
The provision needs to be more specific. It would be simpler and fairer to say that entries should not have been previously published for the individual profit of the author. That would, quite reasonably, preclude poems from books that the author has published and sold. It would also preclude poems that have been published for payment in a magazine. But it would allow anything that has been posted on this website and any non-prize-winning poem that might have appeared in an anthology.
A vague statement is counter-productive for competition organisers because it can reduce the number of entries they receive and this affects revenue. There are so many modes of publication these days that it’s impossible to keep track of them all, and competition organisers need to keep this in mind when framing their guidelines.
Any thoughts/suggestions/alternatives?
David