Competition problems re publication

[Bob Pacey]

David my understanding would be that if you had not been notified of a win the poem is therefore eligable to enter in other competitions ? Eg has not won a prize if that were the stipulation.

Just as an extra note fo discussion

The other area that gets my dander up is the critiqueing of poems where the info supplied is about as good as " Pardon my French " Tits on a bull! How competitions can charge extra to do this and supply rot is beyond a joke.


I had two poems returned recently with the note. I have classed these poems as Pub Humour no further comment ??????

Now it did not say that the poems did not comply with the set rules so the comment is only a matter of opinion of the judge and to me that should not stop them giving what I paid extra for. How are you surposed to improve with that type of critique ???


Grumble Grumble Grumble had my say going back to sleep now. :lol


Bob

[Maureen K Clifford]

Totally agree with Leonies comment re the payment of comp entry fees. I don't have a cheque account which means I use money orders and that is an extra $6 - 50 on top of the entry fee plus a trip to the PO which is a pain in the backside and more so for people in country areas. If we can pay by direct debit, pay pal or credit card and/or lodge by email it is so much quicker and simpler and that alone would probably encourage more entries. People and therefore comps probably miss out because of deadlines overlooked and no time to get entries in the snail mail system with the fiddle faddle involved - do it over the internet and it is done and dusted easy peasy.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Gee Bob we could have told you that for nothing Anyway what's wrong with Aussie Pub Humour - Aussie humour is some of the best in the world IMO

[Heather]

Maureen I have kept poems off the forum because I've wanted to put them into a comp. I think many of us do that.

Recently I had a question for a comp organiser. I had a poem that had won a novice section in a comp. and queried whether it would be elligible for an open competition as it had not won the overall comp. On this occasion I was advised that YES I could enter it in the comp (The Blackened Billy). In the end I didn't enter but that was the answer I got.

It's a bit of a mine field isn't it?

Heather

[David Campbell]

Leonie and Maureen: It's a good point, although the flip-side is that quite a few people aren't on the net, so going completely in that direction would make it difficult for them. Don't know what the answer is. I've kept a cheque account all these years, but it's now mainly used for magazine subscriptions and competition entries.

Bob: You're right in that many competitions allow you to enter provided the poem hasn't won a prize by the closing date (so no problem), BUT some then go on to say that if you're notified of a prize before the results are announced you must contact the organisers and withdraw the entry. That happened to me once and I wrote withdrawing the poem...only to have the envelope returned unopened with a note on the back "competition entries have closed". You can't win! And some competitions say that you can't submit simultaneous entries, so a poem is 'frozen' until results are announced. With regard to the 'pub humour' all I can say is that you've got to be very careful with humorous poems as what's considered funny is a very individual thing. In general terms, I'd advise against recycling a joke as a poem...mainly because judges have probably seen it many times before. Every competition is bound to have a dunny poem, for example. The safest thing to do is stick to those competitions that have a separate humour section and try to come up with a new angle. Then just keep plugging away. I wrote 'The Truth About Waltzing Matilda' back in 2009 and it achieved absolutely nothing in terms of results until last year.

Heather: Good to hear about that ruling on your poem. Very sensible. And 'mine field' is a very good description!

Cheers
David