YOU MUST BE KIDDING: I did a double-take when I saw the submission fee charged by the Virginia Kirkus Literary Award: $150. First I thought it was a typo but checked two pages on the contest’s web site and there it was again: $150. Kirkus Reviews launched the annual award “to discover the best unpublished first novel or story collection.” Apparently it also launched it to discover new ways to rake in the dough for parent company VNU Media. Granted, Kirkus Reviews is a good publication and provides a real service for writers, publishers, and booksellers. But this big company can’t charge a reasonable fee to read manuscripts for its contest? I have heard of reading or submission fees up to $25. When I submit my stuff to contests, I usually draw the line at anything more than $15. What about you? The press release advised writers to “send all questions and comments" to them. I believe I will. In the interest of fair play, I have to say that the Wyoming Arts Council charges no reading fee for its two annual writing competitions. State and federal government funding offsets the cost for judges, printing costs, etc. I administer the contests and my salary is paid through our general budget. In this way, we have an advantage over a for-profit company such as Kirkus. While reading fees by little magazines and small presses have risen, you can still send your prose to places such as the New Millennium Writing Awards for $17 per story and take a chance on the publication's $1,000 first prize in fiction. Deadline is Nov. 17.

- posted by Michael Shay @ 3:27 PM