I’m not aiming for a rant here, but I want to take a few minutes to talk about the BookLife Prize.
Before entering an unfamiliar contest, especially one that charges an entry fee, I Google it to look for consensus. Do most people seem to respect this contest, or are there a lot of red flags? Is it worth paying for, or can I enter a similar contest for free?
My research on the BookLife Prize left me undecided. A post on Writer Beware, along with a few other comment threads, gave me pause. On the other hand, the Publisher’s Weekly name lends credibility. Several members of my writing group considered entering, but eventually decided against it.
I had some extra funds in my business account, so I decided to submit my manuscript as an experiment. At the very least, I figured I could report back on my experience to help others in the future.
When I read other writers’ claims that their entries were harshly rejected without being read, I couldn’t be sure. I hadn’t read their submissions, and they didn’t share their full results publicly. Unfortunately, my own experience seems to support their accusations.
What is the BookLife Prize and why did I enter?
The BookLife Prize is an annual contest sponsored by BookLife and Publisher’s Weekly. One grand prize winner receives $5,000 in cash and a feature in PW. All entrants receive a Critic’s Report with brief feedback and ratings on their manuscript. The contest charges a $99 entry fee.
I entered not for the grand prize fame and fortune, but for the Critic’s Report. Reading between the lines, I saw an opportunity to snag yes, a chance at the prize, but also a useful set of blurbs. The contest advertised that entrants could use any part of their Critic’s Report as a promotional blurb for the book. If my blurbs weren’t useful for querying or promoting my manuscript, they could guide my future revisions. Either way, getting my full manuscript in front of an industry professional seemed like a sweet deal, as contest swag goes.
What did I get from the BookLife Prize?
I received my Critic’s Report around three weeks after submission, which was well within the promised eight week response period. However, my positive experience ended there. The Report I received contained one glaring error and no details tying it to my manuscript.
Of the folks online who’ve claimed their manuscript was “completely trashed” by the Critic’s Report, I haven’t seen any share their query letters or their results. That makes it hard to assess what may have gone wrong. Well, here’s my Critic’s Report:
Title: Driving Forces
Author: Jaclyn Paul
Genre: Fiction/General Fiction (including literary and historical)
Audience: Adult
Word Count: 87000
Assessment:
Plot: Taylor’s novel moves well and keeps the reader interested. However, several key turning points in the story contain significant plot holes, feeling as if the author was more concerned with dramatization than consistency.
Prose: Taylor’s prose is fairly detailed, and the author does a decent job creating the world in which the novel’s events take place. Overall, however, the prose lacks complexity.
Originality: Taylor’s novel lacks any real originality in form or narrative, makes use of stereotypes in several instances, and has a predictable ending.
Character Development: The transformations characters undergo are predictable, and while the author makes an effort to detail those transformations, the effort is lacking in subtlety and complexity.
Score:
- Plot/Idea: 5
- Originality: 3
- Prose: 5
- Character/Execution: 5
- Overall: 4.50
For context: there is no one in my book named Taylor, nor is any part of my name Taylor. A few of my characters share the surname Taylor, but that doesn’t seem relevant here. The manuscript itself has gone through rigorous edits with the help of my critique group and was named runner up in this year’s #RevPit contest. While Driving Forces is by no means perfect, it’s not a first draft and it has received positive feedback elsewhere.
Lack of specificity: is it lack of rigor, or lack of reading at all?
I wasn’t so much troubled by the harshness of the feedback. Between my current critique group and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, I’ve grown a pretty thick skin. I take issue with the lack of specificity. I can’t pick out a single phrase in this Report and say yes, this is about my writing. From art school to my previous job in human resources, I taught and was taught that criticism should be constructive, specific, and actionable.
I have no reason to believe Publisher’s Weekly reviewers don’t know this, or are incapable of providing quality feedback. And the Critic’s Reports visible on the contest website read much differently, even for manuscripts that score poorly.
One novel, rated an overall 5/10, “tumbles forward much like many romantic dramas — at a breakneck pace and like an emotional rollercoaster.” Its characters “are two-dimensional and deflated of vibrant personalities — or, rather, only characterized by their materialistic or lustful appetites.” Another Report describes a “handsome, athletic” protagonist at the center of a “political story that takes place during the Obama administration.” These Reports don’t necessarily name characters or get into the nitty-gritty, but they give a quick-and-dirty assessment of the manuscript.
They also prove the manuscript was read. If someone gave me a manuscript to evaluate, I’d include identifying details without even thinking. I’d have to try not to include them.
This was the part of my Critic’s Report that stung, because I didn’t care about winning. I cared about having a professional reviewer read my entire book and provide useful criticism. Instead, I got something that could’ve been penned by a reviewer’s assistant without ever opening my file.
Who knows if this was intentional. Maybe an extenuating circumstance prevented the reviewer from reading the manuscripts assigned to them. A writer with a modest platform and no agent representation is easily dismissed. Many would probably hesitate to complain for fear of looking like we can’t handle rejection. I’m sure the reviewers know that. But whether it’s premeditated or not, I suspect some BookLife Prize entries are being reviewed without being read.
My response from BookLife
Before posting anything publicly, I waited for two things. First, I needed to get myself into a headspace where I wasn’t feeling annoyed and ripped off. Second, I wanted to contact the contest organizers and give them a chance to make this right.
In my first email, I suggested that perhaps the Report I received was intended for someone else. I offered them an out: a chance to claim a botched email and give me the kind of report they’d promised. I received a prompt response apologizing for the error. They also refunded my entry fee.
However, the only error acknowledged was the name switcheroo. This was blamed on a third party, with an assertion that the reviewer had gotten my name correct. I appreciated the apology and the admission that this Report was “not the quality [the contest organizers] strive for.” I was disappointed that an apparent copy-paste error was the only quality issue acknowledged in my Report.
I said as much in my reply, where I thanked BookLife for doing what they could to remedy the situation and provided some additional feedback on the contest. As much as I could in a single paragraph, I summed up the concerns I’m expressing in this post. Even if we assume my Report is accurate and reflects a careful reading of my work, there’s a clear lack of rigor and attention to detail compared to the Reports visible on the BookLife site.
The response I received was very kind and professional: they thanked me for my feedback, saying it was “quite relevant” and would be shared with the editor. The email conversation closed with an invitation for me to give the BookLife Prize a chance to do better next year.
Next year: another chance?
I’m not sure I will give it another chance next year. I can’t justify forking over $99 again without real evidence that changes have been made to the process. Maybe, after watching from the sidelines next year, I would consider entering again the year after that. But there are plenty of contests out there, and I don’t think any of us need to hang our hopes on this particular one.
Sadly, it seems like it’s possible to get valuable feedback in the Critic’s Report — maybe even a quote you could use as a promotional blurb. However, you may also get what I got: a waste of money.
To be clear, I have no inherent opposition to contests with entry fees. I understand the arguments for and against them. However, if contest organizers promise anything to entrants of a contest with a $99 fee, they should be prepared to deliver.
Many writers aren’t making a living from our work. I took the $99 fee out of my business account, but a lot of aspiring authors are going to be taking from their personal bank accounts. And for our family of three, $100 almost covers a full week of groceries. Anyone running a contest like the BookLife Prize should respect that investment.
Respect means offering a fair, well-run contest that delivers what it promises. One that judges every entrant on the merits of our work. From what I’ve seen, the BookLife Prize isn’t there yet.
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