Friday, January 11, 2013

The Value of Critiques

We received an ad in an e-mail the other day from a well respected writing magazine offering short story critiquing at $4.00 per page with a minimum submission of 5 pages. The reviewer would accept stories as long as 30 pages. So for from between $20 and $120 authors could have a thorough critique by a professional writer.

Contrast that with any Valhalla Press contest. In Valhalla, all entering authors receive feedback on their work at no additional charge. A professional author's critique of your work is included in the $15 entry fee. Admittedly, our feedback is not the down in the weeds line editing the $4.00 a page folks were offering, but the comments they provided in their online sample were on par with what we provide--and again--it is included in the entry fee. Also, our contests offer authors the chance to win $500 for first prize along with the e-reader of the winner's choice. Second prize winners receive their choice of e-reader and those chosen for publication are paid $25.

Those who do not win still get feedback that they can use to improve their story and they will only have paid a $15 entry fee, not $120. We provide the feedback because our goal is to build a writing community. We also believe it is what makes our contests one of the best values available to aspiring authors. Get all the details at our contest page. Feedback on the stories you submit are just part of the reason Valhalla Press is the e-publishing paradise.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Legal Professional Writing Contest

We are trying something new at Valhalla Press, a Legal Professional Writing Contest. In the past, our contests were open to anyone as is the case with our current Flash Fiction/Flash Memoir contest. However, we know many legal professionals who are closet novelists, bloggers, or even poets. (We have even heard some fantasize about being the next John Grisham or Lisa Scottoline.) Given legal professionals' skills and yearnings, we felt we should create a forum just for them.

We define "legal professional" broadly to include judges, attorneys, paralegals and even law students. Because writing is so integral to the legal profession, we hope our contestants will provide us with some literary gold nuggets. Submissions may be either fiction or nonfiction and must be 5,000 words or less. Click here for complete contest rules (Gotta have rules for a legal writing contest, right?).

First prize is $500, an e-reader, and publication in our e-lit journal Ragnarok . Contestants who wish to get a feel for the types of work we are looking for should download the inaugural Ragnarok issue. To enter the contest, go to our contest page to submit your entry fee and story.