Poetry contests are expensive. Often, the small presses/entities running those contests need the revenue to survive.
Those two statements are equally true, so I realize it might be an unpopular approach for me to grouse about the contest system, and for the most part I don't and don't want to. But--and this is a big deal for me--I do see a huge problem with the cost of poetry contest entries (poem publication prizes, that is, not book contests) vs. the potential reward.
Lately I've been seeing prizes asking for $20 fees, with rewards as little as $500 and publication in a journal. I'm not sure how this is a feasible system for poets surviving on the pittance we usually bring in from our adjunct gigs, press jobs and graduate student fellowships.
Certainly, for book contests, a generous fee is necessary. After all, when the contest is over the winner is not only awarded a decent sum of money, but the press itself must them continue on to *publish a book.* There are costs associated with that, and almost no likelihood of getting a decent amount of money back from sales. On top of that, contest readers and judges are reading whole books, which can be a gargantuan task; giving those books real attention takes time and energy most magazines and presses don't have the resources to offer under normal circumstances. Most importantly, right now there are damn few ways for a first book poet to get published besides contests. Like the system or not, it's one we have to at least consider participating in (and paying for) if we want to be in this field.
But plain old publication contests? I don't get it. The magazine running the contest is going to publish an issue anyway. They're going to read submissions to the magazine anyway. It's nice to award something to the poet who does outstanding work, sure, but in general the contest system isn't that far off the everyday journal system. That's one of the reasons you often see "all poems will be considered for publication" in the contest rules: it's another way of getting submissions. And if you're good enough to win or place in a contest, likely you're good enough to get published in the journal anyway. (Though, I know this isn't always true. Since you're only up against other people who have paid, as opposed to every submitter, there might be a slightly better chance for you to get published via a contest than just regularly. I do think it's negligible, however.)
Anyway, to be fair, I do agree that a fee system is a good idea. We live in a world of tiny readership vs. a huge supply of poems from writers who don't bother to (or can't) support the journals to which they submit. So five bucks, ten bucks...a little something for the editors' trouble to read some extra submissions and a little extra support for the places who keep poetry alive. I get it. I'm happy to kick that in, and I wouldn't begrudge support for my fellow writers and those who give us a place to shine.
But seriously, so many of us can't afford these contests anymore, which is sad. Our industry is floundering in so many ways, and I know none of us are happy with the vicious cycle of poets paying presses to publish poets who don't read what the press publishes. It's a mess, but I'm really hoping we can figure out a better way. Because we're stretching ourselves really thin, and maybe that can only last so long.
