LET'S HAVE A WRITING COMPETITION FOR US UNPUBLISHED WRITERS

I love writing too songstress but have come to the sad conclusion that while my work is fairly readable it's not saleable. Where to go? There's self-publishing but it is full of hazards.

Wasnt there a competiton which was run on here not so long ago? I think all of us writers need a break but how do u get one, is it sheer luck or determination?
One thing I find annoying is if you are famous on tv ......etc than it seems easy to get a book deal especially writing for children.
Its a big advantage to have a large following on a social media platform.
50 shades if grey was online first. Doesn't Amazon let you publish books free? Then you would have to promote it yourself.
But if you are anything like me I would like to go through a publishing house, then you will feel like 'Yes I've made it!'

It is supposed to be easy to publish on Amazon but it's not that easy. I've had a look and given up. Perhaps I need a young person to do it for me. And then, of course, you have to do the marketing for yourself. Just seems like an awful lot of hassle with little to be gained unless you are very lucky.
I did enter a writing competition on here once but presumably I didn't win as I never heard a thing, not even a 'thanks but no thanks'.
I've always written stuff, three novels so far and loads of short stories, and years ago I did have a couple of articles published in magazines (now extinct). People tell aspiring authors never to give up but really there is a limit.

This month's Writing magazine has a supplement with lots of competition details for the year ahead. They produce one every year, and they cover poetry, short stories and novels, so it's worth getting hold of one.

The magazine runs its own competitions, too, but they are quite expensive to enter for the size of the prize, IMO.

Isn`t the prize in the current GN competition the book by the winner of the GN writing competition?

Yes, Hellogirl, I think it is but it's an awful long time since the competition. Some of us who entered at the time kept asking when the results would be announced and no answers were forthcoming, as I recall. I dropped out of GN for a while after that so I may have missed something.

Doodledog - I agree with you about the cost of entering writing competitions. The promoters must cover the cost of the prizes many times over.

It would be great if GN organised a regular (free!) competition for aspiring writers. Big prizes are not necessary but the feedback would be invaluable.

Did you enter/see the 'King Lear Prizes'? Those have closed now but they still have a (free) 'Summer Club'. If you register, they send you an email each Friday with writing and art suggestions and ideas. Not big prizes but might be enjoyable to take part? www.kinglearprizes.org.uk/summerclub