Beta Reader Group discussion

I'm finally writing down all the stories that have been building up so am new to this writing thing. Went to school for and work in a completely unrelated field.

I've been getting targeted adverts for writing contests. They are $20, $50 to enter, all sounds good like, you'll get professional feedback and maybe be considered by an agent, etc., etc. Sound too good.

Are these a total scam? I'm skeptical.

Thanks!

Hi there....I am from India and I have seen similar writing contests being held here on social medias with a small entry fee and I have even entered one such event. That ultimately turned out to be a ploy for the organizers to offer us many online courses at "seemingly discounted price". In my case I felt it was just a kind of scam or marketing strategy they were running to get a lot of people to participate, so that they could easily have access to our phone numbers and email address and then offer us the courses/tools related to writing they were teaching online.

I think you don't need to get into any such competitions....just directly publish your book on KDP. Although, the competitions may be more genuine in your country/area. This is just my opinion. A better option, I have found, to know how people react to your writing is by doing it on online platforms like Inkitt....you can get interactive readers over there and from that you can get an idea of how your book is being received. Hope this helps...

Hi, Ana,

Chances are if they're seeking you out, there's some sort of problem with the contest.

Look for curated contest lists by reputable author advice sites. Kindlepreneur, Reedsy, and Alliance for Independent Authors are 3 of the ones I trust, but there are many others for both self-published & traditionally published authors.

Thank you both so much! I sort of thought it might be just like you said but needed to hear it. I'm betting the "free" feedback comes with a "and we could really make this happen for you if you sign up for our paid services. " Nope!!