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Pete Aldin and Bryan Chaffin explore whether writing competitions are worth entering, from the benefits of awards and feedback to the realities of judging and rejection. They also discuss what writers can learn by becoming judges themselves—and why a strong opening matters when your book is competing for attention.
Chapters
00:00 Introductions
00:22 Are Writing Competitions Worth It?
05:33 The Benefits of Entering Competitions
09:20 Winning, Placing, and the Value of Recognition
15:43 How Novel Competitions Are Judged
19:14 Why Your Opening Has to Be Strong
24:05 Subjectivity, Rejection, and Managing Expectations
29:29 Why Writers Should Become Judges
36:30 Outro
Links from This Episode:
- 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest
- Self-Published Science Fiction Competition
- SPSFC Judging Application
- Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off
- Austalasian Shadows Awards