Except this one. In short, it’s a novel contest where the winning entry will get a full edit by Del Rey editor in chief Betsy Mitchell. She’s my editor, and I’m going to tell you right now that she’s smart and knows a helluva lot about making stories work. She won’t be going through the text marking the verbs that should be pluperfect or whatever, but she will get in depth with the characters, setting, plot and tone of your work. Invaluable.

Also, there’s no entry fee, no crazy rights grab, and even if you don’t win the grand prize, you might still win a whole bunch of books. Free books! You can’t beat that with a cricket bat.

I think most writing contests are a waste of time. Better to work on the manuscript, create a good query, and compete in the marketplace. The prizes are better. However I’m making an exception and recommending this one. If you have a novel that you think is damn good but can’t place anywhere, consider entering it. You might learn a lot.