The three questions to ask before you pay a cent

Who reads it, and against what? A contest that will not publish its scoring criteria is asking you to trust a taste you cannot see. Published criteria mean you can decide whether your book is even in the running before you spend.

What is the prize, in dollars? "Publication in our anthology" is not a prize; it is content. A prize is a thing with a market price — a production, a build, a cheque, a service you were already saving for.

How is the winner chosen? Judged on merit is a contest of skill. Drawn at random from paid entries is a gamble, and in a good many places that is not legal to run. If the rules will not say plainly which one it is, that is your answer.

Entry fee against prize value — the only ratio that matters

Treat the fee as the price of a lottery ticket you have some control over. A $25 fee for a $500 prize is a poor trade if two thousand people enter. A larger fee for a prize worth thousands, in a contest with a real barrier to entry, is often a far better one.

At this house the barrier is work, not money: every entrant must first walk all 23 free instruments of the Workshop and hold the Seal. That keeps the field small and serious, and it means the losing entrants still leave with the skills the instruments teach.

The Drakenscroll Prize, stated plainly

Five prizes, one winner in each, proclaimed September 10, 2027. Entries close August 10, 2027.

The Novel-Game Prize: $500 to enter. A full novel-game build, worth $16,000 and up.

The Citadel Prize: $400 to enter. A Citadel website build, worth $9,500 and up.

The Film Book Prize: $300 to enter. A film book build, worth $7,200 and up.

The Audio Book Prize: $200 to enter. An audio book build, worth $4,200 and up.

The Open Door: no fee at all. Three motion graphic illustrations — no fee, no purchase, no coin of any kind.

Every paid build is awarded up to 60,000 words. Every tier is judged only against itself, and every winner is chosen on merit against criteria published before entries opened. Chance decides nothing here.

What a contest cannot do for you

No contest sells your book. A win buys you an asset, a line in your biography and something to point readers at — it does not buy you readers. Plan the launch around the prize, not the prize around the launch.

And never enter a contest that asks for rights. A production prize should leave your copyright exactly where it was: with you.

Asked and answered

Are writing contest entry fees normal?

Yes. Fees fund the prize and the reading. What is not normal is a fee with no published criteria, no named prize value, or a winner picked by chance.

Is there a free way to enter the Drakenscroll Prize?

Yes. The Open Door tier has no fee and never will: three motion graphic illustrations from your own book, judged the same way as the paid tiers. No purchase is necessary to enter or to win.

How many contests should I enter a year?

As many as pass the three questions and no more. Ten $30 fees spent on contests you cannot win is a book cover you did not buy.