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Re: RAT Some Playwriting Opportunities...
Ooooohhhhhhh--so MANY thoughts . . . .
I am a poet as well as a playwright and it is virutally IMPOSSIBLE to get a
first book of poetry published without having to enter a contest with $10,
$20 or more entry fees. I hear from publishers that they use these to hire
readers, but I suspect, morever, it's an attempt at "earned income" to
support the magazine, as small press editors are always whining about their
lack of support. (I, too, publish a magazine--so I am not simply criticizing
that which I don't understand.) Because most poets almost NEVER get paid
for having their work published, I completely refuse to pay entry fees in
that case.
I have on a very very rare occasion paid small fees for plays if I feel I
have a reasonable chance at the contest. I've never paid over $5 or $6
however to enter any contest. I feel moderately better about it with plays
because you do have a slightly better chance of getting a little bit of
money to buy dinner and do your laundry from theatres than from literary
publishers. But it's true--I don't care for fees, and I look cynically at
anyone who charges more than $10 for a one-a-100 or more shot. Even $10 is
a little steep for me. With $10 to send out with every manuscript I wanted
to submit, not to mention printing, binding and postage and SASEs, I can
produce my own shows.
------Original Message------
From: Audie McCall <audiemccall@yahoo.com>
To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
Sent: November 30, 2000 9:16:32 PM GMT
Subject: Re: RAT Some Playwriting Opportunities...
Hey Adam,
Thanks for this. There's a lot of useful information
here. So I hope you won't take offense if I use it to
open a can of worms: READING FEES.
As far as I could tell, only one of the opportunities
you listed here charges a reading fee, but it's
certainly not uncommon and it irks me. If I were a
playwright I would make a point of never submitting my
plays to places charging reading fees. I can't
imagine I'm alone in this feeling. Thus, it seems to
follow that places charging fees are missing out on a
significant-- possibly superior-- subset of the
playwriting population.
Thoughts?
"Those poor kids. So young. So nauseous."
--Krusty the Klown Telethon for Motion Sickness
Laura Winton
fluffysingler@prodigy.net
http://pages.prodigy.net/fluffysingler