My Contest Experiences with "The Frasier"

I have entered very few contests in the years I have been writing, mainly because I wanted to learn my craft before jumping in head first into a shallow pool, which is what it felt like when I entered such “big” name contests like the Genesis.

But don’t take this as me against contests, I’m not. In fact I want to share with you a contest I entered last year and found extremely helpful to not only my knowledge on the subject of the writing craft, but also encouraging to my future in writing.


Last year, Susan May Warren launched her first annual writing contest with My Book Therapy, called The Frasier. There were no genre restrictions, just craft. The first 1500 words of your story and a 500 word synopsis that would be judged solely on craft, voice, mechanics, etc. I didn’t hesitate, I just entered.

And was extremely thankful.

I didn’t place, didn’t even final, but when I opened that email from The Frasier coordinators I was handed gold. So often when you get a contest result back, it’s still dripping the blood of your story and you are left with the aggravating task of figuring out what in the world this judge meant.

The first think I saw was a message written by Susan. I still have that email. And it is just as encouraging then as it is now. The truth of the matter is, you can’t take everything a judge says is "wrong" and apply it at once and certainly not the moment you read the comments. It can’t be helped, contests are going to be subjective, but what I loved so much about the Frasier is it has a “wholesome” feel—I guess I could say. Their goal is to help unpublished “Voices” become published “Voices” and to do that, you have to learn the craft. You have to know what you are doing wrong.

This contest doesn’t just point what is wrong with your work and then expect you to go fix it, they point out strengths and weaknesses, you can feel that they are really taking the time to be tough, but understanding of the journey you are on. Their comments are constructive. And one of things I loved the most is that though they told me the things I needed to work on, they make marks directly on my manuscript, you can see exactly what they are referring to. And then at the very end they say what they liked best about your work. The question last year was, “ what is your favorite line in the excerpt?”

What a boost!

The Frasier goes beyond just mere fix-it mentality, they give constructive criticism and praise with comments that actually inspired me to get back down and work on my WIP—even when it came to the hard work I had to do to get better.

I plan on entering The Frasier this year, hoping it will be an improvement over last year’s excerpt I sent in. :-)

It’s exciting to think of the possibilities and the strengths that have been added and the weaknesses that most likely need more work.

For negatives there were positives, for every remark the judges made about my craft, they did in a way that didn’t carry the sting of rejection and hopelessness. Susan has trained her judges, they know what to look for and treated me as I am I sure they would want to be treated.

Go ahead, enter, I think you will be pleased, no matter the outcome.

Do you have any other questions for me about my experience with The Frasier? Please feel free to comment, I always reply!