Writing Business | Cathy C. Hall Writes

It arrived! It arrived! It finally arrived!

Those beneficent folks over at the New Yorker sent Mr. Hall their wonderfully splendiferous and the totally best all-around year planner in the world!

When January came around and my New Yorker planner hadn’t come in the mail yet, I was forced to buy another planner. I felt just like Goldilocks (with shorter hair): This planner is too small; this planner is too big; this planner doesn’t have enough space, etc., etc. I picked out a planner that was lovely, I’m sure, but it wasn’t the same.

Now, my New Yorker planner has arrived (despite all of Mr. Hall’s talk to the contrary). I can keep up with all my writerly goals so much better. I have lots of room for all of my writerly notes. I can enjoy a laugh when I read all the New Yorker cartoons. Can there be any doubt that my Fame and Fortune shall pick up now?

And all because, dear New Yorker planner, you are just right!

This week, I found out that a contest entry fee could be counted as an expense, and thus used as a deduction at tax time.

That got me thinking (which admittedly is dangerous territory for my kind, so wish me luck!). What’s the difference between submitting to a contest and submitting to anything else?

Consider the contest process: a. submit story, essay, or poem b. wait around for x number of weeks c. receive compensation if entry wins; receive nothing if entry loses.

Now consider the typical submission process: a. submit story, essay, poem or book to market b. wait around for xxx number of weeks c. receive compensation if submission is accepted; receive nothing (except perhaps one of those “thanks, but no thanks” emails or letters) if submission is rejected.

It’s competition any way you look at it. Except that one could argue that there is an entry fee with some contests. But I could say that all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into creating that lovely market submission could just as easily be called an entry fee. Unfortunately, you can’t deduct a writer’s bodily fluids.

But if I can deduct a contest fee, I think it’s high time I added a few more. What have I got to lose (other than the contest)?