Am I Going to Enter the Golden Heart?

The answer is no. The reason? Well, first off I've entered 4 contests this year, taken a half dozen classes, and made no income from my writing. I'll be saving my $50 entry fee, the additional postage and printing costs. I know it's like winning the lottery, but unless you win, the prize isn't all that good. Sure you get 55 pages worth of writing evaluated, but you don't get any comments back. And judging on a scale of 1-9, leaves a lot to be desired. The contests I've entered have given me good feedback. If I'm no where near publishing next year come this time, I will definitely consider entering it. Also, I can't find the list of final judges, which probably isn't a big deal, but it's usually one of the reasons I enter contests.

So for now, I'm done entering contests. I'm working on revisions, query letters, new ms, and that's keeping me pretty preoccupied. I've achieved PRO status in RWA by having my query letter rejected. I'm good. I'm happy with where I'm headed and where I've been. I don't feel the need to go down the Golden Heart road this year. I do think it is a very good opportunity and if you have the money to spare, it may be worth it if you final. But I'm thinking for our family my $100 is better spent elsewhere.