Is pre-pub award winner worth trying for pay?

Hi all,

I'm a newbie on the forums and in "the writing life". I have a question about a story I did a couple of years ago for a local writing contest.

The story won third prize in a "regional" writing contest sponsored by the community college that I work for. All submissions were published in the college's literary magazine. I had a verbal assurance from the faculty member who ran the journal at the time that I retain the copyright on the story...and there are no assertions of any rights within the journal itself. It just isn't something that this very local, very small, journal is probably concerned about.

I thought I could spruce up the story and perhaps send it out for paid publication.

Would this be something worth doing? Would the question of rights be too much of a hassle for a publisher to bother? Obviously I would fully disclose the publishing history of the piece...would it be a "newb" mistake to push the 3rd prize angle?

Any insights would be much appreciated...

--Shedrick

There was no contract...like I said, it is a fairly small local contest and at the time I hadn't really thought about submitting the story for publication (this was two years ago). 20/20 hindsight and all that...

Now I think it can be improved and could actually have a shot at being published 'for reals'.

Thanks!

Thank you all....this is extremely helpful!