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Bronte Prize / The Literary Arts Guild (Tally Dawson)

Arianna Skye

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I received this email yesterday and since I've seen how helpful everyone's been here, I thought I would ask about this. I'm usually an optimist but this just seemed a tad fishy to me.

Thanks!
Arianna

Arianna

I think you would be a worthy nomination in the Romance Novel and/or Erotic Fiction category for this year's Bronte Prize. You can learn more about the award and process at: http:/ /bronteprize.org/enter2010.html. You'll also gain instant marketing "oomph" by doing so, as you can market yourself as "A 2010 Bronte Prize Nominee." (It’s a "blind" entry process, as readers have no idea how the nominations are collected.)

We hope to see you entered.

Best wishes

Mikki Cassel
Vice Chairperson
Bronte Prize Committee
[email protected]
bronteprize.org
 
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DeadlyAccurate

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website said:
Entry fee is $97 per title.

That's rather...high (and a weird amount. What are they, Walmart?)

You'll also gain instant marketing "oomph" by doing so, as you can market yourself as "A 2010 Bronte Prize Nominee."

Since anyone with a credit card can enter, that means about as much as being published by PA.

Other than that, I got nothin'. I couldn't find anything online about the Literary Arts Guild and Tally Dawson except this prize's sites.
 

Cathy C

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Ouch! A hundred buck entry fee? I noticed it said the prize had a "four year history." I did a Whois search on the domain and found it originates out of Vancouver, BC through a Registrant service called WhoIsProtector, Inc. Don't know if that helps any, but I'd be a little leery, personally.
 

Arianna Skye

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That's rather...high (and a weird amount. What are they, Walmart?)



Since anyone with a credit card can enter, that means about as much as being published by PA.

Other than that, I got nothin'. I couldn't find anything online about the Literary Arts Guild and Tally Dawson except this prize's sites.

Yeah, That's why I asked here. I thought the $97 fee an odd amount as well. I don't think it costs that much to enter the RWA RITA contest, which in my eyes is the foremost prize in Romantic Fiction. THe RITA's have been around forever, and this Bronte Prize has only been around 4 years.
 

Arianna Skye

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Ouch! A hundred buck entry fee? I noticed it said the prize had a "four year history." I did a Whois search on the domain and found it originates out of Vancouver, BC through a Registrant service called WhoIsProtector, Inc. Don't know if that helps any, but I'd be a little leery, personally.

*waves* HI Cathy!!! Thanks for the input! At least I'm not the only one who feels it's a little shady :)
 

Richard White

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Let me see here . . .

Someone associated with the prize has approached you to self-nominate yourself (and pay a fee), so you could state on your book (I'm assuming your publisher would go along with this?) that you were a 2010 Bronte Prize Nominee (not even a finalist or a winner).

Nah, I can't see anythind dodgy about that.
 
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CaoPaux

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Interesting that all winners are self-published.

Anyone find any evidence of Tally Dawson and/or "The Literary Arts Guild" outside of the website? There's a LAG that runs the Sonoma County Book Festival, but that's a registered California charity.
 

Momento Mori

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Arianna, it's not normal for a competition to solicit entries by emailing prospective entrants. So the fact that someone is emailing you to tell you about their competition is the first warning sign.

The awards worth having are those that are generally known about in the industry or you'll have seen them advertised in books as having won X or Y award. Personally, I've never heard of these before but I'm not big on romance so if one of the romance writers here can comment, I'd appreciate it.

Weirdly, some of the previous shortlisted books for the award seem to have come from decent publishers (in the sense that they got national reviews) and are recognised authors (e.g. Nora Roberts) but some seem to be self-published.

Bronte Award Website:
The 2010 Bronte Prize, for the first time in its four-year history, opens up its award process from closed nomination (2007-2009) to a Pay-to-Enter award format.

The fact that it's switching from closed nominations to pay-to-enter is not an encouraging sign and I'd question why they're making that move and whether it's purely to try and make cash.

Bronte Award Website:
Stories can be any length. (Novel, novella, novelette, short story, flash fiction, etc.)

Another warning sign. Previously this competition was only open to novels. The fact that the entry fee is a flat $97 would suggest to me that this is being used as a cash cow.

There's no information on the prize for winning and there's no information on who's judging the competition. I'd definitely want to know what I'm getting for my $97.

Bronte Award Website:
Registration closes April 17, 2010.

The Bronte Prize committe will announce all three of its Short Lists on May 17. 2010. Finalists for all three categories will be announced May 31, 2010. And the Bonte Prize Winners will be announced June 14, 2010.

That's a really tight time frame which again, does not inspire confidence.

Bronte Award Website:
And once entered, you can market YOUR book as "A Bronte Prize Nominee"!!

That has precisely no marketing merit at all because anyone can pay to enter this competition. There may be some merit to being on the shortlist or being a winner, but there's no gain to be had from paying someone to enter this because there's no real criteria for entry apart from your credit card.

Conclusion: avoid.

MM
 

Arianna Skye

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Let me see here . . .

Someone associated with the prize has approached you to self-nominate yourself (and pay a fee), so you could state on your book (I'm assuming your publisher would go along with this?) that you were a 2010 Bronte Prize Nominee (not even a finalist or a winner).

Nah, I can't see anythind dodgy about that.

LOL! You are too funny :)
 

Arianna Skye

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Arianna, it's not normal for a competition to solicit entries by emailing prospective entrants. So the fact that someone is emailing you to tell you about their competition is the first warning sign.

The awards worth having are those that are generally known about in the industry or you'll have seen them advertised in books as having won X or Y award. Personally, I've never heard of these before but I'm not big on romance so if one of the romance writers here can comment, I'd appreciate it.

Weirdly, some of the previous shortlisted books for the award seem to have come from decent publishers (in the sense that they got national reviews) and are recognised authors (e.g. Nora Roberts) but some seem to be self-published.



The fact that it's switching from closed nominations to pay-to-enter is not an encouraging sign and I'd question why they're making that move and whether it's purely to try and make cash.



Another warning sign. Previously this competition was only open to novels. The fact that the entry fee is a flat $97 would suggest to me that this is being used as a cash cow.

There's no information on the prize for winning and there's no information on who's judging the competition. I'd definitely want to know what I'm getting for my $97.



That's a really tight time frame which again, does not inspire confidence.



That has precisely no marketing merit at all because anyone can pay to enter this competition. There may be some merit to being on the shortlist or being a winner, but there's no gain to be had from paying someone to enter this because there's no real criteria for entry apart from your credit card.

Conclusion: avoid.

MM

I thought so too... That's why I came here. But it seems like they are now just trying to use this award to take money from unsuspecting authors. I've already won contests with this manuscript. I don't need to pay $100 bucks to further stroke my ego. LOL.
 

Richard White

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Interesting that all winners are self-published.

Anyone find any evidence of Tally Dawson and/or "The Literary Arts Guild" outside of the website? There's a LAG that runs the Sonoma County Book Festival, but that's a registered California charity.


The only LAG I'm familiar with (besides my computer's refresh rate *grin*) is the Literary Agency Group (aka Bouncing Bobby Fletcher).

*pause*

Nah . . . .

*pause*

:e2teeth:
 

Richard White

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Oh, I'm sure it's just an unhappy coincidence.

Questionable practices in the publishing industry are not just the provance of those the Florida Attorney General is investigating. There are others, to include in my own back yard (metaphorically speaking . . . unless they've hidden their printing press out behind the trees in back), who also have given us reason to look askance at their business practices.

(And yes, I am in a snarky mood today).
 

darkprincealain

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Beyond what everyone else has already mentioned, and because I'm feeling snarky:

Bronte Award website said:
Registration closes April 17, 2010.

The Bronte Prize committe will announce all three of its Short Lists on May 17. 2010. Finalists for all three categories will be announced May 31, 2010. And the Bonte Prize Winners will be announced June 14, 2010.

My bold. R we missing a letter, here? That does little to inspire confidence.
 

Arianna Skye

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Beyond what everyone else has already mentioned, and because I'm feeling snarky:


Originally Posted by Bronte Award website
Registration closes April 17, 2010.

The Bronte Prize committe will announce all three of its Short Lists on May 17. 2010. Finalists for all three categories will be announced May 31, 2010. And the Bonte Prize Winners will be announced June 14, 2010.


My bold. R we missing a letter, here? That does little to inspire confidence.

LOL! Charlote Bonte is rolling in her grave, I bet. LOL.

Rolling in laughter that is!
 
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Momento Mori

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So, putting my Google-fu to good use, I couldn't find anything on the web for Tally Dawson, who supposedly set up the Bronte Prize.

However, a search on Mikki Cassel led me to this author, which s/he promoted here. One of the books listed under the awards page won the 2007 Bronte Award.

The lack of information about either of the named individuals associated with this competition, is another red flag IMHO.

MM
 

Arianna Skye

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bronteblog.blogspot.com said:
The Brontë Prize is named in honor of acclaimed nineteenth century English writer Charlotte Brontë. Published in 1847 by London’s Smith, Elder & Company, her novel Jane Eyre is not only one of the most famous English novels ever written but also largely regarded as the first real and viable work of “romantic fiction.” (Not to be confused with “romance novels,” “romantica,” or “erotic fiction.”)

With no such existing award, and a desperate need for recognition in North America’s #1 selling genre, Literary Arts Guild (LAG) chairwoman Tally Dawson conceived the Brontë Prize in December of 2006. The esteemed accolade is designed to reward the best romantic fiction piece (love story) published in the U.S. and Canada during a designated fiscal year, April 1st through March 31st.

Much like the Hugo/Nebula for science fiction or the Edgar for mystery novels, the Brontë Prize rewards the finest literature in a particular genre (romantic fiction) each year for both its pop fiction appeal and literary fiction merit.
The 2007 campaign marks the first year for romantic fiction's biggest and most distinguished award. Its $12,500 cash prize not only establishes it as the largest romantic fiction award, but also as the largest genre specific prize given in North America each year. The winning title is chosen (by a three-person jury) from more than 400 titles published during the designated fiscal year. The 2007 finalists are announced Friday, February 22nd.

Apparently Tally Dawson lives under a rock. Isn't the RITA award given to books of romantic fiction? Sorry, but in my opinion, Romantic fiction includes romance novels.
 

DreamWeaver

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Beyond the invitation to a bit of ethically questionable legerdemain to mislead readers, seen here:
...you can market yourself as "A 2010 Bronte Prize Nominee." (It's a "blind" entry process, as readers have no idea how the nominations are collected)
it's pretty sad they couldn't be bothered to use the sisters' umlaut (I can see it not being in the URL, but I can't find it anywhere on their website at http:/ /bronteprize.org).

That bronteblog.blogspot.com quoted by Arianna Skye is the only place I've seen them spell Brontë properly, umlaut and all.



ETA: Watch, pride goeth before a fall--my umlaut will come out as gobbledy-gook :D
 
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amergina

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Much like the Hugo/Nebula for science fiction or the Edgar for mystery novels, the Brontë Prize rewards the finest literature in a particular genre (romantic fiction) each year for both its pop fiction appeal and literary fiction merit.

Except that the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Edgar don't have an entry fee.
 

DreamWeaver

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It's weird: the 2007 winner can't be found on Amazon at all, the 2009 winner has an Amazon sales rank of over 2 million, but the 2008 winner is a very respectable book put out by Pocket Books, sales rank on Amazon in the 500s.

Strange.

Since they say this is the first year of paid entries, I'm wondering if the originators sold off the website & organization to someone who has decided it's time to milk the cash cow...
 

Arianna Skye

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It's weird: the 2007 winner can't be found on Amazon at all, the 2009 winner has an Amazon sales rank of over 2 million, but the 2008 winner is a very respectable book put out by Pocket Books, sales rank on Amazon in the 500s.

Strange.

Since they say this is the first year of paid entries, I'm wondering if the originators sold off the website & organization to someone who has decided it's time to milk the cash cow...

Since my kindle sales ranking is around 40,000 and that 2009 winner is ranked 248K, I say I don't need a Bronte Prize to "oomph" my sales. :)
 

CaoPaux

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It's weird: the 2007 winner can't be found on Amazon at all, the 2009 winner has an Amazon sales rank of over 2 million, but the 2008 winner is a very respectable book put out by Pocket Books, sales rank on Amazon in the 500s.
Just a data point: The Pocket edition is a 2009 reprint of the 2007 original by iUniverse. (Cue chorus of "self-published author makes good!!!" Seriously, though, that's quite a coup for her.)
 

DreamWeaver

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Just a data point: The Pocket edition is a 2009 reprint of the 2007 original by iUniverse. (Cue chorus of "self-published author makes good!!!" Seriously, though, that's quite a coup for her.)
Thanks, I was searching for that, but didn't get quite far enough back.


ETA: Sales rank of the MM Pocket Books edition just went up to 511...that couldn't have been from us talking about it, could it? :Wha:
 
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Arianna Skye

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Thanks, I was searching for that, but didn't get quite far enough back.


ETA: Sales rank of the MM Pocket Books edition just went up to 511...that couldn't have been from us talking about it, could it? :Wha:

I've noticed that those sales rankings tend to fluctuate. Yesterday Amazon had mine ranked at 73,000. Then I went back a few hours later and it was at 16,190. Then it went up to 35,000. Now it's at 45K. So who knows!
 

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Weirdly, some of the previous shortlisted books for the award seem to have come from decent publishers (in the sense that they got national reviews) and are recognised authors (e.g. Nora Roberts) but some seem to be self-published.

Hmm... Maybe they're shortlisting books that were never officially entered. Something like this:


The shortlisted nominees for the 2010 DeadlyAccurate Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence prize are:

A book by Nora Roberts
A book by James Patterson
A book by Dan Brown
A book by Stephenie Meyer
A book by A Vanity-Published Author

And the winner is A Vanity-Published Author! Congratulations!
Makes the winner look much more prestigious when she's in the company of the big names. Doesn't matter if the other authors had no clue they were even entered into the contest.