I learned today that both my children, having entered a Young Writers poetry competition at school, are to have their work published. Cue tears of joy at having not one but two mini literary geniuses (genii?!) in the family.
But wait......is that £15.99 per child, per book I need to pay to see their work in print? Only when I have paid for a book will my dcs really be entered into the competition? And what about that sentence in the letter which says that 'all children stand a realistic chance of being selected'. Could it be that my children are not so uniquely talented after all?
This was a competition organised through school (a great school imo, whose judgment I usually trust) I don't wish to denigrate my dc's talents but, having re-read the letters, I smelled a rat and went straight to Mumsnet to see if others here had flushed one out! Reading threads on here, I realise that the Young Writers competition must be a scam or, at the very least, a vanity publishing excercise.
I am going to write a letter of complaint to the school and suggest they enter children into a legitimate writing competition. Anyone have any ideas for suggestions of story/poetry competitions for schools whose main aim is to reward talent rather than squeezing money out of proud parents?
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Young Writers - scam? alternative prizes?
11 replies
MouseThatRoars · 15/04/2013 12:11
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