tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8231007555763657967.post5616697072806613135..comments2023-10-09T00:39:53.824-07:00Comments on Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...: Turning in ever decreasing circlesMelinda Szymanikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10202080805759494767noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8231007555763657967.post-3824198300894229632017-03-26T15:11:19.384-07:002017-03-26T15:11:19.384-07:00I am absolutely devastated. I personably paid my o...I am absolutely devastated. I personably paid my own entry free, for THREE books, because I was told that it was the only way to be part of the Children's Choice award. I write commercial fiction for middle grade kids. I am NEVER going to be considered by the judges as worthy of being a finalist, because I don't write literary fiction, but kids love commercial fiction and it was a way for our work to be celebrated by the audience we're writing for. I can't believe I paid hundreds of dollars for this, I'm just so annoyed. This is not about the prize money, it's about the chance to be judged by all those wonderful young readers who voted each year for their favourite book. Soraya Lane - Romance Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10521543660384254251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8231007555763657967.post-84638895093051405782017-03-26T11:56:14.226-07:002017-03-26T11:56:14.226-07:00I'm pleased that someone has posted about this...I'm pleased that someone has posted about this important issue. It's understandable there have been major retractions in NZ due to the closure of four major publishers in recent years. What doesn't make sense is that the prize pool for our children's book awards is unaltered with the departure of some crucial sponsors. The current Margaret Mahy medal award can net the overall winner around $15,000. This is higher than the current prize pool for the international Pulitzer award. (£6,700/US$10,000). Additionally the Clip Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Prizes have no monetary value and all costs are spent on administering them. Given the changes that have happened it would be inevitable to reduce the prize pool pay-outs to spread their reach further. If the overall total budget for the awards is $55,000, it would make sense to reduce each categories prize pool to retain the children's choice awards. (And use the funds towards administration costs.) Most booksellers will tell you that their sales for the children's choice entries spike during the voting process. I know a number of writers who would happily forgo prize money in return for having their books promoted nationally during the awards. Further proof of this is authors who are actually paying between 180-$360 themselves to participate in the awards. The voter turnout in 2015 was unprecedented. Nearly 20,000 children voted. Something doesn't make sense here. I think the decision is up to all NZ children's authors if they want to see the children's choice awards disappear for good. As technology improves and systems become streamlined it should get easier and easier to involve children in the process. Yes, funding will always been an issue, but it would be completely out of kilter with the rest of the world that we walk away from involving children in their own book awards.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01169394085625820797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8231007555763657967.post-80350403242625991032017-03-24T02:27:37.776-07:002017-03-24T02:27:37.776-07:00Great post. I totally agree. It was the only time ...Great post. I totally agree. It was the only time we actually got to hear from kids about what they liked, rather than hearing the same old things from the literary establishment.<br /><br />It also seems rather unethical to accept entries - and entry fees - on the condition that the children's choice category was going ahead, only to axe it after entries had closed.Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13198021909621656600noreply@blogger.com