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The Ins and Outs of Free Writing Contests
(free writing contests)
Free writing contests are available by the thousands. They are virtually a dime a dozen on the Internet. No matter what your niche is in the writing community there is a free writing contests out there for you. How do you know which ones to enter and which ones are legitimate? That?s simple. You do what you do best-- research.
While providing the story for the free writing contest will probably be the easy part, researching the thousands of available contests will be a daunting task. If this is un-chartered water for you, you have the start at the beginning. Finding what free writing contests are available. Grab a notebook or start a word document and list the contests that are available. Beside each contest name you will want to put what kind of writing they are looking for and when it needs to be done by. By doing this first you will be able to eliminate any that do not coincide with your writing niche or with your schedule.
Now the free writing contest research begins. Finding out if a contest is worthwhile and legitimate is comparable to running a background check on a person. First check the contest website. Do they have all contact information available? Do they tell you what company is hosting the contest? If they are not, you will have likely found warning number one that it is a scam. So scratch those off your list or at least move them to the bottom until you can find out more information on them. Start asking around to colleagues and writers groups. Search the writing forums and the Internet scam sites. The Better Business Bureau is also a good place to look.
Once you narrowed the free writing contests down to the legitimate ones, read the contest rules and regulations. Some contests require you signing over all rights to a story even if you don?t win. Are you willing to do this? Giving up rights to you writing is a lot easier to do when you are getting something in return. After you enter there is no going back, so make sure this is what you want to do.
The final thing you need to look for is if the contest is just a cover up to get you to buy services or products. This does not necessarily mean they are a scam or don?t actually award winners. It simply means that they will try to entice you to use their critiquing services or offer you a book at a reduced fee that your work will be published in. Being published sounds like a great deal but is it a book that carries prestige that people are going to see?
Many authors think that writing contests will launch their career into a successful endeavor. This is not the case, especially for free writing contests. Even winning the grand prize of a smaller known contest is not going to affect your literary journey. Even though they may not springboard your career, there are good reasons to join writing contests. You will get unbiased opinions and valuable feedback from the judges. If you make it into the higher rounds, editors could also see your writing.
Ultimately whether you enter a free writing contest the choice is yours. Just ask you self if the time spent writing and researching the piece you choose to enter is worth writing for free in most cases. The critique and feedback may be the most worthwhile thing you receive from the contest. But then again the judges opinions are a dime a dozen just like the contests.
Copyright Music Infringement Copyright Music Infringement is Not Preferred Method for Music Lovers In recent years, copyright music infringement has seen an unprecedented leap in scope and scale. This is largely due to online services that allowed unchecked file sharing among their subscribers. While this abuse of copyright is not by any means limited to music, this is where the most profound effects of file sharing have been observed. Industry giants of file sharing are cropping up left and right with the demise of the pioneer for illicit file sharing, Napster. The Recording Industry Association of America (or RIAA) has made copyright music infringement their primary cause to fight. They estimate that peer-to-peer file sharing takes around 4.2 billion dollars each year worldwide from the coffers of the music industry. I really cannot blame them that is a fairly large chunk of change. The problem with their estimates however is the assumption that people would actually buy every piece of music they download or that they aren't buying the music they would have bought at any rate. While I by no means condone copyright music infringement or any other copyright infringement I do believe they are overestimating the damage to the industry that is being done by these file-sharing programs. One of the primary arguments that the RIAA is using in order to, hopefully, discourage people from not supporting their favorite groups and artists by buying their recordings, is the fact that new and struggling bands are less likely to continue making music because it will no longer be profitable. The bulk of musician's incomes are the result of royalties, which depend entirely on the sales of their albums. The RIAA is using the legal system to back them up by taking the fight to court. Recent claims made by the RIAA include one rather controversial claim that people ripping CDs they have bought and paid for does not constitute fair use because CDs are not "unusually subject to damage" and that if they do become damaged they can be replaced affordably. This assertion has raised more than a few eyebrows and is giving rise to opponents of the RIAA who claim that the lawsuits and crackdowns against those presumed guilty of copyright music infringement are actually hurting music sales and the profits of the music industry. During the height of Napster popularity (the hallmark by which all file sharing seems to be compared) CD sales were at their highest rate ever. People were exposed to music and groups they otherwise may not have heard without file sharing. As a result of enjoying the music by these groups people went out and actually bought the CDs of the music they enjoyed. It's ironic that the very lawsuits designed to stop copyright music infringement have actually managed to stifle file sharing enough that CD sales are dropping noticeably around the world. Opponents and critics also challenge that rather than being a source of copyright music infringement, peer 2 peer networks offer unprecedented exposure for new artists and their music. Another argument against the RIAA is that the real reason for the lawsuits against file sharer is because they want to keep the prices for CDs over inflated while keeping the actual royalties coming to the artists relatively low. The copyright music infringement claims made by the RIAA have become suspect. The music industry is currently working on ways where fans can legally download music. This will mean that fans have access to the music they love from their PCs and directly to their music playing devices without resorting to illegal copyright music infringement. The truth is that most people want to do the right thing and given viable alternative will elect to do so. Software copyright buy For Software Copyright Buy Locally To gain permission to use software copyright, buy the software. This sounds like such a simple solution and yet I know this isn't always as easy as it seems. Software is expensive, largely due to misuse and abuses of the past and the average consumer can't always afford to buy the software package and product he or she needs for business or pleasure. It is important when setting priorities for software purchases that you don't limit all your purchases to pleasurable pursuits. When making copyright software buy, be sure that you are getting the best possible product for your money. I've seen so many people spend foolishly for one product because it is the most common product on the market when another less expensive product would have been completely adequate at far less than half the price. Most people never use the bells and whistles they pay for when purchasing software. The best way to be sure that you are getting the best copyright software buy you can possibly get is to make a list of things you need your software to do, the things you'd like it to, and find all the software on the market that does those things. Find the one with the lowest cost and the most necessary features and let that be the software you decide to purchase. Don't make these decisions on the spur of the moment as you will almost always cost yourself more money in the long run. Another way to insure that you are getting a great copyright software buy is by comparing prices at local and online stores before making the purchase. You might be surprised by where you will find the lowest price (also keep in mind shipping costs when purchasing online they do swing the vote sometimes). Comparative pricing can save you hundreds of dollars in the course of a year on personal software and quite literally thousands of dollars each year on professional software. Be sure to make those decisions wisely as money spent poorly is money that could have been spent elsewhere. You should always remember when comparing prices and searching for the deal of the century when it comes to copyright software buy from a reputable source. This shouldn't have to be said but it really must be said. You would be amazed at how many people have received pirated software from purchases they've made online. This is an especially bad things for business deals in which the software was needed rather than personal software that was merely wanted and looked forward to. In business you could very well loose your investment in the pirated software as well valuable time getting the copyright software buy you actually needed in the first place. While the costs of doing business locally are often more expensive than it can be online I do recommend that for some purchases, particularly copyright software buy locally even if it is a little more costly. It's nice to know that there's a person on the other side if something goes wrong and that they want your business and want people in the community to respect their business. In other words local businesses are much more likely to give the personal touch and protect their reputations by doing the right thing. There are many other reasons that buying locally is good for you and your business buying needs. Buying locally for your business will establish your business locally (this is especially good if you don't have a huge presence or massive storefront from which to advertise). It also helps you make important business contacts in order to help your local business grow. For your copyright software buy locally to have some degree of assurance about the product you are getting. |