News Prize money witheld and judges left unpaid as Plaza Prizes Writing Competition closes.

[Sedayne]

Winners and judges out of pocket as £20,000 writing awards appear to have closed

The Plaza Prizes offered 10 awards in 2025 but some judges say they were not paid, while a number of winners hit back over AI accusations

www.theguardian.com

 

[AgentPete]

Gawd. Depressing

 

[Pamela Jo]

HMMM. I think it is the death knell for those prizes that were there to vacuum up the hopes and dreams of people looking for a career writing. One reason I dont go for the money prizes. "Money for nothing and the chicks for free" never rang true for me.

 

[AgentPete]

I tend to agree. “Prizes” can mean a whole load of different things, from completely legit & prestigious to totally bogus and scam-worthy.

I’ve known one or two authors who supplemented their income quite nicely by running “prizes”… one of them charged quite hefty entry fees and all the entries were “judged” by his 16 year-old nephew, unbeknownst to the entrants.

If you’re thinking about entering a contest, consider:

Entry fee – how much? Over $25 or so would start to ring my alarm bells.

Prestige value? Even being short-listed for a significant prize is a feather in your cap.

Past history? What have previous winners gone on to do / achieve?

p.