Sure, but he doesn't think much of contests either. I think that this falls into a gray area. I have more than one novel in me, just a matter of getting them down. By my calculus, should I beat the odds and win this contest, I will probably make it easier to sell books to publishers and get an agent. Now, if we were talking about the traditional slush pile, I'd certainly agree with John.

And if I "lose" the contest, then I'll have used a contest deadline to get one more manuscript market ready. For me, there's not any downside yet.

Dr. Phil