Needle In the Hay
The bloke who runs my favourite little writing comp website, www.needleinthehay.net, was kind enough to give me a sneaky little interview about what NITH is, where it’s going, and what goes into running a not-for-profit writing competition.
What is NITH, and what inspired its creation?
Needle In The Hay is a website for fast paced and inclusive creative writing awards. We aim to offer an alternative to existing prize competitions by having no entry fees and a quick turn around, and we promote authors as well as challenge them.
I’m not sure where the idea came from. Being a writer myself, perhaps it was the lack of avenues for writers to cut their teeth. Our world is more immediate, and on some level, our attitude to writing needs to reflect that. Hopefully NITH can play its part
What are some of the successes that you’ve had with NITH?
Personally it’s great for my overall work ethic to have to run a site with certain expectations, and coming up with new and interesting awards is a constant creative challenge. I’ve met some great people and read some great stories… Seriously, check out some of our recent winners. Most of all it’s fun. The worst thing for a writer is to have to feel like your work is a chore.
We have an anthology and a collection of original short fiction coming out in the next few months, which is great as well. But the real success stories are on the site. If I had to single one out, Amber McGlothlin has destroyed three or four competitions this year already. If you go to the awards page, you can see other writers who regularly submit and regularly improve. Can’t ask for much more then that.
What are some of the trials/difficulties of running your own competition?
Judging is probably the hardest part. I don’t participate in the judging process beyond collecting the score. I have a few people I can rely on, but it’s always good to mix it up, and keeping the judging pool balanced can be tricky. I don’t want it to be five old guys sitting around a mahogany desk conversing in Joycean prose, but having one of those types is probably valuable too. I’ve tried peer voting and that has been successful, but I think it’s important that the site doesn’t become a straight out popularity contest either.
Authority is a tricky subject and I don’t have all the answers, but I like to think that all the winners we’ve had so far were deserved.
Has anything surprised you in this undertaking?
Is it too cliché to say I’m surprised almost every day? The more people I meet through the site the more I realise how many good writers there are in the world right now. When a deadline rolls around and the mailbox starts filling up there’s that lazy part of me that’s thinks “Oh great, I get to read through all these stories.” Then I actually start reading the submissions and I think, “Oh great! I get to read through all these stories!”
There are times when it feels like a grind. The real surprise is how willing some of NITH’s regular contributors are to lend a hand. Generous folks like Debb Bouch and Joey To, the indelible Jason Fink, Nathan Boole, Holly Riordan and Sherry Landow who runs the Wollongong Poetry Slam. I’ve already mentioned Amber. I think most of us realise the health of the industry, and our participation in it, relies on authors being active in promoting each others work. It shows that people still value competition, engagement and collaboration, which, to me at least, is much more important then prize money.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of prize money.
What’s next for the NITH brand name? Any coming ventures?
Yep. We are starting a website called The Haystack. It has the same inclusive aims as NITH, but with a focus on real stories. It’s difficult to define exactly what Haystack will be, as we are literally just getting started, but I think it will be an interesting place to read the stories of real people rather then the typical ‘broad brush, broad strokes’ approach we so often get. There will be regular contributors, but if you’ve got a story to tell, I think it could be the place for you as well.
We’ve also got some publications coming out later in the year. Stay tuned!
Where do you hope NITH will be in two years?
Still on the web, ha!
In two years I’d like to have two hundred unique authors have come through the award. I’d like some of those authors to have gone on to better things, be it self or legacy publishing, or some other career in writing. I’d like to give other people the platform to submit their own awards and experience the unending joy of promoting other people’s writing while your own stagnates in a drawer somewhere. While we’re getting personal, I’d like a one-touch device that makes the perfect whiskey sour. I’d like a hover board.
On a final note, I’d just like to add that all current prize monies are paid by the competition creator himself, not by entry fee or uni grants. If you want to find a bloke looking to help grass-roots writing, get over to the NITH website, put an entry in or comment on a shortlist entry, and become a part of something that’s going places.
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What is NITH, and what inspired its creation?
Needle In The Hay is a website for fast paced and inclusive creative writing awards. We aim to offer an alternative to existing prize competitions by having no entry fees and a quick turn around, and we promote authors as well as challenge them.
I’m not sure where the idea came from. Being a writer myself, perhaps it was the lack of avenues for writers to cut their teeth. Our world is more immediate, and on some level, our attitude to writing needs to reflect that. Hopefully NITH can play its part
What are some of the successes that you’ve had with NITH?
Personally it’s great for my overall work ethic to have to run a site with certain expectations, and coming up with new and interesting awards is a constant creative challenge. I’ve met some great people and read some great stories… Seriously, check out some of our recent winners. Most of all it’s fun. The worst thing for a writer is to have to feel like your work is a chore.
We have an anthology and a collection of original short fiction coming out in the next few months, which is great as well. But the real success stories are on the site. If I had to single one out, Amber McGlothlin has destroyed three or four competitions this year already. If you go to the awards page, you can see other writers who regularly submit and regularly improve. Can’t ask for much more then that.
What are some of the trials/difficulties of running your own competition?
Judging is probably the hardest part. I don’t participate in the judging process beyond collecting the score. I have a few people I can rely on, but it’s always good to mix it up, and keeping the judging pool balanced can be tricky. I don’t want it to be five old guys sitting around a mahogany desk conversing in Joycean prose, but having one of those types is probably valuable too. I’ve tried peer voting and that has been successful, but I think it’s important that the site doesn’t become a straight out popularity contest either.
Authority is a tricky subject and I don’t have all the answers, but I like to think that all the winners we’ve had so far were deserved.
Has anything surprised you in this undertaking?
Is it too cliché to say I’m surprised almost every day? The more people I meet through the site the more I realise how many good writers there are in the world right now. When a deadline rolls around and the mailbox starts filling up there’s that lazy part of me that’s thinks “Oh great, I get to read through all these stories.” Then I actually start reading the submissions and I think, “Oh great! I get to read through all these stories!”
There are times when it feels like a grind. The real surprise is how willing some of NITH’s regular contributors are to lend a hand. Generous folks like Debb Bouch and Joey To, the indelible Jason Fink, Nathan Boole, Holly Riordan and Sherry Landow who runs the Wollongong Poetry Slam. I’ve already mentioned Amber. I think most of us realise the health of the industry, and our participation in it, relies on authors being active in promoting each others work. It shows that people still value competition, engagement and collaboration, which, to me at least, is much more important then prize money.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of prize money.
What’s next for the NITH brand name? Any coming ventures?
Yep. We are starting a website called The Haystack. It has the same inclusive aims as NITH, but with a focus on real stories. It’s difficult to define exactly what Haystack will be, as we are literally just getting started, but I think it will be an interesting place to read the stories of real people rather then the typical ‘broad brush, broad strokes’ approach we so often get. There will be regular contributors, but if you’ve got a story to tell, I think it could be the place for you as well.
We’ve also got some publications coming out later in the year. Stay tuned!
Where do you hope NITH will be in two years?
Still on the web, ha!
In two years I’d like to have two hundred unique authors have come through the award. I’d like some of those authors to have gone on to better things, be it self or legacy publishing, or some other career in writing. I’d like to give other people the platform to submit their own awards and experience the unending joy of promoting other people’s writing while your own stagnates in a drawer somewhere. While we’re getting personal, I’d like a one-touch device that makes the perfect whiskey sour. I’d like a hover board.
But no, you were asking about the site. I would be happy if it was self sustaining. That would show me that enough people believe in the site to make it worthwhile. We hope to run a funding drive near the end of the year, but I also think there is a place for the right kind of sponsorship. If you’re interested, drop me a line 
On a final note, I’d just like to add that all current prize monies are paid by the competition creator himself, not by entry fee or uni grants. If you want to find a bloke looking to help grass-roots writing, get over to the NITH website, put an entry in or comment on a shortlist entry, and become a part of something that’s going places.
Vote for me if you see me!
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