Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The Last Ever 7Q Comp

The Phoenix Prize Saga

I received the email from the balancing judge at 12:54 December 16th. His 1-2 was the reverse of mine (so another decision to make!)


The final results were posted on the Seventh Quark Blog on December 18th.

I left for California on December 19th

There was no promise, nor would there ever be, to pay the prize "the instant" the prize was announced. What magazine does that? 7Q5 was scheduled for the end of January and the prize would have been paid out at the same time. I consider that normal practice.

I returned from the US, severely jet-lagged, the afternoon of January 1st and was in London again January 2nd. I wrote to the winner on January 2nd saying how rough I was and asking her to chase me Wed-Thurs. I received the confirmed address at 15:18 on January 4th. Yes, folks, six days ago. I had the confirmed address six days ago, less than six days before the payment was physically received by the author.

Jet-Lag and a family illness, wife off work, kids off school, and we are all still groggy and to add to my workload I am running an intense five day course at Kingfisher Barn which begins tomorrow, Thursday January 11th.

And yet, according to some I have been avoiding payment of the prize!

The prize is paid just three weeks after the results and that is SLOW?

I have waited more than a month on more occasions than I can remember. Peninsular Magazine routinely sent payments with the relevant publication. Payments I receive from The New Writer come in the same envelope as the magazine.

Checking with Boot Campers, many wait a month, months for prizes. Maybe, just maybe, magazine editors have lives?