Is the Spain's 2021 Premio Planeta $1 Million Euro Award legitimate? Will there be legal fall-out from the authorship revelation? I doubt it. I expect it may have damaged its reputation slightly. But people don't complain too much when there is $1 million Euro prize money involved.
Planeta Corporacion is a Spanish mass media conglomerate operating in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America. It has over 1 billion dollars in revenue each year. So I guess it has enough money for a $1 million Euro prize. That's the most valuable literary award in the world for an author or book. It started in 1952.
Wikipedia says that in recent years its credibility has been called into question with the first prize often awarded to authors published by Planeta. The award has been declined in the past. And in 2005, an Argentinian court fined Planeta after finding out that there had been fraud in awarding the Argentinian version of the prize in 1997.
This is the biggest player with questionable practices. There are smaller players in this market with prizes that aren't legitimate. Mostly, they make money by charging fees for entry.
Some examples of contest/award profiteers:
"JM Northern Media runs more than 20 literary “festivals” and conventions. JM Northern is a ferocious spammer; if you’re a writer, you’ve probably been solicited for one or another of its festivals."
"The Jenkins Group, a costly self-publishing services provider, runs at least six awards programs: Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Axiom Book Awards, eLit Awards, Living Now Book Awards, Illumination Book Awards, and the IPPY Awards. Entry fees range from $70 to $95, and there’s the usual raft of entry categories and non-prize prizes."
I found an excellent joke about multiple authors: "Too many authors to cite? No problem et al"
Better yet is this strange and hilarious 'joke' in the mix.
This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. It was released by the Canadian Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95
Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision
Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision
Canadians: Negative. Divert your course 15 degrees to the South
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. Divert your course NOW.
Canadians: Sorry. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT IS ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE TAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.
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