Essential reading for compers

Sometimes people ask me why I still subscribe to comping publications – after all, these days most of my wins come from online fast turnaround Twitter and Facebook giveaways, and radio phone-ins – often, these will be competitions I hear about in the morning and have won by the evening! But I’ve still got a soft spot for good old-fashioned print – there are times when I need a break from my iMac or iPhone, and it’s great to sit down with my highlighter pen and a copy of Compers News or The Competition Grape-vine. There are always loads of comps in there that I haven’t seen elsewhere.

I started subscribing to the monthly Compers News newsletter ten years ago, and over the years the content has changed to reflect the popularity of text, online and instant win competitions, but maintaining a good amount of slogan competitions. The editor Steve Middleton (alias Smid) is a good friend of mine (well, I hope he thinks so!) and when I pop round for a cuppa I can hardly see him over the piles of entry forms, prizes and promotional products… he works super hard on the magazine and I’m never surprised to get an email from him at 2am! A year’s subscription will cost you £44 – in my opinion it’s money well spent, because as well as the magazine you get access to the fabulous friendly Chatterbox online forum. This is a great source for information, help and general chat and we will also organise get-togethers in real life (gasp!) too. Rumour has it that Twitterphobe Steve will be relaunching twitter.com/compersnews in September (stop sniggering at the back!)

Another friend of mine, Jane Willis, produces the monthly Competition Grapevine newsletter. Handbag sized (always useful, that!) it contains a handy checklist so you can take it out shopping with you and never miss an entry form. If you subscribe to the Grapevine (£45 a year, £25 for six months, £13.50 for 3 months) you’ll also get Jane’s email update between issues. This is a great source of last minute competitions and I was lucky enough to win £500 from a competition Jane listed in her update earlier this year. Jane also has a blog which is full of helpful hints on comping, at http://competitiongrapevine.blogspot.com/ and you can follow her at twitter.com/compergrapevine

Sometimes it might feel hard to justify spending so much money on a newsletter when there are already thousands of competitions acessible for free online, but I guarantee you’ll easily win your subscription cost back within a year. Oh, and it’s always nice to have something current to read when you’re waiting at the doctor’s surgery!