Competition Magazines and Publishers
Long before the internet arrived, the main source of competitions for compers were from magazines like Competitor's Companion and Winners Friend. Inside you'd find lists of comps to enter, tiebreaker suggestions, articles, advice and details of previous winners. These days we don't see the merit of paying for a magazine, but some compers are still willing to stump up their cash for subscriptions.
The most "well known" competition magazines came from publishers Oxfordshire Press and Accolade Publishing with the main titles being Simply Prizes and Compers News. Competitors Companion (the magazine, not the unrelated website) and Prize Draw Winner were incorporated into Compers News in 2011, whilst Winners Friend was incorporated into Simply Prizes.
Hobson's Choice
A popular independent publication, Compers Grapevine, used to be our recommended choice, but the title has now been absorbed by Compers News. Many compers do have a good word for Compers News and that's perhaps the best option now. In fact it's your only option!
We're not fans of Oxfordshire Press due to their attempts in May 2011 to "review" Loquax and how we work. The content of their article was denigatory towards Loquax and resulted in us making a formal complaint to Advertising Standards and that saw their article being removed. In 2016, Simply Prizes, which now incorporates Competititon Club, stopped publishing it's magazine and is now primarily a subscription online listing site.
How Much Do They Cost?
So if you want a competition magazine then Compers News is all you have as an option. A typical 12 month subscription will cost you around £60 and that gives you 12 magazines plus access to their member's forum. You'll also have access to the Windex Tiebreaker database plus you can read digital copies online.
Compers News also has a sister publication - Compers News Express. This will cost you £42 a year and it's "dedicated to discovering and winning short-life competitions". The comps in this publication aren't the same as in the main title.
Our best advice, especially when it comes to paying out your money, is find out what real compers think of the publications and listen to the recommendations they make... reading them could save you money! Head to our forums and search around.
Prize Magazines
As well as the traditional comping "solutionist" magazines you can also purchase puzzle competition subscriptions like Prizes Galore, Take a Break, and Puzzler. These feature a wide range of puzzles and competitions for you to enter, often with big prizes.
Again, Loquax makes no recommendations about any of the titles listed. For the best advice about the quality of the publications why not visit our forums and ask other compers for their opinion?
