Got this in my inbox twice today. I'll share because I am Michael an I am good.
No one gives a shit what I think but I'm not going in for it as I donate all my money to Africa, Amnesty and the bartender.

COMEDY WRITING COMPETITION

New to this year's Women in Comedy Festival is a comedy writing competition and you are invited to flex your comedy writing muscles in two categories, the first for a 3 minutes comedy sketch or monologue, the second for a maximum 1,000 short story. Must be funny of course.

There are first prizes of £50 plus publication and performance opportunities in each category and comedy related prizes for the runners up. Entry fees, payable by Paypal, are £3 per entry, £2 for the third and subsequent entries.

Before you ask, the competition is open to entries from men but all submissions MUST feature women as the main character/s.

Want to know more? Have a look here: http://www.womenincomedy.co.uk/festival/writing.html

The Women in Comedy Festival will run 20 - 30 October in Manchester. There are almost over 100 shows, including open mics and shows for children, plus workshops with tickets available from £2.50 including booking fee. See more here: www.womenincomedy.co.uk

I got that too from Canal Theatre Cafe.

You don't have to be a woman - just write for a woman character.

I'm a woman and I'm amusing at least twice a week on average. Is it usual to pay for entry/pay to play?

One of the other women on my stand-up course fared well in this competition a few years back.

It seems a bit daft to pay to be rejected. There are other things like NewsRevue where you can be rejected for nothing.

Do you remember Radio rejects about 6 years ago? It was a show made up of sketches sent to radio but turned down. It made for an awesome cover letter:
The BEST COMEDY PRODUCERS IN THE UK all said no to this one. In fact, the further up I tried, the more shit they said it was. Hope you like it.