Although it seems like an obvious enough question, it's one that many writers don't know the complete answer to. Literary agent Nathan Bransford has an excellent blog post from the agent's perspective, and Jofie Ferrari-Adler offers his take, from the editor's perspective, in his article "Necessary Agent," from the July/August 2010 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.