Love the drawings. I have a slightly different perspective. I've been entering writing contests for over 13 years and I often pay to enter those. Sometimes I pay quite a lot. I expect not to win most of them, but I still enter because I find I always learn so much as a writer. I push myself so much harder and move out of my comfort zone with a contest. Sometimes I even get a nice surprise win. Yes, they could have made the prize smaller, but would people complain anyway? Probably.