October Contest Update

Seekerville would like to give a shout out to Stephie Smith who does an amazing job with her contest grid. This is my starting point for researching contests for the Seekerville Contest Update. Thank you, Stephie!

The RWA Golden Heart and RITA are now accepting entries. Remember that for the GH, you can register and pay the entry fee and send your complete manuscript later. Don't wait until the last minute as many times the entry limit is reached well before the contest deadline of November 16th. December 2, 2009 is the deadline for getting your manuscript to RWA.

The Golden Heart contest is limited to the first 1,200 paid entries. If entries in excess of 1,200 are received by November 16, 2009, excess entries will first be returned to those who did not volunteer to judge, and second in reverse order of receipt.



The Emily. E Deadline October 7. All electronic. Submit the first 35 pages of your manuscript. No synopsis. Entries may be limited to the first 60 submissions in each category. Each finalist will go to both an editor and an agent!

Paranormal:Chris Keesler, editor with Dorchester; Maura Kye-Casella, agent with Don Congdon Associates
Historical:Esi Sogah, editor with Avon ; Barbara Poelle, agent with Irene Goodman Literary Agency
Contemporary Series:Patience Smith, editor with Silhouette Books; Sha-Shana Crichton, agent with Crichton & Associates, Inc. Literary Agency
Contemporary Single Title: Frances Jalet-Miller, editor with Grand Central; Carolyn Grayson, agent with Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

BEST OF THE BEST: The Best of the Best manuscript will be selected by booksellers from the first place manuscripts of each of the four categories. The winner will be awarded a detailed critique of the first three chapters and synopsis by Leis Pederson of Berkley.



Linda Howard Award of Excellence. E Deadline October 11
Entry consists of the first 25 pages or less.

For interviews and links about the final judge editors, go to
romancemagicians.blogspot.com the week of September 28!
Categories and final judges:
Series/Short & Long Contemporary - Susan Litman, Editor, Harlequin
Single Title - Latoya Smith, Editor, Grand Central Publishers
Suspense (series or single title) - Megan MeKeever, Associate Editor, Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster)
Historical - Alicia Condon, VP, Editorial Director, Dorchester
Unique Genres (Paranormal, Futuristic, Fantasy, Time Travel) - Heather Osborn,
Acquisitions Editor, Tor
Romantic Sensual and Sizzling (Erotica) - Raelene Gorlinsky, Editor, Ellora's Cave
Young Adult - Natashya Wilson, Senior Editor, Harlequin Teen
Inspirational - Tina James, Senior Editor, Love Inspired Suspense & Love Inspired Historical, Steeple Hill



The Phoenix Rattler-Does Your Story Have Bite? E Deadline October 31. CWOW - Christian Writers of the West, the Arizona branch of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) are announcing their first writing contest for unpublished writers. This is an e contest and consists of the first ten pages of your manuscript.

Categories and their esteemed FINAL ROUND judges:
Contemporary Fiction: Melissa Endlich Senior Editor, Love Inspired
Historical Fiction: Fiction Editor, Barbara Scott, Abingdon Press
Suspense/Thriller/Mystery: Elizabeth Mazur, Assistant Editor Love Inspired Suspense
Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Allegory: Diedre Knight, Knight Agency
Young Adult: Janet Grant, Books and Such Literary
Women’s Fiction: Rachelle Gardner, Wordserve Literary Agency



Enchanted Words. E Deadline November 1. Final judge is an editor and agent. "Enchant us with your submission packet, and send us your query letter, synopsis (up to 7 pages), and the first five pages of your unpublished romance novel. Published authors may enter, provided they have not had a book published by an RWA-eligible publisher in the past three years."

Categories and final judges:

Contemporary (includes category length books)
Editor judge: Tracy Bernstein, NAL
Agent judge: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Historical
Editor judge: Leis Pedersen, Berkley
Agent judge: TBA
Paranormal/Fantasy/Sci-fi/Time Travel
Editor judge: Margo Lipschultz, HQN/Luna
Agent judge: Alexandra Machinist, Linda Chester and Associates Literary Agency


Hook, Line & Sinker. Postmark Deadline, November 1. The first three pages of your manuscript. Cash prizes. Final judge is Brenda Chin, Harlequin. Contest is limited to the first 125 entries received. No categories.


I dare you! This contest is only ten dollars. That means you forgo two and a half Starbucks latte's to enter. Do your first three pages have what it takes? Good writing is good writing, no matter what category you write for. Once again...I DARE YOU!

Gotcha! Contest. E Deadline November 4. Entry consists of the first 15 pages. 1 published author and 3 experienced, trained writers. Lowest score is dropped and 3 highest determine final score. Top 4 winners in each category are sent to an editor. Winners have 2 weeks to revise the 15-page entry prior to editorial review.
Categories and Judges:

Harlequin/Silhouette Series:
Susan Litman, Silhouette

Single Title/Mainstream Contemporary:
Meredith Giordan, Berkeley/Jove

Mystery/Romantic Suspense:
Allison Lyons, Harlequin Intrigue

Historical (Before 1945):
Megan Records, Kensington

Paranormal (Specialty/Time Travel/Fantasy):
Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks

Inspirational:
Emily Rodmell, Steeple Hill

Just For Fun:

Rosebud Magazine's third biennial Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction. Original unpublished works of fantasy, science-fiction, mystery and horror are welcome, but the editors are also open to any stories that reach beyond the boundaries of those genres, take a variety of literary and creative risks, and tell a good story. Ideal length is 1000 to 3500 words; up to 4500 words considered. Awards: $1,000 and publication in Rosebud. Four runners-up will receive $100 each and publication. All submissions considered for regular publication in Rosebud. Entry fee: $10 (or $15 to include a copy of the awards issue). Deadline: October 15, 2009 postmark. Info: Rosebud Magazine, N3310 Asje Rd., Cambridge WI 53523; Rod Clark, jrodclark@smallbytes.net.

Twilight Fans! You might be interested in these two essay contests from Lovetripper. Deadline for entries: Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on October 15, 2009. Winner will be announced Oct. 16, 2009.

Movies can transport us to romantic locales around the world for a few hours. To celebrate romance and the upcoming release of the next movie in the Twilight series, New Moon, Lovetripper is hosting two contests.

The first contest invites you to share a romantic movie, TV or book location you've visited (not while the movie was being filmed but at any time.) It can be any movie, TV show, or book."
The second contest invites you to share the romance of your own hometown. If you were making a romantic movie of your hometown,where would you visit?

Prizes: First contest-One winner, chosen at random from all eligible entries, will win a Twilight cast fleece blanket and an umbrella featuring the face of Edward Cullen.

Second contest- One winner, chosen at random from all eligible entries, will receive a copy of Twilight Tours: An Illustrated Guide To The Real Forks. This 112-page virtual vacation by author George Beahm features 90 photos of the town which has captured the hearts of both literary and movie romantics.




WOW: Women On Writing Fiction Quarterly Contest. Open September - November 30th, Midnight (Pacific Time). "WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. We are open to all styles of writing, although we do encourage you to take a close look at our guest judge for the season and the flavor of our sponsor, if you are serious about winning. We love creativity, originality, and light-hearted reads. That's not to say that our guest judge will feel the same... so go wild! Express yourself, and most of all, let's have some fun!"

Maximum: 750--Minimum: 250 The title is not to be counted in your word count. We use MS Word's word count to determine the submitted entry's word count.Open Prompt: Open to any style and genre. From horror to romance!

Entry Fee: $10.00 We are limiting the amount of entries to a maximum of 300 stories. Please enter early to ensure inclusion. If we reach 300 entries, we will disable the PayPal buttons.

Check out the great prizes, including cash! Final judge is Literary Agent, Noah Lukeman.






Remember this is Day 2 of registration for Seekerville Book-In-A-Week. For more information check out yesterday's post. All you have to do is give us a shout out in the comments and let us know you want to be part of the challenge.



No risk. No reward. No guts. No glory.