February Contest Update

is in the air.

Welcome to another edition of Seekerville Contest Update.

This month the contest vault is open and we are giving away two Seeker books. Your choice. One each to two winners. All you have to do is stop by and say hello. Now is not the time to lurk. Winners posted in the Weekend Edition.


And as we gear up for another big contest year here in Seekerville we'd like to remind you to prepare by reviewing Pimp Your Contest Entry from our archives, along with Exploring Contest Mood Disorder.



Unpublished Contests



Merritt: This all electronic first chapter and synopsis contest is open to unpublished authors and those not contracted by an RWA-eligible publisher in novel length romance (40k) in the last 4 years. The deadline for submission is midnight, February 14, 2010. The entry is 25 pages total, including a maximum 5-page synopsis.

Mainstream w/Romantic Elements – Latoya Smith, Grand Central
Romantic Suspense – Katherine Pelz, Berkley
Contemporary Series – Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin
Paranormal – Selena James, Kensington
Inspirational— Melissa Endlich, Steeple Hill




The Sandy: All electronic contest. Deadline is February 15, 2010. Length of entire manuscript for adult categories is between 90,000-110,000 words, children’s 40-60,000 words. Send 1 copy of the first 20 double-spaced pages of your novel and up to a 2 page double-spaced synopsis for a total page count of 22 pages.

Romance - Megan McKeever, Editor, Pocket Books
Mainstream Adult Fiction - Christine Pride, Editor, Broadway / Random House
Suspense / Thriller / Mystery - Mark Tavani, Sr. Editor, Ballantine
Fantasy / Science Fiction - Ginger Clark, Literary Agent, Curtis Brown
Children's & YA - Julie Scheina, Assistant Editor, Little, Brown Books




Great Beginnings: Deadline March 1. Enter the opening five (5) pages of romance novels of all sub-genres (projected length of at least 50,000 words). Contest is open to published and unpublished authors. Unpublished authors are ranked separately from published authors. Published authors may submit only unpublished, uncontracted manuscripts. NOTE: If you have a romance novel published by a non-recognized RWA publisher, Utah RWA Considers you to be published.

Categories:

Contemporary: Single title; category; mainstream; young adult; or inspirational in a contemporary setting.
Historical: Single title; category; Regencies; suspense; mainstream; young adult; or inspirational in an historical setting.
Paranormal: Time travel; ghost; futuristic; inspirational in a paranormal setting; or paranormals of all other kinds.
Mystery/Suspense: Single title; category; suspense; mainstream; or young adult.


Judges:

Contemporary: Michelle Grajkowski, Literary Agent/3 Seas Literary Agency
Historical: Pam Ahearn, Literary Agent/The Ahearn Agency
Paranormal: Christine Witthohn, Literary Agent/Book Cents Literary Agency, LLC
Mystery/Suspense: Faith Black, Editor/Berkley Books at Penguin Group USA
Published: Amanda Bergeron, Editor/Avon-HarperCollins




The Duel on the Delta: Entries must be received via e-mail by March 15, 2010 at Midnight CST. Contest entry includes the first fifteen (15) pages. You may include an optional one-page, single-spaced synopsis. The synopsis will not be judged, but may be used as a reference to answer questions that arise during judging. Categories are listed, however final judges are not listed yet. Categories: Inspirational, Historical, Contemporary, Young Adult, Mainstream/Single Title, Mystery/Romantic Suspense.





The Daphne du Maurier Award: The 2010 contest is now open for entries. This is an all electronic contest. The contest is open to any writer who has never been contracted in book-length fiction (40,000 words or more) from any publisher. Any manuscript that has previously finaled in the Daphne including honorable mentions is not eligible for entry again.
There is no limit to the number of entries per author, but each entry may be entered in ONLY ONE category. Membership in Romance Writers of America ® and/or MRSRWA is not a requirement for entry. Contest entries will no longer be accepted after midnight, 3/15/2010 Mountain time. Entry includes the first chapter (5,000 words) and synopsis (675 words). No more than 27 pages total.

Final Round Judges have agreed to judge on the first fifteen pages (15 pages) of the entry. The additional ten pages are for final round judges who wish to continue reading.

Categories & Final Round Judges

Category (Series) Romantic Mystery/Suspense:Patience Smith, Silhouette Intimate Moments & Michelle Grajkowski, Three Seas Literary Agency

Historical Romantic Mystery/Suspense: Alex Logan, Grand Central Publishing & Kevin Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Inspirational Romantic/Mystery/Suspense: Caleb Sjogren, Tyndale House Publishers & Steve Laube Agency
Paranormal (PTTF) Romantic/Mystery/Suspense:Heather Osborn, Tor/Forge & Paige Wheeler, Folio Literary Management

Single Title Romantic/Mystery/Suspense: Margaret Marbury, MIRA/HQN & Stephanie Maclean, Trident Media Group

Mainstream Mystery/Suspense (Romance Optional)
Toni Plummer, St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne & Stacia Decker, Donald Maass Literary Agency









ACFW Genesis Contest is now open to entries! Deadline for this all electronic contest is March 31st, 8:00 am PST. The 2010 ACFW Genesis Contest is open to ACFW members unpublished in adult or young adult fiction in the last seven years. The entrant must submit the first 15 pages of their manuscript, double-spaced, and may include an optional one-page single-spaced synopsis. The manuscript and the synopsis must be in the same file, not in two different files.

Categories and Final Judges:



Contemporary Fiction: Beth Adams (editor, Guideposts), Stephanie Broene (editor, Tyndale), Barbara Scott (editor, Abingdon Press)

Contemporary Romance: Melissa Endlich (editor, Steeple Hill), Ami McConnell (editor, Thomas Nelson), JoAnne Simmons (editor, Barbour)

Historical Fiction: Janet Grant (agent, Books and Such Literary), Sarah Long (editor, Bethany House), Tamela Hancock Murray (agent, Hartline Literary)

Historical Romance: Natalie Hanemann (editor, Thomas Nelson), Charlene Patterson (editor, Bethany House), Emily Rodmell (editor, Steeple Hill)

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller: Sandra Bishop (agent, MacGregor Literary), Susan Brower (editor, Zondervan), Jan Stob (editor, Tyndale)

Romantic Suspense: Susan Downs (editor, Summerside Press), Tina James (editor, Steeple Hill), David Long (editor, Bethany House)

Speculative Fiction: Jeff Gerke (publisher, Marcher Lord Press), Julie Gwinn (Fiction Marketing Manager, B&H), Annie Tipton (editor, Barbour)

Women's Fiction: Rachelle Gardner (agent, Wordserve Literary), Natasha Kern (agent, Natasha Kern Literary), Raela Schoenherr (editor, Bethany House)

Young Adult: Jacque Alberta (editor, Zonderkidz), Terry Burns (agent, Hartline Literary), Rachel Zurakowski (agent, Books and Such Literary)




Published Contests




The Lories Best Published: Deadline March 5, 2010. Open to authors published in romantic fiction in both print and electronically. FTHRW considers all published books, regardless of RWA recognition, as eligible for The Lories Contest

For books published with first release dates of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. All entries should be author's original work. Final Judge: Booksellers TBA.






The Lories Best Proposal: Deadline March 5, 2010. Electronic contest. Open to authors published in fiction works of 25,000 words or greater. Enter via email a proposal (up to 55 pages comprised of the opening chapters of a manuscript and a comprehensive synopsis) of an unpublished/uncontracted work of fiction, all genres and subgenres are welcome. Most entries will have romance as their theme, but mainstream entries with a romantic subplot, including young adult, are welcome. Authors are allowed to enter a proposal for a genre in which they are published.

Final round judging will be conducted by a panel of industry professionals, to include:

• TBA, Literary Agency
• TBA, Literary Agency
• TBA, Editor, Single Title House
• TBA, Editor, Category House
• TBA, Reviewer

Miscellaneous Contest Opps!

Valley Forge Romance Writers
presents
The 3rd Annual VFRW Writers’ Rafflemania
to benefit the Sheila A. Conway Memorial Fund

The Prize: $ 1,000.00 Check

to defray your costs for attending the
2010 RWA National Conference
(Held In Nashville, TN, July 28-31, 2010)

* Raffle tickets cost $5.00 each or three (3) for $10.00.
* Grand Prize drawn on March 26, 2010.
* Raffle tickets to go on sale during Moonlight Madness at the RWA National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2009.
* All entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2010 and received by March 12, 2010.
* Checks received after March 12, 2010 will be returned.
* Prize is non-transferable.

Deadline is February 28th for the...Wow! Women on Writing Quarterly Flash Fiction Contest.

Word Count:Maximum: 750, Minimum: 250 OPEN PROMPT! That’s right, this is your chance to shine, and get creative. You can write about anything, as long as it’s within the word count and fiction. So, dig out those stories you started way back when and tailor them to the word count.

Any style and genre. From horror to romance! So, get creative, and most of all, have fun.Entries limited to a maximum of 300 stories. Please enter early to ensure inclusion. The winner not only gets cash and goodies but an agent read! The guest agent judge is Elise Capron with the Sandra Dijkstra Agency.

Happy Valentine's Day From Seekerville. May all your romance contest dreams come true. We leave you with a little Love Story.