June Contest Update

We're heading into the sixth month of year!
Unbelievable.
What are you doing to get your manuscripts
out there into the world?


Comment today for a chance to win Alicia Rasley's,
The Power of Point of View.


The Power of Point of View explores the complex but
essential subject of character Point of View in an
interactive and non-judgmental fashion.
It's for you if you want more than just "first-person/third person",
and if you're tired of rules and are ready to make
your own decisions about POV in your own story.

Unpublished Contests

Maggie Unpublished Division. Deadline June 5. All electronic. Limited to first 70 entries in each category. The Maggie is a highly prestigious contest and not for beginners. Entrants do not receive scores. Entry to consist of synopsis and prologue (if applicable) and first chapter(s). Total number of pages may not exceed 35 per entry. Judges TBA.

Single Title: LaToya Smith, Grand Central Publishing
Paranormal/Fantasy: Esi Sogah, Avon
Historical: Danielle Poiesz, Pocket Books
Contemporary Series Romance: Kathryn Lye, Harlequin
Inspirational: David Long, Bethany House (the contest is low on Inspy entries!!)




The Lone Star. Deadline June 6. All electronic contest. First 25 pages, including prologue, if desired. 20$ Early bird special good until May 23rd. What a bang for your buck with editor and agent judge and early bird discount. (Low on Inspy entries!)
Final judges:

Inspirational Category:
Editor - Lindsay Guzzardo – Guideposts Books
Agent - Tamela Hancock Murray – Hartline Literary

Young Adult Category:
Editor – Kat O'She – Leap Books
Agent –Tina Wexler – International Creative Management

Romantic Suspense Category:
Editor: Leis Pederson – Penguin
Agent: Tina Tsallas – Great Titles, Inc.

Contemporary Series Category:
Editor: Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin
Agent: Pam Strickler with Pam Strickler Author Management

Single Title Category:
Editor: Deb Werksman – Sourcebooks
Agent: Lois Winston – Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

Historical Category:
Editor: Alicia Condon – Kensington
Agent: Sara Megibow – Nelson Literary Agency

Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Category:
Editor: Tara Gavin – Harlequin Nocturne
Agent: Alexandra Machinist with Linda Chester Agency




Heart of the Rockies. All electronic. Deadline is June 15. Nine categories with achievement awards given in each. Entries are limited to the first 215 received. Submission consisting of the first two chapters and the complete 1-5 page synopsis, saved in RTF format only, total entry is not to exceed 35 double-spaced pages.

Final round judges are as follows:
Short Contemporary: Shana Smith, Editorial Asst/Harlequin Books
Long Contemporary: Victoria Curran, Editor/Harlequin Books
Single Title: Alexandra Machinist, Agent/Linda Chester Literary Agency
Paranormal/Time Travel/Futuristic/Fantasy: Alicia Condon, Editor/Kensington Books
Historical: Tess Woodward, Associate Editor/Avon
Romantic Suspense: Melissa Jeglinski, Agent/The Knight Agency
Inspirational Category: Jen Leep, Editorial Director/Revell Books, Baker Publishing Group
Erotic: Kelli Collins, Editor-in-Chief/Ellora’s Cave
Mainstream w/Romantic Elements: Danielle Poiesz, Pocket Books




Put Your Heart In A Book. Electronic contest. Deadline June 15. Another big bang for your buck contest. Entry fee $35. Entry consist of a SYNOPSIS and FIRST chapter ONLY, not to exceed 30 pages combined.

Final Round Judges:An agent, editor and multi-published author will judge the final entries.

Short Contemporary
Agent: Sharlene Martin-Brown, Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency
Editor: Susan Litman, Silhouette Special Edition
Multi-published Author: Shirley Hailstock

Single-Title Contemporary
Agent: Pam Strickler, Pam Strickler Agency
Editor: Brenda Chin, HQN
Multi-published Author: Robyn Carr

Historical
Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency
Editor: Alicia Condon, Kensington
Multi-published Author: Madeline Hunter

Paranormal
Agent: Cori Deyoe, Three Seas Literary Agency
Editor: Holly Blanck, St. Martin’s Press
Multi-published Author: Deborah Cooke

Romantic Elements
Agent: Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency
Editor: Patience Smith, Silhouette Intrigue
Multi-published author: Dee Davis



Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest. Electronic only. Deadline June 27. Entries are limited to the first 40 entries in each category. Each entry shall be no longer than 35 pages. The entry should include a copy of the opening of your manuscript, including prologue if there is one, and a copy of your synopsis (no more than 10 pages).

Historical:Jesse Feldman, NAL
Mainstream w/ Strong Romantic Elements:Maureen Walters, Curtis Brown, LTD
Paranormal:Alicia Condon, Kensington
Romantic Suspense :Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks
Single Title:Latoya Smith, Grand Central Publishing
Young Adult:Holly Root, Waxman Literary Agency (YA entries do not have to be romance)
Best-of-the-Best:Meredith Giordan, Berkley Publishing



Heart of the West. Electronic Contest . Deadline July 1st. Contest is open to published and unpublished authors. Unpublished authors are ranked separately from published authors. Published authors may submit only unpublished, uncontracted manuscripts.

Contemporary-ELIZABETH POMADA, Michael Larson, Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agents;
Historical, BARBARA POELLE, The Irene Goodman Literary Agency;
Paranormal, GAIL FORTUNE, The Talbot Fortune Agency LLC;
Mystery/Suspense, DANIELLE ROSE POIESZ, Gallery/Pocket Books;
Young Adult, ANN BURKHARDT, Kimberly Cameron and Associates
Published, TBA.



Published Contests

2009 Golden Leaf Contest. Entrants must register for the contest by June 10, 2009 via email or regular mail. Entry forms and books must be post­marked by July 10, 2009 and received by July 15, 2009.

Worth joining the NJRW for this contest. 25th Anniversary Special — The Golden Leaf Contest will be FREE for NJRW PAN members! The Golden Leaf is awarded annually for excellence in romance fiction by authors who are NJRW members or in RWA Region One. Romance novels with a first copyright date or first North American printing date of August 2008 through July 2009 are eligible for entry.

Best First Book
Historical
Long Contemporary
Novella
Paranormal
Traditional Regency
Short Contemporary
Single Title Release


Just For Fun

The Third Annual, Real Simple, Life Lessons Essay Contest. Opens June 1 and ends on September 24.


Finish this sentence: “I never thought I’d. . .”

Have you ever taken a huge, surprising risk? Did you climb a mountain? Go back to school? Get married (again)? Tell us about it: Enter Real Simple’s Third-Annual Life Lessons Essay Contest and you could have your essay published in Real Simple; win round-trip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, tickets to a Broadway play, and a lunch with Real Simple editors; and receive a prize of $3,000.

To enter, send your typed, double-spaced submission (1,500 words maximum, preferably in a Microsoft Word document) to lifelessons@realsimple.com.






That's it for June. Now go forth and contest!