April Contest Update

April contests bring..requests! Which contests are you entering?

Published Author Contests

 Book Buyer's Best. Deadline April 14.

The IndieReCon Howey Award Contests are coming. Keep an eye on this site.

 Annual Published Maggie Awards. Deadline May 8.

 

Unpublished Author Contests

 Sheila Contest. Contest opens March 3 and closes April 13. Check out this video for the Sheila Contest. Participation is open to all RWA members who are unpublished, self-published, and published. The entry must be the author’s original work, unpublished in any format (including author’s website, self-publication, ebook, mass market, etc.) and not under contract when submitted to the contest. Entry consists of a manuscript and synopsis that may not exceed 35 total pages. For the Novella Category ONLY: entries must not exceed a total of 20 pages including a synopsis up to 3 pages long.

 CATEGORIES AND FINAL JUDGES:

Single Title Romance – Emilia Pisani, Gallery Books
Historical (short or long and Regencies) – Elizabeth Poteet, St. Martin’s Press
Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal – Megha Parekh, Grand Central Publishing
Women's Fiction with Romantic Elements– Madeleine Colavita, Grand Central
Romantic Suspense – Katherine Pelz, The Berkley Publishing Group
Young Adult – Wendy Loggia, Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s Books
Novella – Jodi Warshaw, Amazon Publishing

Orange Rose. Deadline April 14. Entry consists of 5 pages of synopsis plus beginning of ms (35 pp max).Finalists are chosen by their overall score, NOT by category. A finalist’s manuscript must be among the top ten scoring manuscripts, eleven in case of a tie, that receive a minimum of 85% of the possible points. Cash prizes.

Contemporary Category Romance
Mainstream with Romantic Elements
Erotic Romance
Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy Romance
Historical & Regency Romance
Romantic Suspense
Inspirational Romance
Young Adult Romance
Single Title Romance (over 70,000 words

Final Judges:

Heather Long, Editor, Decadent Publishing

Kerry Vail, Senior Editor, Decadent Publishing

Malle Vallik, Director Editorial Digital Initiatives, Harlequin

Jill Limber, Editor, Boroughs Publishing

Sarah Jane Davis, Editor, Hot Ink Press

Music City Pitch Contest. Deadline April 15.  Eligibility: published and non-published.

 Entry is the "pitch" for back cover copy that you plan to self-publish, or that oh-so-perfect query letter blurb/maximum of 200 words. All judges receive top 10% of entries.

Final Judges: 

Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.

Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, Foreword Literary.

Lauren MacCleod, Strothman Agency.

Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Agency.

Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Agency.

Elizabeth Poteet, St. Martin’s Press.

The Catherine. Deadline: April 30. Open to all unpublished writers, and published members of RWA who are not eligible to join RWA-PAN. Entry must be uncontracted, unpublished at time of entry. Entry contsists of the first pages plus a synopsis, maximum 7500 words.

Final Judges:
New Adult – Megha Parekh, Grand Central Publishing.
Contemporary Series – Megan Long, Harlequin.
Contemporary Single Title – Esi Sogah, Kensington;.
Historical – Katherine Pelz, Berkley.
Romantic Suspense – Leah Hultenschmidt, Grand Central Publishing.
Young Adult – Karen Chaplin, HarperCollins Children’s.
Paranormal, Fantasy, Futuristic – Brenda Chin, Belle Books.
Strong Romantic Elements –Kerri Buckley, Carina Press.

 

The Write Stuff. Deadline: May 1, 2014. Entry consists of the first 25 pages, electronic entry only.Open to Published and Unpublished authors alike, however, all work submitted must be unpublished at the time of submission and remain so until after the finalists are announced.

Final Judges:
Contemporary Single Title: Esi Sogoh, Kensington
Short Contemporary, Leonore Waldrip, Harlequin
Romantic Suspense: Cat Clyne, Sourcebooks
Paranormal Romance: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Company
Historical Romance, Elizabeth Copps, Maria Carvainis Agency
Woman’s Fiction: Stephany Evans, Fine Print Literary Management
Young Adult: Laura Zats, Red Sofa Literary

Annual Alaska Break-Up Contest. Deadline May 1. Published authors welcome, but submitted manuscripts must be unpublished. Entry consists of all entries electronic; submit up to 10 pages of your manuscript's most tense argument, breakup, or black moment. A 3-page scene set-up may be included but will not be judged.  Open to all categories and heat levels.

Final Judge: Tessa Woodward, Editor at Avon Publishing.
Top Prize: Personal critique of the 10-page entry by NYT Bestselling Author Cherry Adair
Second Prize: Personal critique of the 10-page entry by a USA Today Bestselling Author.

The TARA. Deadline May 1, 2014 Open to unpublished and published authors of novel-length fiction. However, the entry must be the author’s original work, unpublished and not contracted as of the time of the contest deadline. No entry can have been previously published in any format (on author’s website visible to the public, self-published, ebook, mass market, etc.). Entry consists of the first 4,500 words of a qualifying manuscript (actual word count). First and subsequent chapters up to the maximum entry word count of 4,500 words. No synopsis required in preliminary round.

Categories/Final Judges:
Category Romance – Karen Reid, Harlequin;
Inspirational – Raela Schoenherr, Bethany House Publishers;
Paranormal – Leis Pederson, The Berkley Publishing Group;
Romantic Suspense – Amanda Bergeron, Harper Collins;
Contemporary Single Title – Sue Grimshaw, Penguin/Random House;
Women’s Fiction – Katherine Pelz, The Berkley Publishing Group;
Historical – Kerri Buckley, Carina Press.

Unpublished Maggies now open!  Deadline:  June 10, 2014 by 10 p.m. (EDT) Entry to consist of synopsis and prologue (if applicable) and first chapter(s). Total number of pages may not exceed 35 per entry.

Single Title Romance
Esi Sogah-Senior Editor, Kensington Publishing

Contemporary Series Romance
Megan Long-Associate Editor, Harlequin Superromance

Inspirational Romance
Raela Schoenherr-Editor, Bethany House

Historical Romance
Katherine Pelz-Assistant Editor, Berkley

Paranormal Romance
Lauren McKenna-Executive Editor of Galley/Pocket

Young Adult
Holly Ingraham-Associate Editor, St. Martin’s

Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
Ellen Edwards-Executive Editor, NAL/Penguin

Erotic Romance
Kelli Collins-Senior Content Editor, Ellora’s Cave

Other Contests

If you were a Speedbo participant. (167 writers) and you meet the requirements, you are eligible to enter the Perfect Pitch Contest. Deadline is April 30th. Details here.

Meet our April Contest Diva, Connie Queen. (Appropriate name for a Diva!)

2008 Southern Heat 3rd place Historical
2009 Southern Heat 3rd place Historical
2009 SOLA Honorable mention Historical
2010 TARA 2nd place Inspirational
2010 Gotcha 2nd place Inspirational
2010 Fabulous Five Double finalist, 4th place and honorable mention Historical
2010 Enchanted Words 2nd place Historical
2011 Write Stuff 3rd place Historical
2012 Phoenix Rattler 2nd place (tied for first, lost tie breaker) Inspirational
2012 Southern Heat 1st place Inspirational

Warning: Contests can become addicting.

My first contest final was Husband’s May Run…But They Can’t Hide in the 2008 Southern Heat Contest. I framed my certificate and hung it on my wall—my own wall of fame. I didn’t complete that ms but started the next in the series, Thief by Night. The judges liked this story much better and in no time, I had placed in several contests and even gotten a couple of requests from editors to send in the completed manuscript. 

The problem was, I never finished this story either. Oh, I worked on it and wrote some here and there but made little progress. But the first 10 pages I had down! I made people cry! Break out the confetti and toot-horns. Somewhere in here family issues came up, VERY stressful issues. I couldn’t concentrate. But I could enter contests which validated my writing—and it was something positive in my life. 

Everything began to unravel when I entered the Phoenix Rattler. The final judge was a sought-after editor and a fantastic agent. The contest coordinator who informed me I had finaled, sounded excited like I had won something from the Publisher’s Clearing House Prize Patrol. My heart sank. I didn’t have a completed manuscript. 

I told myself I would work on it, but my heart wasn’t in it. Things were in upheaval at home, and now there was one more burden to weigh me down. I didn’t want to be one of those authors who never turned things in. By then, I had started working on book one again, thinking if I completed it, I could get into the book two.

Then I entered one more contest even though I knew I shouldn’t. (I was addicted to contests—they really should have a support group for people like me.) I entered Husbands May Run in the Southern Heat Contest again. It had never fared as well as Thief by Night anyway, but I fully intended on completing it.

About four or five months after placing in the Rattler, the editor wrote to see how I was coming along on my book. I told her the truth that I went back to the first book. By this time, I no longer felt like my writing was validated. I was a failure. Loser. Embarrassed. From that moment, no matter how tempting, I swore off contests until I had a complete book.

However, in June, I learned Husbands May Run finished first place in the Southern Heat Contest—my only first place win. Melissa Endlich requested a partial. I knew I couldn’t fail this time. If I did, I was quitting writing forever. That November I sent in the partial. Then in June of 2013, LIH requested the full. This book was in a mess, but I kept working on it and finally turned it in on February 1 of this year. I only lack about 15K to complete the second book and am working consistently on my Killer Voices ms.

Enter contests. Learn all you can. Enjoy your successes. But please don’t do what I did. FINISH THE BOOK.


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Comment in Seekerville today for a chance to win a Shakespeare Love Quotes Mug.Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

 That's it! Now go forth and contest!