The July Contest Update

Surprise! You were expecting the Weekend Edition...

The upcoming holiday and day jobs threw a wrinkle in the scheduling. So here we are with the July Contest Update on a Saturday. Think of it as another opportunity for writerly education, and to win a lovely commenter giveaway!  

Pick either a Seeker book you want to read or a craft book and the Seekerville Wishkeeper will pick one reader and one writer whose wish will come true. We have unusual abilities. We grants wishes, but don't read minds. Go figure. So you have to tell us in the comments what you want to win.Winner announced TOMORROW in the Weekend Edition

 






 The Howies.Deadlines for all contest submissions, except for the Total Package, is July 31st at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The Total Package entries must be received by June 30th, 11:59 EDT.

  

Pages From the Heart. Deadline June 30th.Entry consists of: Electronic entry of the first 25 pages of your original, unpublished, and uncontracted novel-length (or projected novel-length) manuscript.Open to RWA members only. Published Authors: the writer is contracted or published, but the entry itself must not be contracted or published. Self-published authors welcome. Unpublished Authors: the writer has not accepted a publishing offer for, or self-published, a work of original fictional narrative prose of 20,000 words or more (by the contest entry deadline.)

Published Division:

Contemporary: Latoya Smith, Grand Central Publishing
Historical: Katherine Pelz, The Berkley Publishing Group
Inspirational: Stephanie Taylor, Astraea Press
Paranormal/Futuristic/Time Travel: Alicia Condon, Kensington Books
Romantic Suspense/Mystery: Cat Kline, Sourcebooks
Young Adult/New Adult: Elizabeth Poteet, St. Martin’s Press 

Unpublished Division:

Contemporary: Janet Clementz, Soul Mate Publishing
Historical: Junessa Viloria, Random House
Inspirational: Mary Sue Seymour, The Seymour Agency
Paranormal/Futuristic/Time Travel: Mary Altman, Sourcebooks
Romantic Suspense/Mystery: Madeleine Colavita, Grand Central Publishing
Young Adult/New Adult: Michelle Grajkowski, 3 Seas Literary Agency
Hero Of Our Heart Award: Chelsey Emmelhainz, Avon/William Morrow – Harpercollins



Indiana's Golden Opportunity. Deadline July 1. Entry consists of first 55 pages (including synopsis).

Contemporary Romance                                                             
Traditional Print Editor        Latoya Smith                           Associate Editor, Grand Central 
E-Pub Editor                       Heather Howland                    Senior Editor, Entangled 

 Erotic Romance                                                                 
Traditional Print Editor        Allison Janice                          Editorial Assistant, Berkley 
E-Pub Editor                       Michele Paulin                         Editorial Director, Resplendence    
 Historical Romance                                                           
Traditional Print Editor        Laura Fazio                              Assistant Editor, NAL at Penguin
E-Pub Editor                       Erin Molta                                 Senior Editor, Entangled 

Inspirational Romance                                                     
Traditional Print Editor        Shana Asaro       Associate Editor, Harlequin Love Inspired
Traditional Print Editor        Becky Philpott    Associate Acq. Ed., HarperCollins Christian Publishing              

 Paranormal Romance                                                                   
Traditional Print Editor        Kristine Swartz                         Editorial Assistant, Berkley E-Pub Editor                       Mallory Braus                           Editor, Carina Press

 Romantic Suspense                                                                     
Traditional Print Editor        Patience Bloom                       Senior Editor, Harlequin Books
E-Pub Editor                       Deb Nemeth                        Developmental Editor, Carina Press
 
Young Adult Romance                                                     
Traditional Print Editor          Lauren Smulski                   Editorial Assistant, Harlequin Books
E-Pub Editor                       Stephanie Taylor           Owner & Editor in Chief, Astraea Press

 
Put Your Heart in a Book. Opens June 1. Deadline July 1. Entry consists of  Synopsis and first chapter/prologue (30 pages max).

An agent, editor and multi-published author will judge the final entries.

Contemporary Series
 Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
 Editor: Cat Clyne, Sourcebooks
 Multi-published Author: Jennifer Probst

Single-Title Contemporary
 Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger, Inc.
 Editor: Angela James, Carina Press
 Multi-published Author: Roxanne St. Claire

Historical
 Agent: Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency
 Editor: Renee Rocco, Lyrical Press/Kensington Publishing
 Multi-published Author: Terri Brisbin

Paranormal
 Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, Three Seas Literary Agency
 Editor: Mary Altman, Sourcebooks
 Multi-published Author: Jeffe Kennedy

Young Adult Romance
 Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency
 Editor: Eileen Rothschild, St. Martin's Press
 Multi-published author: Susan Mallery

Romantic Suspense
 Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Greenburger Associates
 Editor: Patience Smith Bloom, Harlequin
 Multi-published author: Stella Cameron


 Heart of the West. Deadline Extended to July 15.Entry consists of the first twenty pages. Published authors may submit only unpublished, uncontracted manuscripts that will remain unpublished until the contest has concluded.

 Final Judges:
•Contemporary: Pattie Steele-Perkins , Steele-Perkins Literary Agency
•Historical: Elizabeth Pomada, Larsen Pomada Literary Agency 
•Paranormal: Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management
•Romantic Suspense: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
•Young Adult/New Adult: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Agency


The Phoenix Rattler is Open For Entries August 1-29th. Hosted by the Christian Writers of the West.  Entry consists of the first 15 pages of your manuscript.

 Contemporary- Michelle Grawkowski Agent, 3 Seas Literary Agency
Mystery/Thriller- Elizabeth Mazur Editor, Harlequin Love Inspired
Fantasy/SciFi/Speculative- Steve Laube President, The Steve Laube Literary Agency & Editor, Enclave Publishing
Young Adult -Rachel Kent Agent, Books & Such Literary Management
Historical- To be announced


Golden Palm. Deadline August 15. Entry consists of the first 25 pages.  

 Categories and Final Round Judges:

Contemporary Category:

Editor:Leah Hultenschmidt, Grand Central Publishing

Agent: Beth Campbell, Bookends

Editor: Cat Clyne, Sourcebooks

Historical Category:

Editor:  Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks

Agent: Jordy Alberts, Booker Alberts Literary Agency

Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Young Adult/New Adult Category:

Editor: Lauren Smulski, Harlequin Teen

Agent: Mandy Hubbard, D4EO Literary Agency

Agent: Laura Zats, Red Sofa Literary Agency

Paranormal Category:

Editor:  Peter Senftleben, Kensington Publishing

Agent: Nalini Akolekar, Spencerhill Associates

Editor: Angela James, Carina Press


 Hot Prospects Contest is Now Open. Deadline September 1. Entry consists of first 25 pages and a 3-5 page synopsis. 
 
 Single Title Contemporary-
•Editor – Sue Grimshaw, Random House
•Assistant Editor – Cat Clyne, Sourcebooks, Inc

Romantic Suspense-
•Editor – Associate Editor- Lauren Plude, Grand Central Publishing
•Editor -Tera Cuskaden, Samhain

Historical/Regency-
•Senior Editor – Esi Sogah, Kensington

Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal-
•Editor – Editorial Assistant –Kristine Swartz, The Berkley Publishing Group
 

  WD Short Short Story Competition. Early bird deadline is November 17. Deadline is December 15.  Think you can write a winning story in less than 1,500 words? Enter the 15th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition for your chance to win $3,000 in cash, get published in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a paid trip to our ever-popular Writer’s Digest Conference! The winning entries will be on display in the 15th Annual Writer’s Digest Competition Collection.



 The Seventh Annual Life Lessons Essay Contest. This contest begins at 12:01 A.M. Eastern Time (ET) on May 9, 2014, and ends at 11:50 P.M. ET on September 18, 2014.

 Have you ever had a eureka moment? Tell us about it.Think back on the instant when everything became clear. The split second when you realized that you had chosen the right career. Or the moment when you knew that your dearest friendship would last forever. Whether your epiphany changed your life or just made your day, write it down and share it with us.

Enter Real Simple’s seventh annual Life Lessons Essay Contest and you could have your essay published in Real Simple and receive a prize of $3,000.



We'd like to introduce our July Contest Divas. Yes, two. The writing team of
Crystal Ridgway & Destanie Ridgway!

2014 ACFW Genesis double semi-finalists
Seekerville Perfect Pitch winner
Writing as a team has been a blessing but it’s also had a few pitfalls. Contests have been one of them. The first contest we entered was the 2014 ACFW Genesis. Right off we ran into problems. We got an email from ACFW saying we’d done something wrong, that the photo was supposed to be of the author alone. After explaining that we coauthor, we were told not to enter any more manuscripts until they got their system fixed to accept coauthors. Seven manuscripts later, we had all our entries in.

Having only started writing seven months before our first contest, we entered our manuscripts with the sole purpose of getting feedback- although hope was running high. 

When the day came for the semi-finalists to be announced we sat by the phone. Two calls later we were thrilled to hear that we’d semi-finaled twice. That was on Monday. On Saturday we got an email saying Crystal Ridgway was one of five winners in the Seekerville Perfect Pitch contest.

Contests have been a wonderful tool that has gotten us feedback, validated our opinion that our stories are worth writing, and given us hope that we might make it into print. We are planning to enter all our completed stories in the ACFW First Impressions contest when it opens and will most likely enter a few more.

As relatively new writers, we are finding the feedback invaluable. That alone has made entering contests worth every agonizing moment of the long wait to see how they turn out.


 That's it Seekerville. Now go forth and CONTEST!!