contests

February and March Writing Contest Deadlines

 

 

 

 

 

FEBRUARY AND MARCH CONTEST DEADLINES

Compiled by Jason Locke
…
EA = Electronic Format Available
EA/Non US = Electronic for Foreign Entries
EO = Electronic Only
MO = Members Only
U = Unpublished
P = Published
P/3 = Not published in three years
Pnr = Published, but not by RWA standards
PC = Not published in category selected

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FEBRUARY CONTEST DEADLINES ….

Fire and Ice Contest Chicago-North RWA Entry cost: $25/$30 (non-RWA members) E-Entry Deadline: Midnight of February 1, 2012 Prologue/first chapter (25 pages max) http://www.chicagonorthrwa.org/

Willa Award (P) Women Writing the West Entry cost: $50 Entry Deadline is February 1, 2012 Copyright of 2011 http://www.womenwritingthewest.org/pdffiles/WILLA%20Guidelines%20and%20Application.pdf

Merritt Contest (EO – U – P/4) San Antonio Romance Authors Entry cost: #30/$35 (non-RWA members) Deadline: Midnight, February 14, 2012 First twenty pages, plus up to five page synopsis. http://sararwa.net/contest.html

The Sandy Crested Butte Writers Entry cost: $30/$35 (non-Crested Butte members) Deadline: Midnight February 12, 2012 First 20 pages plus two page synopsis. http://thesandy.org/sandy.php

PNWA Literary Contest Received by February 17, 2012 Entry cost: $35/$50 (non-PNWA members) Beginning and Synopsis (not to exceed 5 pages) total 28 page max. http://www.pnwa.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=6

MARCH CONTEST DEADLINES ….

Fab 5 (EO – U – P/5) WisRWA Entry Cost: $18/$20 (non-WRWA members) Received by March 1, 2012 Up to first 2,500 words. http://www.wisrwa.org/

Great Beginnings Utah Chapter RWA Entry Cost: $10 Deadline: March 1, 2012 First five pages. http://www.utahrwa.com/gbcontest.html

Inspirational Readers Choice (P) Faith, Hope & Love Entry Cost: $20/$25 (Non-FHL members) Received by March 1, 2012 Copyright of 2011 http://www.faithhopelove-rwa.org/tbl.html

More Than Magic (P) Romance Writers Ink Entry Cost: $25 check, $27 Paypal Entry Deadline: March 2, 2012 Copyright of 2011 http://rwimagiccontests.wordpress.com/

Genesis Award (EO – U – P/7) ACFW – American Christian Fiction Writers Entry Cost: $35/$95 (Non-NCFW members Received by 3:00 PM CST March 2, 2012 First 15 pages plus optional one page synopsis http://www.acfw.com/genesis/index.shtml

ACFW Book of the Year (P) ACFW – American Christian Fiction Writers Entry Cost: $40/$115 (Non ACFW members) Postmark by March 10, 2012 Copyright of 2011 http://www.acfw.com/boty.shtml

CNW Contest Postmarked by March 15, 2012 Entry Cost: $5/$10 First five thousand words. http://www.writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/Contest_Guidelines/contest_guidelines.htm

Daphne du Maurier Award for Published Authors RWA Mystery/Suspense Chapter Received by March 15, 2012 Entry Cost: $25 Copyright of 2009 http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/d_published.php

Daphne du Maurier Award for Unpublished Authors (U) RWA Mystery/Suspense Chapter Entry Cost: $25 Received by March 15, 2012 First five thousand words, plus synopsis of no more than 675 words. http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/d_unpublished.php

Touch of Magic (EO – U – P/5) Central Florida Romance Writers Deadline: March 20, 2012 Entry Cost: $25/$30 (Non CFRWA members) First twenty-five pages plus up to three page synopsis (unjudged). http://www.cfrwa.com/?page_id=28

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest (U) Received by March 31, 2012 Entry Cost: $0 Up to 17,000 words http://www.writersofthefuture.com/rules.htm#writers

Advertisement

Q and A with Deb Werksman, editor at SourceBooks

Hi Everyone,

I have been checking out the blog tour on Romance Author Hotspot and it’s been so fun. If you’ve never been on a Blog Tour, this sis a great first experience, at least it has been for me. I’m not all the way through it yet, however I have been reading through Deb Werksman interview, which is great, but the REAL gold is found in the comments section, where Deb answers readers’ questions. I’ll repeat it at the end but go to www.romanceauthorhotspot.com and click on the header for Summer Bash 2011.

Here is just a snippet of what you’ll find in the comments section:

Q: What is your editorial criteria?

DW:

  • a heroine the reader can relate to
  • a hero she can fall in love with
  • a world gets created that she can escape into
  • a hook I can sell with in 2-3 sentences
  • the author has a clear career arc–i.e., if readers love the first book, what
    are we giving them next, and next and next?

Q: Would like to know what kind of stories would you like to see cross your desk (something that would really excite you)?

DW:

  • straight contemporaries that are fun to read (not issues-based, which I don’t think works in romance)
  • romantic suspense with law enforcement theme/characters
  • romantic comedy
  • commercial women’s fiction with a great hook and an unusual premise
  • Georgian and Victorian England historical romance

Q: Also, what kind of stories/genre do you think needs to be freshened up?
DW: paranormal romance and erotic romance

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Go check out the rest of the great blogs on the tour. There are many new-to-you authors to explore. www.romanceauthorhotspot.com

Happy Exploring!

Suzy Kue

 

May RWA Chapter Contest Deadlines

There’s still some time to get in on these contests if your entry is already polished and ready to go. Writing contests are a great way to get some feedback on your WIP.

The KEY:

EA = Electronic Format Available
EA/Non US = Electronic for Foreign Entries
EO = Electronic Only
MO = Members Only
U = Unpublished
P = Published 
P/3 = Not published in three years
Pnr = Published, but not by RWA standards
PC = Not published in category selected

_________________________________________________________________

The Lories Best Published (P)
From the Heart
Postmarked by May 9, 2011 (extended)
Copyright of 2010
http://fthrw.com/contest/index.php
..
The Molly Contest (EO)
Heart of Denver Romance Writers
Received by May 15, 2011
First thirty pages (max) + five page (max) synopsis
http://www.hodrw.com/contests/the-2010-molly-unpublished-writer-contest/
..
Ignite the Flame
Central Ohio Fiction Writers
Postmarked by May 16, 2011 or Emailed by same date.
Entries should be 15 pages MAX, with an optional one-page, un-judged, set-up. (No synopsis) Entries should be the first meet or first reunion meeting of your hero and heroine.
http://www.cofw.org/contest.html
..
Weta Nichols Writing Contest (U – EO)
Ozark Romance Authors
Received by May 16, 2011
First ten pages.
http://www.ozarksromanceauthors.com/
..
Emerald City Opener
Greater Seattle RWA
Received by Midnight – May 31, 2011
First seven pages.
http://gsrwa.org/contest.php
(Blog Side Note, I’ve submitted to this contest. They have GREAT feedback and it allows you to focus on really grabbing the attention of the reader.)

This information was gathered and pulled from an article written by Donna Caubarreaux. Donna Caubarreaux is a member of Coeur de Louisiane, Scriptscene Chapter, NOLA Stars, Heart of Louisiana, and Kiss of Death. She received a RWA Service Award in 1997.