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NORTHWEST HOUSTON RWA
Presents The Fourteenth Annual
LONE STAR WRITING COMPETITION
2006 Contest Rules
ELIGIBILITY:
Competition is open to published and unpublished.
Unpublished authors may enter in any category. Published authors may enter ONLY in a genre in which they have not published in the past five years. All authors may enter no more than once in a category, but may enter more than one category.
CATEGORIES & FINAL ROUND JUDGES:
1 Contemporary Series: Contemporary Series (category) books released as part of a series.
TARGET MARKET such as Silhouette Romance, Desire, Intimate Moments, Special Edition, Presents, Romance, Superromance, Blaze, or Avalon contemporary. Book length: short (30—60,000 words) long (65—90,000 words)
Separate score sheets will be used to evaluate long and short category submissions.
- EDITOR: Demetria Lucas/Harlequin Silhouette Canada
- AGENT: Kelly Mortimer/Ferguson Literary Agency
2. Single Title: works released as individual titles
TARGET MARKET: All publishers of individual titles of romance. Includes Women’s Fiction and Chick Lit.
Separate score sheets will be used to evaluate submissions.
- EDITOR: Devi Pallai/Warner Books
- AGENT: Erin Cartwright/Creative Media
3. Historical Romance: single title or category series including Regency Romance
- EDITOR: Linda Sawicki/Dorchester Publishing
- AGENT: Michelle Grajkowski/Three Seas Literary Agency
4. Romantic Suspense or Romantic Intrigue: single title or category series
- EDITOR: Keyren Gerlach/Harliquin-Red Dress-MIRA
- AGENT: Caren Johnson/Firebrand Literary Agency
5. Fantasy, Future & Paranormal: may include time travel, vampires, ghosts & werewolves
- EDITOR: Allison Brandau/Berkley Editorial Group/Penguin
- AGENT: Patti Steele-Perkins/Steele-Perkins Agency
6. Inspirational Romance: books in which faith-based/inspirational element is major component
- EDITOR: Krista Stroever/Steeple Hill
- AGENT: Paige Wheeler/Folio Literary Agency
JUDGING & AWARDS
In the preliminary round, three (3) qualified judges, at least two of whom have been published in book length, will judge each entry. Specific category and subgenre score sheets will be used.
The lowest of the three scores from first round judges will be dropped from the final tally. This means that although an entrant will receive three critiques, only the top two scores will be used to determine which three finalists go to the editor and agent judges.
Editors and agents will judge final round entries. Each editor and agent will rank and score the finalists from first through third.
Winners will be announced at the Northwest Houston’s RWA Lone Star Writer’s Conference featuring Mary Buckham October 7, 2006 in Houston, Texas. First place winners in each category will receive the Lone Star Brooch. Achievement certificates will also be awarded to all finalists. But as always, the real prize is the opportunity for your work to be viewed by these prestigious editors and agents.
DEADLINE :
- Submission must be postmarked by June 5, 2006.
- Entries postmarked after the deadline will be returned unopened.
- PayPal—Available now for Electronic Submissions
- Electronic submissions information— here
ENTRY GUIDELINES:
- Five (5) copies of the first chapter (no more than twenty-five (25) double-spaced pages including prologue if applicable)—three copies will be used in the first round judging; the additional two copies will be used for final round judging—not to exceed in generally accepted manuscript form.
- Double-spaced, one inch margins, printed on one-side only. Do not justify right margin.
- Header of each manuscript page must contain the title, targeted market, word count, and page number. The entrant’s name must not appear on any page of the manuscript.
- 12 point font—Courier or Courier New or 14 point font—Times New Roman (Courier New preferred) or equivalent up to 250 words per typical page.o Suggested 25 lines per page
- Suggested 1/3rd down the page start for beginning of chapter
- One (1) title page containing entrant’s name, address, telephone numbers, email address, and title of submission.
- SASE with appropriate STAMP postage for return of all five manuscript copies and score sheets. SASE should be large enough to insert entries with ease, i.e. Tyvek priority mail envelopes (available free from USPS either on-line or at your local Post Office).
- IMPORTANT: Do not use metered postage on return envelope. Entries with metered postage will not be returned.
Entries will not be accepted if signature is required for delivery.
- Optional SAS-postcard for notification of receipt.
- $30.00 check or money order (in US Funds only) made payable to NW Houston RWA for each entry submitted. ($20.00 for NW Houston chapter members)
DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM ENTER ONLINE
CONTEST COORDINATOR:
If you have any questions or need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Jane R. Carver
NWHRWA 2006 Lone Star Writing Competition Coordinator
16270 Green Meadow Lane/ Willis, TX 77318/ Phone: 936-856-0334/ Email: jrcarver1@verizon.net
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