Contest: Windy City RWA Four Seasons Contest

Calling All Romance Writers!!!

Windy City Presents: The 2013 Four Seasons Romance Writer Contest

http://www.windycityrwa.org/contest/

Eligibility requirements:

The Four Seasons Contest is open to unpublished writers and to any author who has not been published in the past five years in any novel-length work of fiction (40,000 + words) in any format (e-book, mass market, etc).

Past Four Seasons Winners are eligible to enter a manuscript that has not previously won the Four Seasons Contest.

Submission Guidelines:

Entries must be the first 25 pages of your manuscript in RTF (rich text format). Standard industry formatting rules apply: one inch margins, Times New Roman 12 or 14 or Courier 12. Author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please do NOT include a synopsis. Entries in all categories must be Romantic Fiction. Short stories, nonfiction, and fiction in genres other than romance will not be accepted. Non-compliance with any of the above rules may result in disqualification.

Categories:

Historical Romance
Single Title Contemporary Romance
Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal Romance
Young Adult Romance
Inspirational Romance
Romantic Suspense
2013 Final Judges:

Single Title Contemporary
Editor: Michelle Venditti, MIRA
Agent: Scott Eagan, Greyhaus Literary Agency
Paranormal
Editor: Kristine Swartz, Berkley Publishing
Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, Three Seas Literary Agency
Young Adult
Editor: Leah Hultenschmidt, Fire, Casablanca
Agent: Anita Mumm, Nelson Literary Agency
Romantic Suspense
Editor: Dana Hamilton, Harlequin Intrigue
Agent Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency
Inspirational
Editor: Elizabeth Mazer, Harlequin Love Inspired
Agent: Amanda Luedke, MacGregor Literary.
Historical
Editor: To be announced
Agent: Jita Fumich, Folio Literary
Fee: $25.00 (U.S. funds) per RWA member entry, $30 per non-RWA member entry. Payment will be accepted via PayPal or check payable to Windy City RWA. Send payments to: Windy City RWA, PO Box 3523, Lisle IL 60532, Fees are non-refundable.

Deadline: Entries will be accepted starting August 1, 2013 and must be received bymidnight September 1, 2013.

Judging:

First Round ~ Each entry will be assigned three judges with a minimum of one being a published author from Windy City. Members of Windy City are not eligible to enter the contest. Entries may receive a total of 100 points possible per judge and lowest score will be dropped. Judges are encouraged to make comments directly on the manuscript and scoresheets. The extent of the critique provided is at the discretion of the individual judge. The selected finalists are the top 4 highest scoring entries. A separate tie-breaker score is assigned by each judge, in the event of a tie, the assigned score shall be tallied and the entry with highest number of tie-breaker points will place. Non-finalist scores are not ranked and will not be given to participants.

Finalists will be notified by October 30, 2013.

To review scoresheet click on the link. FourSeasonsScoresheet2013

Final Round ~ The top four finalists in each category will be assigned one editor and one agent. The final round judge scores the entries in her/his respective categories. The entry with the highest combined score is the chosen category winner. ***Final Round Judges subject to change without prior notice***

Top prize: Windy City Four Seasons Plaque. Also, all winners are announced in the Romance Writers Report. All finalists receive certificates.

Winners will be notified by December 20, 2013.

Please direct any questions to Sonali Dev ~ fourseasonscontest@windycityrwa.org.