Are You Up for Some Competition?
Is your work ready to go to market? How will it stand up against the manuscripts of other romance writers? While most writers don't like to think about their new career as a competition, the truth is that competition is the nature of the publishing business. An editor can receive ten or more manuscripts a day. You need to make sure your work has that something special.
So, how can you know if you've got what it takes? Belonging to a critique group will help tremendously, but sometimes even your critique partners become so close to your books that they can't be objective. When that happens, the answer is simple: Contests.
Writing contests have been popular for decades in the romance publishing industry, but just in the last five years, the number of contests has grown to enormous proportions. Most contests are sponsored by the local, or special interest, chapters of RWA.
Where can I find information about contests for romance novels?
If you belong to RWA, you will get a monthly magazine that contains a list of upcoming contests. Or, there is the contest Divas Web site (
Most contests offer a selection of categories. It's up to you to place your book in the best-suited subgenre (single title, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense, among others.) An entry fee, usually in the $25 range, will normally get you two or more critiques from other writers and an opportunity to get your work in front of an editor if you place in the finals. In most cases, the top three to five scoring entries in every category are sent to an editor or agent to judge.
Each contest has its own rules and guidelines covering everything from the number of pages entered to whether or not a synopsis of the book is required. Not all romance-writing contests are sponsored by RWA chapters but the majority are. Of those that are, many require the entrant to be a member of the national organization. A review of a contest's rules and guidelines will help you decide if the contest is right for you.
Many authors have found contests offer unbiased feedback that has helped them improve their craft. Even better are the stories of authors who sold as a direct result of a contest. This occurs when an editor is impressed with an entry in a contest and requests to see more of the manuscript.
Putting your work out there for someone else to read and comment on can be daunting, especially for the new writer. However, contests offer many benefits, such as:
The cold reads and critiques of your work can help you get your manuscript ready to submit to publishers.
Contest finals are a great way to spice up your query letters to editors or agents.
Contests keep you motivated to write.
Contests can provide the validation that you are on the right track.
Contests can get you an agent. (If the final judge is an agent and likes your entry, he or she will ask to see the full manuscript.) Contests can get you sold! (One of the authors of this book, Christie Craig, sold four of her manuscripts as a result of a contest.)
Entering contests is a tool that may help you achieve your goal of publication, but it isn't the right tool for everyone, or the only way to get your work where it needs to be. A smart writer will evaluate the best route for her, and make choices depending on her personal situation.
In so many ways, entering a contest mimics the publishing industry's mode of operation. Therefore, entering contests prepares a new writer for what she might expect once she gets closer to the publishing business. For example:
The Deadline: Contests force a writer to have a certain amount of pages polished and mailed by certain dates.
The Rejection: Like it or not, the odds are that you will have to deal with rejection sooner or later. When you don't place in a contest, the rejection is real, just not quite as devastating as a rejection from a publisher.
The Patience: Contests, much like the publishing industry as a whole, consist of a lot of waiting. Some contests take up to six months to announce their winners. Some editors take almost a year to respond to a submission.
The Subjectivity: It is likely that you will get some judges who love your work, and in the same batch of judges, you'll get someone who equally dislikes your work. Editors are just like judges.
Be careful that you don't become addicted to the contest game. While it's questionable if Gamblers Anonymous lists writing contests as one of the things to be aware of, needless to say, it's easy to lose your objectivity when competition is involved with someone's passion. And for most writers, writing is a passion.
Nothing is perfect, and no one who has entered more than a few contests can honestly tell you that there aren't some flaws in the contest circuit. Some of the more common contest woes include:
Contests can be addictive. The validation one receives in contests can become like a drug to desperate authors seeking approval.
Contests can be costly. Some contest addicts have invested thousands of dollars in them over a year's time. Naturally, the amount you spend on contests should depend on your business budget.
Contests can lead to an author's loss of focus on her main goal. Entering contests should be a tool to help achieve publication, but it should never distract from the goal of finishing a manuscript.
Contest judges can offer bad advice. A writer needs to be secure enough in her craft to distinguish bad advice from good.
Make sure you enter your manuscript in the right category of a writing contest. Generally, contest score sheets will have a place where the judge can count the entry down if the work entered is not within the boundaries of the category in which it is placed.
Entering contests is a tool that can help authors, but it isn't the only tool. Writers should not neglect the other avenues available to them, such as querying editors and agents and making face-to-face contact with them at conferences.
As with any type of tool, a writing contest needs to be used correctly to get the best result. Used improperly, contests can be a waste of a writer's time and money. A wise writer will educate herself on how to make contests work best for her.
Reconsider entering a contest in a rush. Take the time to polish and repolish your manuscript before submitting it to a contest, just as you would when submitting to an editor. Because if you become a finalist, that manuscript will be going to an editor or agent. In addition, many writers have missed the finals due to a point or two being taken off because of typos. You are paying for this opportunity, so don't shortchange yourself by not giving it your best shot.
While becoming a finalist in a contest can mean you are on the right track, missing the finals doesn't necessarily mean you aren't. Many published authors have entered contests and never won with the same manuscript that went on to be a bestseller.
One of the best ways to increase your odds of doing well in a contest is the same method you'd use to increase your odds of getting a “yes” from an agent or editor. Open with a good hook that pulls the contest judge into the manuscript, and then close with an even better hook at the end of the entry that leaves them screaming for more.
Contest judges tend to be sticklers about the rules of the craft. Bending the rules when it comes to point of view and passive voice will generally get you counted down heavily in contests. While it's okay to bend the rules on purpose, contests are not the best place to enter rule-bending manuscripts.
If you are entering contests mostly for the feedback, perhaps the final judges might not be so important. However, if you are entering for the opportunity to get in front of an editor, then it is wise to make sure the editor judge reading your category is from a publishing house that buys the type of manuscript you're writing.
Probably the most prestigious contest for unpublished romance writers is RWA's Golden Heart Award. While the contest offers little feedback, editors and agents are impressed by the finalist's status. And for good reasons, too. Many finalists go on to sell their manuscripts.
Most RWA chapters post their score sheets for authors wanting to see how their manuscript will be scored. A quick review of the score sheets might help you do some revisions and give you a better chance of making the finals. Some critique groups use the score sheets to score each other's work before entering the contest.
