2014 Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest
Which RWA® chapter contest offers their finalists 2 acquiring editor judges?
Which contest resulted in 10 entrants getting requests from editors judges to see their full manuscripts in 2013?
The Indiana Romance Writers of America’s IGO!!!
We welcome you to the 24th anniversary of Indiana’s Golden Opportunity (IGO), one of the premier chapter contests in RWA®.
The Indiana chapter of Romance Writers of America (IRWA) has a
well-deserved reputation for offering detailed constructive comments to
our entrants from published authors and trained judges. Designed to
identify the fundamentals of storytelling and grammar, our four-page
category-specific score sheets will assist entrants by defining the
elements in their manuscript that requires more attention. Our goal is
to assist IGO entrants with constructive feedback to help them polish
their manuscripts. Many past winners have successfully gone on to catch
an editor’s eye and/or final in RWA’s Golden Heart Contest. IGO attracts
some of the most respected names in the industry as category and final
judges.
«««BENEFITS OF ENTERING IRWA’S IGO FOR 2014«««
- In keeping with the ever-changing publishing industry, IGO will offer two (2) acquiring editor judges for each category -- one (1) traditional print and one (1) e-pub when possible.
- Updated
rules, categories, and score sheets
- In 2013 – TEN finalists received requests from our fabulous editor judges to see their full manuscripts!
CONTEST CATEGORIES:
Please review the category definitions carefully. Manuscripts entered in the wrong category may be disqualified
Please
note that categories may have varying heat levels. All entries should
have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic resolution to the romance.
- Contemporary Romance – Romance manuscripts that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and have a contemporary setting.
- Erotic Romance –
Romance manuscripts in which the sexual relationship plays an integral
part of the romantic relationship and the sex scenes are explicit in
both description and language.
- Historical
Romance – Romance manuscripts set in any historical time period.
- Inspirational Romance –
Romance manuscripts in which religious or spiritual beliefs (in the
context of any religious or spiritual belief system) are a major part of
the romantic relationship.
- Paranormal Romance – Romance manuscripts in which the future, a fantasy world, or paranormal elements are a key part of the plot
- Romantic Suspense – Romance manuscripts in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.
- Young Adult Romance – Romance manuscripts geared toward young adult readers.
FINAL JUDGES FOR 2014:
Contemporary
Romance
Traditional Print Editor Latoya Smith Associate Editor Grand Central
Publishing
E-Pub Editor Heather Howland Senior Editor Entangled Publishing
Erotic Romance
Traditional Print Editor Allison
Janice Editorial Assistant Berkley Publishing
E-Pub Editor Michele Paulin Editorial Director Resplendence Publishing
Historical Romance
Traditional Print Editor Laura Fazio Asst. Editor NAL at Penguin
E-Pub Editor Erin
Molta Senior Editor Entangled Publishing
Inspirational Romance
Traditional Print Editor Shana Asaro Associate Editor Harlequin Love Inspired
Traditional Print Editor Becky
Philpott Associate Acquisitions Editor HarperCollins Christian Publishing
Paranormal Romance
Traditional Print Editor Kristine Swartz Editorial Assistant Berkley Publishing
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
E-Pub Editor Stephanie Taylor Owner & Editor in Chief Astraea Press
First place winners in each of the seven categories will continue to the Best-of-the-Best round.
Best
of the Best Katherine Pelz
Assistant Editor Berkley Publishing
Group
OPEN FOR ENTRIES: May 1, 2014
DEADLINE FOR ENTRY: July 1, 2014
AWARDS: Category winners – First place entry will receive $50 and a certificate
Best of the Best – Winner will receive a special keepsake award
Indianarwa.com for more information.
ELIGIBILITY:
The
Indiana Golden Opportunity contest is open to any unpublished author in
novel- or novella-length fiction by a non-vanity/subsidy publisher.
Published authors who have not been contracted for publication (by RWA
publishing standards) in the past three (3) years are also eligible to
enter.
The
IGO will be following RWA’s Policy and Procedure Manual (March 2011)
1.40, regarding vanity/subsidy publishing. Subsidy/Vanity is defined
as: “Subsidy” or “Vanity” publishing
means the production of books in which the author participates in the
costs of production or distribution in any manner, including assessment
of fees or other costs for editing and/or distribution. This definition
includes publishing programs that withhold or seek full or partial
payment or reimbursement of publication or distribution costs before
paying
royalties, including payment of paper, printing, binding, production,
sales or marketing costs; publishing programs whose authors exclusively
promote and/or sell their own books; and publishers whose business model
and methods of publishing are primarily directed toward sales to the
author, his/her relatives and associates.
Note: Members of the Indiana Romance Writers of America are not eligible to enter.
GOOD LUCK, AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING US CELEBRATE THE 24th ANNIVERSARY OF THE
INDIANA GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY CONTEST!
Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest Rules
IGO
is 100% electronic. IRWA reserves the right to limit each category to
the first thirty (30) paid entries. A category may be dropped if fewer
than ten (10) entries are received. Entrants will be contacted about
withdrawing from the contest (fee returned) or they may choose an
alternate category.
ENTRY FEE: $35.00 (by check or Paypal)
FORMAT:
Each
entry shall be no longer than fifty-five (55) pages. Entries are
comprised of the first pages of the manuscript (including prologue if
one is used), and the synopsis. The synopsis may be no longer than ten
(10) pages. For example: With a seven (7) page synopsis, the first
forty-eight (48) pages of the manuscript should be submitted, for a
total of fifty-five (55) pages.
Use a header that includes the contest category, title, and page number on each page, including the synopsis. To ensure anonymity, author name must not appear on any page, or the entry may be disqualified.
Manuscripts will adhere to industry standards:
· 1” margins
· All entry pages double-spaced (including the synopsis)
· Times New Roman or Courier font
· 12-point typeface
· .doc format only
· Synopsis should follow manuscript portion of entry
More
than one manuscript may be entered, but each entry requires a separate
entry form, payment, and document file. Name the file: Category-Short
Title.doc. Example: Historical-Desperado.doc
Note: A previously entered manuscript that has been revised may be
submitted if it did not place in a prior IGO Contest.
SUBMITTING AN ENTRY:
1. Compile manuscript pages and synopsis into a single document that conforms to the contest regulations in the Format section.
· Place the synopsis at the end of the entry.
· The combined document should total no more than fifty-five (55) pages.
· Save the document as a .doc file with this file name: Category-Short Title.doc Example: Historical-Desperado.doc
· All manuscripts must be novel length (as defined by RWA), having an anticipated final word count of 40K or more.
2. Please note that all required
sections of the IGO Entry Form must be completed in order for the form
to be sent to the contest coordinator. This includes payment
information.
3. Two (2) payment options are available.
· PayPal—To
ensure proper matching of the payment to the entry, please include the
name on the entry form and the title of the entry on PayPal’s
description line and add the transaction ID to the IGO Entry Form.
· Check—Make checks payable to Indiana Romance Writers and mail to: IRWA Chapter #15, P.O. Box 126, Fishers, IN 46038
Allow
ample time for payment by check to arrive by the deadline. All fees
must be paid US dollars. If entering from outside the US, please use the
PayPal option.
4. All correspondence will be done through e-mail. Score sheets and judged entries will be returned to the entrants as .doc files.
5. Contact the Category Coordinator with questions.
JUDGING:
Two
(2) trained judges will judge each entry in the first round. IRWA
requires that all IGO judges undergo chapter-hosted training.
Manuscripts entered in the wrong category may be disqualified. Please review the category definitions before submission.
Following standard publishing industry practices, IGO uses only Track Changes for comments within the entry.
In
the case of a seventy-five (75) point disparity between first-round
scores, the entry will be sent to a discrepancy judge. The two (2)
closest scores will be used for scoring purposes. All three (3) judged
entries and score sheets will be returned to the entrant.
The
top three (3) scoring entries in each category will be sent to the two
(2) acquiring editors for final ranking. If a tie results in a category
during round 1, the synopsis scores will be used to determine the 3
category finalists.
The
editors will rank the category finalists with the lowest score
winning. If a tie results with the editor rankings, winner will be
determined by highest first round score.
The first place winner in each category will move on to the Best-of-the-Best editor to determine the overall winner.
SCORE SHEETS:
· Contemporary Romance
· Erotic Romance
· Historical Romance
· Inspirational Romance
· Paranormal Romance
· Romantic Suspense
· Young Adult Romance
NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS AND ENTRY RETURN:
· Finalists will be notified on or about September 9, 2014.
· Non-finalist entries will be returned on or about September 20, 2014.
· Category winners will be announced on or about October 13, 2014.
· Best of the Best will be announced on or about November 17, 2014.
Notification
dates are tentative. We always try to get finalist and winning results
back before the deadline, but we cannot guarantee it.
CATEGORY COORDINATORS:
E-mail questions to the appropriate category coordinator or the IGO Contest Chair, Lynne Greeley at IRWA_IGO@yahoo.com.
Category E-mail Address
Contemporary Romance IGO.Contemporary@yahoo.com
Erotic Romance IGO.EroticRomance@yahoo.com
Historical Romance IGO.Historical@yahoo.com
Inspirational Romance IGO.InspirationalRomance@yahoo.com
Paranormal Romance IGO.Paranormal@yahoo.com
Romantic Suspense IGO.RomanticSuspense@yahoo.com
Young Adult
Romance IGO.YoungAdultRomance@yahoo.com
