Contest Rules
Categories and Final Round Judges:Historical: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency
Entry Submission:Your entry must have the following three elements: 1) Payment Via check or PayPal. 2) A completed entry form. 3) Your manuscript’s first 25 (or fewer) pages, no synopsis, emailed to contest coordinator as an attachment.. We recommend but do not require that you omit prologues and end your partial at a cliffhanger, even if it means you don’t send 25 whole pages. (Note: finalists may need to provide a short synopsis at the request of the final round judges.) Send your entry to contest coordinator, Jody Wallace, at the following address: contest(at)mcrw.com Entry Format:1) All entries must be electronic and in standard manuscript format: 12 point standard font (TNR, Courier New), double-spaced, indented paragraphs (ie not block style), 1-inch margins. Pages should be numbered and include a header which states title and category of manuscript. Your name should not appear anywhere on the entry. Although author may be published, manuscript itself may not have been available for sale via any means whatsoever. We have uploaded a properly formatted .rtf document as an example. The document is not intended to be an example of anything besides formatting! This is a sample used in the past by our contest coordinator for training judges. It contains a number of grammatical errors, painful anachronisms, and crimes against the English language. 2) Coordinator will send emails to confirm receipt of entries. Please allow 5 working days (ie, not weekends or holidays) before you ask the coordinator whether the entry has been received. Email address for questions is contest (at) mcrw.com and the contest coordinator is Jody Wallace. Additional information:
Note: While it is acceptable to submit the entry form and payment before you submit your pages, all three parts (pages, entry form, payment) must be received by September 1, 2011, or your entry will not be counted in the contest. Your entry fee will be reimbursed if this happens. Note within a Note: The entry form alone is insufficient to “reserve your spot” should the contest fill up; payment must be included as well. Another Note: Scoresheets and/or critiques will be emailed to contestants. You will be asked on the entry form if judges may employ Microsoft Word’s “Comments” feature on your manuscript. Agreement is not required. If you are assigned a judge who prefers to print her entries out, MCRW will cover the cost of postage to return the paper copies via USPS. *** Contest limited to 80 total entries, in order of receipt of all three parts. The optional subgenres (Fiction w/Romantic Elements; Erotic; Inspirational) on the entry form are used only to determine the best judges for your work and do not affect scoring or final round editor assignment. JudgingFirst round judged by trained judges. Final round judged by editors and agents. All judges’ decisions are final. Barring unforeseen circumstances, finalists will be announced mid October 2011. Finalists may be asked to provide a short synopsis. Finalists will be notified via e-mail and posted on the MCRW website, http://www.mcrw.com. First round scores of finalists will be mailed or emailed as soon as possible; finalists may submit a revised draft electronically before it is forwarded to the final round judges, with Other scores will be released within 30 days after the finalists are announced. *** Fine print: (left in 12 pt font for ease of reading) Entries received from authors published in the category entered (for fiction 40,000 words or over by a traditional or digital publisher) will be disqualified. No entry may be withdrawn after being submitted to the contest with one exception (see below). Entry fees from disqualified entrants will not be refunded. Entrants who finaled in our contest previously may enter again, but don’t re-enter the finaling manuscript. Membership status of entrants who claim RWA membership will be verified with RWA. For the purpose of this contest, published is defined as anyone who has had a work of fiction of 40,000 words or more for purchase from a traditional or digital publisher. Entry fees will be refunded to entrants in any category that does not receive the minimum number of entries unless they request placement in another category. Any entries over the contest limit of 80, or those received after the due date, will be returned along with the entry fees. Here is the one exception about withdrawing your entry mentioned above. If you receive a contract for your submission or self publish it before the contest deadline, you may withdraw your entry with proof of contract or publication and your fee will be returned. If you receive a contract or self publish a different manuscript in the chosen category before the contest deadline, it will not affect your entry. Some more fine print, this time about prizes: An optional benefit for finalists is a one year membership to MCRW. Due to RWA rules, this benefit only applies to current members of RWA or members who join RWA within a couple months of finaling in the Melody of Love contest. We are not authorized to extend membership to anyone who is not a member of RWA National. |
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