2014 Golden Claddagh Contest: Deadline May 10th

*PERMISSION TO FORWARD, GRANTED*

Enter Celtic Hearts Romance Writers Chapter contest The Golden Claddagh!

We have four categories for unpublished authors and published authors with unpublished  manuscripts.

* Historical
* Fantasy-Futuristic-Paranormal
* Contemporary
* Young Adult/New Adult

Our contest due date is May 10th. Finalists will be notified by June 15th and winners notified by August 1st–Winners will be announced at the CHRW Annual General Meeting at RWA National Convention in San Antonio, TX in July 2014.

Eligibility

The competition is open to RWA members ONLY.

Manuscripts must be unpublished and un-contracted in any form, including self-publishing. The manuscript rights must belong to the author and be available to contract, should a final judge wish to offer publication.

The GC entry must be a full-length novel (more than 40K). Novellas or Short stories will not be accepted.

Manuscripts must be completed by the time results are returned. Entrant must retain all rights to the entry and not have granted any of them to a publisher or any other party by the contest entry deadline.

If your manuscript is accepted for publication during the time of our contest (dates will be specified) you must notify the contest coordinator; your submission(s) will be withdrawn from consideration and your entry fee(s) returned.

Please Note:

• Previously entered manuscripts may be entered again, but no previous winningmanuscript shall be re-entered, even if revised.
• You may submit multiple entries so long as you pay an entry fee and submit a completed entry form for each submission.
• You may not enter the same manuscript in more than one category. *Entry fee per entry: $10.00 CHRW members and $15.00 non-member CHRWA members.

CHRW reserves the right to discard all electronic entries and return fees if a minimum number of three (3) entries are not received in any category. Entrants will be contacted before the entries are returned and given the option to place their entry in another category if it is eligible. We may also refuse an entry that does not follow the rules stated here in the guidelines.

All Payments are Electronic through PayPal. The easy link is here:

If you wish to go directly to PayPal, please use Paypal address: treasurer@celtichearts.org

Entry fee: $10.00 CHRW members and $15.00 non-member CHRWA members.

All entries will be read and scored for the first round by two trained judges and one published author, and the lowest score dropped. The three entries with the highest total scores in each category will move to the final round. An editor/agent will judge the final round and select a winner from the finalists in each category.

Categories:

Future, Fantasy & Paranormal: Romance novel where the mains focus is on the romantic relationship, but the future, fantasy or paranormal elements are integral to the story (includes time-travel).

Contemporary: Includes, single title, long and short romantic fiction with a contemporary setting set after 1945. Main focus is the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine.

Historical: Romance novel set primarily before 1945 — any location. Please specify your time period and setting in your entry.

Young Adult/New Adult:  Romance novels in which young adult or new adult themes constitute an integral part of the plot. *Romance subplot not required*

Entries

Entry Composition: No Synopsis required! Your entry must have the following:

1.     An email “cover page” which includes the author’s real name, address, telephone number(s), e-mail address, submission title, category, manuscript word count and PayPal confirmation # should be submitted in text of the e-mail. Do not include the cover page in the same attachment as your manuscript.

2.     The beginning of your manuscript, including prologue, cannot exceed thirty (30) pages. Standard manuscript format must be followed:

• 1 inch margins
• Double spaced in a standard font and size 12-point.
• The TITLE of the manuscript, the category, and any subcategory should be placed on the top left hand side of the entry. The PAGE NUMBER should be on the top right side of the entry.
• We will not accept entries that have colored, or designer fonts. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME ON THE MANUSCRIPT.

3. Manuscript must be in a .doc or .rtf file format.

NOTE: Your entry must not exceed thirty (30) pages total.

SUBMIT ENTRIES TO:

Contemporary Category - contempcat@celtichearts.org

FFP Category - ffpcat@celtichearts.org

Historical Category - historicalcat@celtichearts.org

Young Adult/New Adult Category - yacat@celtichearts.org

Final Round Judges

FF&P

Angela James - Carina Press
Kerry Buckley - Carina Press
TBA

Historical

Laurie McLean - Forward Literary, Inc
Beth Miller - Writers House
Leis Pederson - Berkley Publishing

Contemporary

Julie Mianecki - Penguin Books
Alissa Davis - Carina Press
Elizabeth Bistrow - Penguin Books

Young Adult/New Adult

Nicole Fischer - Avon Press
TBA

Awards

The FIRST PLACE winners in each category will receive a $50 dollar cash prize and a commemorative pin.

The SECOND and THIRD PLACE winners in each category will receive free workshops through Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Questions

For questions please contact the contest chair, Alisa Walker at: contests@celtichearts.org