Northwest Houston RWA© presents the 21st Annual
Lone Star Writing Competition
WELCOME TO THE
2013 LONE STAR CONTEST
FOR ROMANCE WRITERS!
NWHRWA’s LONE STAR contest is regarded as one of the top contests in the industry, and has received numerous notes of praise. 2012 entrant’s thank you notes are below:
I am excited to let your chapter know that I signed with agent Sarah LaPolla of Curtis Brown, Ltd. I’m grateful for the feedback your contest judges provided last year which helped me fine-tune my manuscript for agents. I received two offers, both from excellent agents, but in the end chose Sarah because of her enthusiasm over my story. Thanks again for the encouragement your Lone Star contest provided. I’m so glad I can head to RWA Nationals this year on the way to becoming a published author.
Best wishes,
Stephanie Scott
I just wanted to say thank you again as I received my certificate today [FF&P finalist] and it’s gorgeous! This is truly lovely and I can’t wait to show my family. You’ve also been incredibly prompt! I also can’t wait to enter next year’s Lone Star contest (hopefully!) and can’t speak highly enough of your Chapter. Thank you for making this such an amazing experience! I’ll definitely be letting you guys know if I get published, and if it’s Halo, I’ll be putting a shout out to you and the NWH Chapter in the front!
Hugs back and all the very best,
C T Green
The total requests last year (2012) for all categories garnered a phenomenal 14 full requests and 6 partial requests. We hope to match that again this year.
NEW this year: we’ve added the Erotic Romance category!
ENTER NOW! The first 150 entries are guaranteed admission. Additional entries accepted subject to judge availability.
OVERVIEW
Entry Fee: $20 NWH chapter members, $25 non-NWH chapter members.
Deadline: Electronic entries must arrive by midnight CDT, June 8, 2013. Any entries received after the deadline will be deleted, unopened.
Finalists will be announced on August 17, 2013. Non-finalists will have entries returned by August 31, 2013.
Winners will be announced at the Lone Star Conference on Saturday, October 5, 2013.
Eligibility: Unpublished may enter any category. Published my enter any category in which they’re not published, or in which they’ve not been contracted for five years. Open to RWA and non-RWA members.
Rules & Formatting: (click HERE for full list of Rules)
- First 25 pages, including prologue, if desired.
- Entrant’s name not to appear on any part of the entry.
- All entries must be in the standard submission form: 1” margins all around, 12 pt font, double space, 25 lines per page.
- Save as .rtf format
- Manuscripts can be entered in only one category, however multiple manuscripts are allowed.
- Entry form must be complete and payment made by PayPal.
Scoring: All entries will be sent to three first round judges: two published authors and one unpublished author. The lowest of the three scores will be dropped and final round contestants will be chosen by the average of the two remaining scores. In the event of a tie, the dropped score will be considered.
Finalists will be given one week to edit their manuscript using the comments and score sheets from the first round judges before sending to the final round judges. Top three scorers in each category will be category finalists. Those entries will be sent to a panel of three professionals in the Romance industry which may include any of the following: agent, editor, epublisher.
CATEGORIES: Contemporary Series; Erotic Romance; Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal; Historical/Regency; Inspirational Romance; Romantic Suspense; Single Title; and Young Adult.
CATEGORY COORDINATORS: Electronic entries must be sent to the correct coordinator or they will be ineligible for the contest and returned to the contestant. Entries must arrive by midnight CDT, June 8, 2013. Any entries received after the deadline will be deleted, unopened.
2013 – FINAL ROUND JUDGES PANEL
Contemporary Series, coordinator: Emmly Jane
Agent – TBA
Editor – Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin
Epublisher – Leanne Morgena, The Wild Rose Press
Erotic Romance, coordinator: Jane Carver
Editor – Nicole Fisher, Harper Collins
Editor – Violet Hughes, Ellora’s Cave
Epublisher – Char Chaffin, Soul Mate Publishing
Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal, coordinator: Robin Haseltine
Agent – Pam van Hyckama Vlieg, Foreword Literary, Inc.
Editor – Junessa Viloria, Random House
Epublisher – Debby Gilbert, Soul Mate Publishing
Historical / Regency, coordinator: Patti MacDonald
Agent – Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds, LLC
Editor – Katherine Pelz, Berkley Publishing Group (Penguin Group)
Epublisher – Susan Yates, The Wild Rose Press
Inspirational Romance, coordinator: Jan Nash
Agent – Kimberly Shumate, Living Word Literary Agency
Editor – TBA
Epublisher – Nicola Martinez, Pelican Book Group
Romantic Suspense, coordinator: Sarah Andre
Editor – Whitney Mae, Ellora’s Cave
Editor – Rachel Burkot, Harlequin
Epublisher – Lori Graham, The Wild Rose Press
Single Title, coordinator: Ruth Kenjura
Agent – Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Epublisher – Chris Keeslar, Boroughs Publishing Group
Epublisher – Jennifer Lawler, Crimson Romance
Young Adult, coordinator: Shawnna Perigo
Agent – Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency
Editor – Aubrey Poole, SourceBooks
Epublisher – Kat O’Shea, Leap Books
________________________________________________________________________
Congratulations to the all the 2012 Lone Star Winners!
* – Full Request # – Partial Request
Contemporary Series
1 Second Chance @ Love By Sherri Shackelford * *
2 In Too Deep By Tracey Alvarez * #
3 Mistletoe Over New York By Diane Spignardo
FFP
1 Fragile Hearts By Renee Henry *
2 Halo Book #1 : Arras’s Pride By C.T. Green *
3 Mated by Magick By Kat Bastion *
Historical
1 The Spy Who Loved Me By Miranda Liasson #
2 Decadent Desire By Wendy Brame * #
3 Saving Grace By Kari Bovee
Romantic Suspense
1 Double Trick By Ava Milone * * #
2 Her Unreasonable Doubt By Anne-Marie Caroll #
3 I’m Not Collette By Linda Steinberg
Single Title
1 Wrestling With Alligators By Blair Edens *
2 Still Got It By Annabeth Albert Hope
3 Shadows of the Past By Lark Howard
Inspirational
1 The Samurai’s Strength By Walt Mussell * * #
2 Muskoka Blue By Carolyn Miller *
3 Rescuing Faith By Carol James *
Young Adult
1 The Astronaut’s Daughter By Stephanie Scott
2 Deflowered By Bonnie Staring
3 Forbidden Signs By RoseAnn DeFranco
Total requests for all categories : 14 full requests and 6 partial requests.
Thanks to our Spectacular Final Round Judges!
Inspirational Category:
Editor: Rachel Burkot – Harlequin
Agent : Kimberly Shumate – Living Word Literary Agency
Epublisher: Nicola Martinez - Pelican Book Group (White Rose)
Young Adult Category:
Editor: Kat O’Shea – Leap Books
Agent: Susan Hawk – The Bent Agency
Epublisher: Violet Hughes – Ellora’s Cave
Romantic Suspense Category:
Editor: Katherine Pelz – The Penguin Group
Agent: Jill Marsal – Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Epublisher: Jillian Bell – Ellora’s Cave
Contemporary Series Category:
Editor: Wanda Ottewell – Harlequin
Agent: Tina Tsallas - Great Titles Literary Agency
Epublisher: Lori Graham – The Wild Rose Press
Single Title Category:
Editor: Aubrey Poole – Sourcebooks
Agent: Michelle Grajkowski – 3 Seas Literary Agency
Epublisher: Leanne Morgena – The Wild Rose Press
Historical Category:
Editor: Junessa Viloria – Random House
Agent: Jessica Alvarez – BookEnds, LLC
Epublisher: Susan Yates – The Wild Rose Press
Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Category:
Editor: Dana Hamilton – Harlequin
Agent: Laurie McLean – Larson Pomada Literary Agents
Epublisher: Debby Gilbert – Soul Mate Publishing
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