Wednesday, November 29

Contracted -- A Writers' Challenge

I'm back from my trip and into the swing of normal life again! I always miss home so much when I'm away -- anyone else?

I have two exciting contest announcements today, and another one to come in the next couple of days. Both of today's are being run by my publisher, Moonlit Romance.

The first is a writing contest which will run through 2007. Regular visitors to my blog and website will know that I was published in Fall In Love: An Anthology through entering a Moonlit Romance writing contest, so I can't recommend Contracted -- A Writers' Challenge highly enough! :) Here are the details:


Contest 1: "Contracted -- A Writers' Challenge"
Unique Enterprises, the parent company of By Grace Publishing and Moonlit Romance, is sponsoring CONTRACTED– A Writers' Challenge during 2007. We will hold 2 challenges, January-June and July-December, with the winner being announced and published in September 2007 and March 2008.

This contest is open to unpublished in romance authors only. The novels entered into the contest must have 12 chapters, and may be any romance sub-genre. All novels must meet the guidelines for either By Grace Publishing or Moonlit Romance. Please see the Guidelines at http://www.moonlitromance.com and http://www.bygracepublishing.com.

To Enter: Please send a query letter to Laura Hamby (laurahambyeditor@yahoo.com) along with the completed entry form you'll find in the files sections of the Moonlit Romance and By Grace readers loops (click here for the Moonlit loop and here for the By Grace loop). All attached files must be saved in .rtf format, or they will not be opened. There will be 2 rounds of CONTRACTED— A Writers' Challenge in 2007.

Entry deadlines:

Round One — December 15, 2006
Round Two — May 15, 2007

Please put "Contracted -- A Writers' Challenge Entry" in the subject line of the email.

Contestants will compete for 6 months in two different forums: the public Blog Challenges and the private Editors' Challenges, based on a monthly challenge theme. Once a month, contestants will provide their Blog Challenges to Laura Hamby to be posted on the Unique Enterprises' Authors' Blog, in addition to submitting their private Editors' Challenge to Laura Hamby to be forwarded to the judging Unique Enterprises editors. Both the Blog Challenges and the Editors' Challenges will be rated on a rubric that will be provided to each contestant before each contest begins. In order to continue from month to month, contestants must complete both the Blog and the Editors' Challenges. Contestants who fail to participate in both monthly challenges every month will be disqualified. Standings will be determined by averaging the Editors' and Blog Challenges together.

Contestants who do not satisfactorily pass the monthly Challenges will not proceed to the next month's round. Points will be awarded on a 1-5 scale, and those authors not achieving an Editors' and Blog Challenge of 3.5 or higher won't progress to the next level. These contestants will receive a critique of the first 3 chapters of their novel from Unique Enterprises' Senior Editors Sheila Holloway or Laura Hamby, and will be encouraged to participate in the next Writers' Challenge.

At the conclusion of the 6 month competition, the authors who have made it successfully through the Writers' Challenge with a 6 month average of the equivalent to a 3.5 will have one month to revise, edit and polish their novel for the Final Competition. For entrants in the January-June contest, their final product will be due August 1, 2007. For entrants in the July-December contest, their final product will be due February 1, 2008. Contestants will receive the Final Judging Rubric at the conclusion of the 6 month competition.

Winners will be publicly announced on the Unique Enterprises Authors' Blog on September 1, 2007 and March 1, 2008. The winning novel will be published in September 2007 (1st round) and March 2008 (2nd round).

The winner(s) of CONTRACTED–A Writers' Challenge will win a contract for their completed, ready-to-publish novel with either Moonlit Romance or By Grace Publishing. The runners-up will receive comments on their novels from the judges, and are invited to resubmit their novels to By Grace Publishing or Moonlit Romance.

For further details and information about this exciting contest, please email Laura Hamby at laurahamby@yahoo.com. Please put "Contracted-- More Details" in the subject line.

Contest 2: Moonlit Romance 1st Birthday Contest

Come celebrate with Moonlit Romance as they turn one year old. Enter their contest to win this gorgeous handmade moon pendant!


All you have to do is read one of Moonlit's books, write a review, and send it to moonlitromancepub@yahoo.com. The winner will be chosen by drawing. Contest ends February 1, 2007. Selected reviews will be posted on the Moonlit Romance blog.

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