The X Factor for novels & I'm a finalist!

I'm thrilled that one of my self-published novels has made it through to the final 250 out of 3100 entries!

This comp is like The X Factor for novels, where the public are the judges. Exciting!

Fingers crossed I progress further!

Writing comp for young writers

The State Library of Queensland runs an annual Young Writers Award competition.

The short story competition is open to Queensland residents aged 18-25 with a cash prize of $2,000. 

More info HERE

#TemptedToWrite

Check out this fantastic writing comp being run by MILLS & BOON.
Here's the lowdown from my fab editor Flo Nicoll:

Welcome to Tempted to Write, the Modern Tempted writing competition that Harlequin UK will be running on Facebook this January!

We will be asking daily questions for ten days, designed to get people thinking about their characters, conflicts and plot. Each day, we will choose our favourite answer, and every winner will receive lovely Modern Tempted books as a prize.

The competition will run from 20^th January to 31^st January. At the end of the ten days, we will invite entrants to write a short story (10,000 words max) based on the questions and answers, to be submitted by 10^th February. The winner will be published on our website on Valentine’s Day, and also receive an editorial mentor in the form of the lovely Clio.

Young Writers Award

The State Library of Queensland is running an annual Young Writers Award competition.

About the Competition 

The short story competition is open to Queensland residents aged 18-25 with a cash prize of $2,000.

It’s a great way to get your foot into the industry, or even getting your material read. 

You can find out more info at www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/awards/ywa. 

So you think you can write?

All you romance writers out there...ever dreamed of writing for HARLEQUIN MILLS & BOON?

Here's your chance!

Launching in September, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE contest offers a publishing contract as the ultimate prize!

You'll need a completed manuscript to enter.

Check out details here.

(and loads of fab writing tip links!)

Good luck!

Young Writers Award competition

Got a way with words? State Library of Queensland Young Writers Award is now open! If you’re 18 to 25 and live in Queensland, enter your short story today for a chance to win $2000. Entries close Friday 13 July. Get all the details here

Valentine's Day Pitch the Book of your Heart contest!

It's time for the VALENTINE'S DAY PITCH THE BOOK OF YOUR HEART contest to begin!

I have 6 editors from Entangled Publishing taking pitches here from today to the 10th February.

Winners will be announced on Valentine's Day!

Pitches can be for any age-range, any genre, and lengths from 10k to 120k words.

"Entangled is a boutique publisher of romance fiction. We pride ourselves on quality stories and commercial covers, and our innovative business model offers our authors the best of indie and traditional publishing. To find out more, see our website. And don't forget to look through our current open submission calls."

Before posting your pitch, you may want to check out the Imprint Guidelines on their website.You can also check out each editor's current wish-list over the last week right here on this blog.

To enter the contest, leave the following in the comments of this post. Entries will be accepted from now until midnight EST on Feb 10th.

Title
Genre/Sub-genre
Word Count
1-3 line pitch
Email address

-Entries must be for a completed manuscript (novellas included.)
-Contest open to unpublished & published writers.

You do not have to indicate which editor you are pitching to; all the editors will read all of the entries. Each editor will choose at least one winner.
Winners will be announced Valentine's Day- keep an eye out on the blog here and on my Twitter account for the announcement.

You can post up to two different pitches, but each pitch must be written in a separate comment.

*Editors reserve the right to not choose a winner, based on quality and quantity of submissions.

So what are you waiting for?
Let the pitching games begin!

Pitch the Book of your Heart!

It's that time of year again, when the hearts and flowers are out in force.
Yep, Valentine's Day is almost upon us and this year, I'm doing something different to celebrate.

I'm giving you the warm and fuzzies by running another pitch contest!

I have 5 fabulous editors from Entangled Publishing offering requests for full manuscripts, partials and critiques.

Last time I ran this contest a few months ago, one of the winners sold her manuscript and is now published!

So what are you waiting for?
Go polish those pitches now!

I'll be introducing you to each editor over the next 5 days so you can get a feel for their wish-lists.
The VALENTINE'S DAY PITCH THE BOOK OF YOUR HEART contest will start Feb 7th, run until Feb 10th, with the winners announced on Valentine's Day!

Here's what you'll need:

-a completed manuscript
-a one to three sentence pitch that wows
-title, genre, wordcount, email address

The last contest was only open to unpublished writers but I've had several emails from published writers wanting to participate, so this time the contest is open to both!

For more information about what Entangled Publishing acquires, go here.

Stay tuned to meet the editors and get your pitch ready for the 7th!

And please spread the word: on your blog, Facebook, Twitter.

Thanks!

Pitch & win critiques!

As most writers have discovered at some stage, synopses suck.

It's extremely difficult to take your fabulous manuscript and highlight the best bits in a succinct, cohesive way.

It's harder yet to to write a query, a 3 paragraph summary of your book.

The hardest?  A pitch, a one or two sentence summary.

So of course, that's what I'm asking you to do for a chance to win critiques.

I'm doing you a favour, honest. How can you convince someone else to read your story if you can't describe it in a snazzy, short, convincing way?

For tips, check out:

Rachelle Gardner's post on One-Sentence Summary

Nathan Bransford's post on How to Write a One Sentence Pitch

So, what's the prize?

-A critique of the first 5 pages of your manuscript by LIZ PELLETIER, senior editor & co-founder of ENTANGLED PUBLISHING (What they've achieved in a short space of time is truly phenomenal. I love working with them!)

-A critique of the first 5 pages of your manuscript by a USA TODAY, Waldenbooks & Bookscan bestseller with 30+ books under her belt. (Yeah, that'd be me!)

So here are the rules:

-As this is a blog contest, it's only open to followers of my blog (feel free to follow now to participate.)

-Your pitch must be 1 or 2 sentences max.

-Post your entry in the comments section here.  Your entry must include:

1. Title, genre, word count

2. Your polished 1-2 sentence pitch

3. your email address

-Entries must be for a completed manuscript (novellas included.)
-Contest open to unpublished writers only.

This contest will run for 1 week, entries closing 11.59pm Monday 16th October.

FYI
Entangled Publishing submissions: We are seeking novels and novellas in the following subgenres of romantic fiction for publication in Summer 2012 and beyond:


•Contemporary (including category series romance.)
•Upper YA/New Adult (17-22 yo protags) that will appeal to crossover audiences

•Historical

•Romantic Thrillers

•Science Fiction
•Paranormal and Urban Fantasy
•Fantasy

Their latest October 2011 wishlist is here.

Good luck!
And please spread the word: on your blog, Facebook, Twitter.
Thanks!

(Don't forget the chance to win my latest release all week here!)

New Voices writing comp

All you budding category romance writers out there, Mills and Boon have just launched another New Voices competition.

They bought several authors from last year's comp, so go check it out here.

Good luck!

Miss Snark's new contest

If you write YA & middle grade fiction, Miss Snark is running a contest.

Full details here.

New Voices writing competition

Ever wanted to write for Harlequin Mills and Boon?
Here's your chance, with a brand-spanking new competition, NEW VOICES.

How the competition will work…

The competition will have its very own website - www.romanceisnotdead.com where the entries will be posted and readers can leave their feedback.

The competition will be divided up into four stages and will run from Monday 6th September. The winner will be announced on Monday 1st November.

1. Stage 1: The Free for All;
- All submitted entries will be read and judged by the Mills & Boon judging panel

2. Stage 2: The Shortlist
- A shortlist of 8-10 authors will be announced, and their first chapters posted on the website.
- All shortlisted entrants will be assigned a Mills & Boon author and editor as a ‘mentor’ as they polish their second chapters and for their remaining time in the competition.
- The public will vote for their favourite!

3. Stage 3: The Shorter-list
- The shortlist will be chopped down to 4 – the next stage to share a ‘pivotal moment’ fromtheir book.
- The public will vote for their favourite!

4. Stage 4: Winner!
- Judged by a panel – names TBC!
- The winner is announced!!

So what are you waiting for?

Start polishing your entry now!

Calling all unpublished writers!

Harlequin Mills and Boon have just launched a new writing competition.
Details below.
Good luck!

Have you always dreamed of writing for Mills & Boon Modern Romance?

Do you feel you have a passionate story to tell, with characters that leap off the page, and emotional conflicts, drama and excitement that will keep the reader turning the pages?

Then we have the perfect competition for you!

The Mills & Boon ModernTM Writing Competition for first chapters is your chance to win an editor for a year!
For those of you who are familiar with our previous contests Instant Seduction and Feel the Heat, you will know that we have had a high calibre of entries in the past.
So high in fact, that we have since bought our two winners: Lynne Raye Harris and Lucy King! Lynne won the Instant Seduction competition and her winning entry, and debut novel, Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge is published in Mills & Boon Modern, August 2009.

Lucy King won our second competition Feel the Heat, aimed at Modern Heat editorial. Her winning entry and debut novel Bought: Damsel in Distress will be available from Modern Heat in October 2009.
But the successes do not stop there! Earlier this year, we were thrilled to buy another talented new author, Tina Duncan, who first caught our eye when she entered the Instant Seduction competition in 2008. Although she didn’t win,or even place as a runner-up, Editorial saw her potential and kept working with her until we finally bought her book, Da Silva’s Mistress, which will be published in December 2009, in Mills & Boon Modern. Could you be our next competition winner or catch our editors’ eyes as a potential new writer?

Details:
This competition will be run from 1st July as The Mills & Boon Modern Writing Competition 2009 in the UK and The Harlequin Presents Writing Competition 2009 in North America

You can enter online at millsandboon.co.uk or iheartpresents.com

The competition entry must consist of either the first chapter and synopsis of a Modern or Modern Heat novel

The WINNER receives an editor for a year

TWO RUNNERS-UP will be given critiques of their first chapter entries and an editorial telephone consultation

The competition will close on 2nd November 2009 and the winner will be announced in December 2009 on this page of the website and www.iheartpresents.com where you will also be able to find full details and terms and conditions of the competition.

The competition will be supported by blogs on I Heart Presents by previous winners, authors and editors