ANNOUNCING THE 2017 MELODY OF LOVE: A Contest for Unpublished Romance Novels
Sponsor: Music City Romance Writers, Nashville, TN
Fee: $20–35; critique of optional blurb for additional $10.
Deadline: Contest Opens August 15, 2017 with a deadline of September 15, 2017.
Official Rules: http://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/2017/08/2017-melody-of-love-rules.html
Eligibility: The MOL Contest is open to unpublished writers and published authors of novel-length fiction. The author does not have to be a member of Romance Writers of America® (RWA) to enter the MOL Contest; however, the entry must be the author’s original work of novel length, unpublished, and not contracted at the time of the contest deadline.
Entry: All electronic. Must be the first 15 pages of a full-length novel with (minimum length 50,000 words). No novellas or short stories. All heat levels are accepted across all categories. A short blurb (optional/non-judged unless critique requested for additional fee) of no more than 200 words may be included.
Categories: Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, and Young Adult Romance; “Wild Card” Category for Novels with Romantic Elements
Preliminary Judges: Published, PAN/PRO and unpublished authors. All entries will be read and judged by three trained judges, at least one of whom will be a published author or a member of RWA PRO. Lowest score will be dropped.
Final Judges: Editors and Agents.
Contemporary—Jennie Conway (Editor, St. Martin's Press), Janna Bonikowski (Agent, the Knight Agency);
Historical—Jennie Conway (Editor, St. Martin's Press), Amanda Jain (Agent, Inklings Literary);
Paranormal—Sarah Blumenstock (Editor, Penguin Random House), Victoria Lea (Agent/Editor, Aponte Literary/Aponte-Burns Publishing);
Young Adult—Annette Pollert -Morgan (Editor, Sourcebooks), Elizabeth Poteet (Agent, The Seymour Agency);
“Wild Card”—Victoria Lea (Agent/Editor, Aponte Literary/Aponte-Burns Publishing), Latoya Smith (Agent, L. Perkins Agency)
Finalists will be announced around November 1, 2017. Projected announcement of winners December 1, 2017.
Top Prize: Finalists in each category will receive a certificate and announcement in RWR and the MCRW website. #1 Finalist in each category will also receive a $25 cash prize. Each entry has a chance to win a 50 page professional critique. Winner selected by random drawing.
Entries capped at 60. Enter soon for your chance to win, because we fill up fast!
For more information, the official rules are now available and the contest coordinator DB Sieders can be emailed at contest@mcrw.com
