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The Golden Network proudly announces its Tenth Annual Contest:

The Golden Pen 2008

Final Round Judges:

Short Contemporary Romance: Susan Litman, Harlequin
Historical: Allison Brandau, Berkley
Single Title: Tara Parsons, HQN
Paranormal: Chris Keesler, Dorchester
Romantic Suspense: Adam Wilson, Mira
Inspirational: Melissa Endlich, Steeple Hill
Young Adult: Jennifer Heddle, Simon & Schuster
Mainstream with Romantic Elements: Kerry Donovan, NAL

***final judges are susceptible to change due to unforeseen circumstances***

Eligibility:

Any yet-to-be published RWA member in good standing, who is not contracted by September 1, 2008. The term "published" includes all non-vanity, non-subsidy publishers..

Any published RWA member in good standing, who has not sold or contracted a book in five years.

Any yet-to-be published Golden Network member in a category they are not judging.

Deadlines:

September 1st
Entries must be emailed to the appropriate Category Coordinator.
Electronic entry form must be received by email through the website.
Payment must be made by PayPal or by check. Payment must be completed no later than September 1, 2008.
Should entry form, payment or entry attachment not reach coordinators by the deadline, the entry will not be judged--either portion received will be returned.
Entries may be limited to the first fifty for each category, depending on judge availability; contestants are encouraged to submit entry forms early.

October 20th
Finalists will be notified.
Finalists will have one week from time of notification to snail-mail a hard copy of their finalist entry to the contest coordinator.

November 10th
All non-finaling entries will be returned by this date.

December 15th
Final placements will be announced on or before this date.

Rules:

All entries are electronic.

Entry shall include a synopsis plus manuscript pages, together totaling not more than 55 pages. The synopsis may not be longer than 10 pages. (EXAMPLE: if the synopsis is 10 pages, the manuscript must not be longer than 45 pages. If the synopsis is 5 pages, the manuscript must not be longer than 50 pages.)

Use Standard Manuscript Format:
Margins: No less than one-inch margins on all sides.
Font: 12-point font (Courier and Times New Roman acceptable).
Lines: No more than 25 lines per page.
Header should include title, category, and sub-genre (if applicable) at top left. Page number at top right. (EXAMPLE: TOO HOT TO HANDLE/Short Contemporary/Blaze.)
Your name cannot appear anywhere on the manuscript.

Entries will be received in RTF (Rich Text Format) files only. (To convert your file to RTF, open the document, go into File, click on Save As and choose RTF format. This will create a new document with the same title in RTF format.)

Document title should be the title of the manuscript only (EXAMPLE: TooHotToHandle.rtf).

Combine manuscript pages and synopsis in one file--paste synopsis at the beginning of the manuscript pages. All pages should be in standard manuscript format.

Email your entry to the appropriate Category Coordinator as an attachment (email addresses provided below).

When emailing your attachment entry file to the coordinator, type "TGN," the entry title and category in the subject header of the email (EXAMPLE: TGN/Too Hot To Handle/Short Contemporary). In the body of the email, please include your full name, title of entry, form of payment used (check or PayPal), the total number of pages and the font used for the entry (this is to ensure there are no changes during transition).

Entrants will receive email confirmation for receipt of their entry (allow a few days for confirmation).

Enter as many times as you wish, but a separate payment and entry form must be received for each entry. Each manuscript may only be entered in one category. Entry form and payment should precede receipt of entry.

Judging:

Each entry will have three first-round judges, consisting of at least one published author and one Golden Heart finalist. Judges are encouraged to comment on manuscript pages.

The lowest of the three scores will be dropped, giving entrants a final total from their two highest scores. ALL three entries and scoresheets will be returned to the entrants.

Top THREE entries in each category will proceed to the final round. In the event of a tie, the Overall question on the scoresheets, ranking the manuscript from 9-1, will be tallied and used as a tiebreaker.

See sample scoresheet (RTF file) here: GoldenPenScoresheet2008.rtf

Awards:

First place in each category: Engraved gold pen, a certificate and a check for $30.
Second place in each category: Certificate and a check for $20.
Third place in each category: Certificate.
Final placements will be announced in the Romance Writers Report.

Any Questions?

Email the overall coordinators, Robbie Terman (termanrl@hotmail.com) or Elizabeth Heiter (eheiter@hotmail.com).

Submitting Your Entry: