Contests for the Category Challenged

Contests for the Category Challenged!
by
Karin Story

Contests. Writers usually either love 'em or hate 'em.

For a writer who writes more mainstream, or envelope-pushing, or genre crossing romantic fiction, however, romance contests can be a potential minefield if not carefully selected.

With all the choices and all the hype from fellow writers who are contest junkies, and all the advertising you find in the Romance Writers' Report and various newsletters, it's hard to resist the allure. Come on... admit it! We've all thought at times that we've written the best kissing scene, or the best first thirty pages. So why not toss our "babies" out there into the fray and see what our fellow writers think?

But what if you write less traditional romance? Like, say, a 120,000 word time-travel that has suspense elements. Where do you enter it? You certainly don't want to have it in direct competition with a humorous 55,000 word short contemporary. That's not even comparing apples and oranges. That's more like cucumbers and kiwis. And if the final round for said contest is being judged by Ms. Editor from Category Romance House X, is it going to do you any good to have her read your 120,000 word time-travel/suspense/romance? Sure, she could read it and maybe even rank it decently, but she can't buy it from you. House X only buys 50-70,000 word manuscripts.

You want the contest experience to be the best it possibly can be for 'you.' That means evaluating each contest and making the decision about which one is going to be the most friendly to your particular manuscript.

So, as you peruse the RWR contest section, be sure to look at:

1) What type of contest is it and does it appeal to you?
2) Who's judging the first round? Writers who are experienced enough or diverse enough to read a time-travel/suspense/romance with an open mind and appreciate it?
3) Which editor is judging the final round? Is it a publishing house where you think your manuscript would be a good fit?
4) Is there a category that closely fits your manuscript? Look for categories like: Single Title, Mainstream, Paranormal. Your story may fare better in one of these than it will in a contest with only two or three broad categories .
5) If you're looking for feedback, be sure to see what kind of score sheets the contest uses and if they allow written comments from the judges. If you don't see the contest's score sheet posted somewhere, don't be afraid to write the contest coordinator and ask her about the scoring system.
6) Consider non-genre specific contests. Many writing organizations outside of RWA sponsor contests (Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Southwest Writers Workshop to name a couple). They may be a better fit for your genre crossing story than a straight romance contest. Most of them have a "mainstream" category, or a "women's fiction" category.
7) Be realistic about your expectations. Do you feel that you have a good chance of winning, or are you entering strictly for feedback? The more honest you are with yourself before you enter, the better the chances you'll be satisfied with the contest results.
8) Keep in mind that not every manuscript makes the best contest entry. Many writers sell books that have never done well in contests. Others have manuscripts that have won a dozen contests but have never sold. It's important to keep the contest experience in perspective and not let it become the 'be all, end all' of your career.

Once you've picked your contest and submitted your work... get busy writing something else while you wait. When you get your scores and comments back, try to remember that judging is subjective. Even after you've done your homework, it's possible you could still draw a judge who doesn't "get it." Just remember that it's only one judge's opinion. Take the feedback that's the most useful and ignore the rest.

The good news is that many 'big book', cross-genre, and non-traditional manuscripts fare very well in contests!

Now you're armed with the knowledge you'll need to make an informed decision... so, onward, fair writer. Get thee to your contest of choice and have fun. I have my fingers crossed for you!

Karin writes mainstream, adventurous, mysterious romance and therefore chooses her contests carefully. :o) In the past year she's won the Top o' the Peak contest, the single-title division of the Molly, and is currently a finalist in SARA's The Merritt Contest and in WisRWA's Fab Five Contest. She has an in-depth article on the how's and why's of contests coming out in the Romance Writers' Report in July 2000.