For skiffy rommers out there thinking of entering the Golden Heart, my 2009 Golden Heart class this week launched a fabulous blog. GH finalist Liz Bemis designed and developed the site, and it's just lovely. In conjunction with the launch, the group is giving away GH chapter critiques and sexy slipper mugs. To participate, just leave a comment.Today's post is "Don't Enter the Golden Heart ..." by finalist Amy Talley (who recently made her first sale). Other September blog topics include:
- A Brick Road of a Different Color
- Go for the Gold! Tips for Turning Your GH Entry Into a Potential Finalist
- A Heaping Portion of Inspirational Sap, or, Why I Almost Didn't Enter the Golden Heart
- Suddenly Cinderella: On Acquiring Glamorousness in Four Months Flat
Thanks for the link, Sharon. Will you be submitting again this year? Would you encourage other Skiffy Rommers to submit, or is SFR a little out of the range for RWA?
ReplyDeleteI may! Still trying to decide about that.
ReplyDeleteI definitely encourage other skiffy rommers to enter. Sci-fi/futuristic is included in the "paranormal" category. What if your SFR has no paranormal elements? Not important. Many RWA chapter contests use this label as a sort of catchall for romance with a speculative element.
Including sci-fi in paranormal does result in an apples-to-oranges sort of comparison (space opera is up against vampire stories, for example). But I think that's probably true for categories like "historical" as well - a story set in Elizabethan England is going to be vastly different from one set during World War II.
And as a last point in this rambling reply, if my SFR can final, yours can too! :]
As for the rewards of being a finalist, that's being covered pretty well on the new blog, but in brief:
- Editors and agents pay attention. A number of my GH class members got quick results just by including "Golden Heart finalist" in email subject lines. One editor even requested the MS of every finalist in a specific category.
- Instant writer support group, as evidenced by the RSS blog. My GH class has a yahoo group where we share triumphs and tears (related to writing and life in general).
- Promotional opportunities, as evidenced by the RSS blog.
- Your name and photo on a ginormous screen at nationals! If you attend, they give you a special ribbon to wear and, voila, you're a celebrity.
I'm still debating, but I'm leaning toward entering. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'll have to scoot over and read the blog.
Laurie - One of your chapter-mates, Shea Berkley (pen name), wrote an awesome post earlier this week.
ReplyDeleteWhen I entered I tried not to give it a second thought - it's so competitive. But there I was, glued to the blogs that were posting results in real-time, when the phone rang ...
And what a call that is to get!
ReplyDelete