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First Coast Romance Writers
are pleased to present the final placements for
THE BEACON - 2009 Unpublished Division

An Award for Excellence in Romance



 

2009 Contest Rules

*** ELECTRONIC ENTRIES ONLY ***
Open to all RWA members in good standing, not contracted/published
with any publisher in book length fiction (50K & over) in last 3 years.
 

1. Fees:

$25 per entry.

Make check payable to FCRW.

Mail to:
First Coast Romance Writers
Unpublished Beacon
P.O. Box 32465
Jacksonville, FL 32237

Or to pay by PayPal, click the Buy Now button below. 

If you do not wish to use the Buy Now button, you can pay via PayPal using the  following address: treasurer@firstcoastromancewriters.com

  • Multiple entries are allowed.
  • The entry must not have previously received a Beacon Lapel Pin.
  • Fee will not be refunded in the event of disqualification or withdrawal.
  • DO NOT SEND CASH.
  • In the event there are less than 5 entries in a category, entrants will be notified and offered the option of selecting another category or a refund of the entry fee.

2. Categories:

  • Historical / Regency
  • Long Contemporary / Single Title Contemporary (over 70,000 words)
  • Contemporary Series (All except Suspense and Adventure)
  • Romantic Suspense / Contemporary Series: Suspense and Adventure
  • Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal
  • Inspirational
  • Chick Lit / Women’s Fiction / Mainstream
  • Erotic Romance
  • Young Adult

Contemporary Series entries are 70,000 words or less.

It is the author's responsibility to enter the work in the correct category.

3. Judging:

First round - experienced and/or trained judges.

Judges are encouraged to comment directly on the entry.

The top three (3) entries in each category will advance to the final round. Only two copies of each entry will be judged unless that entry moves to the final round of judging. In the event of a tie for third place, all eligible entries will advance to the final round.

Sample Score Sheet Here

Final round judges for the Beacon 2009 Unpublished Division:

  • Historical / Regency - TBA    

  • Long Contemporary / Single Title Contemporary (over 70,000 words) - TBA

  • Contemporary Series (All except Suspense and Adventure) - TBA

  • Romantic Suspense / Contemporary Series: Suspense and Adventure - TBA

  • Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal - TBA

  • Inspirational - TBA

  • Chick Lit / Women’s Fiction / Mainstream - TBA

  • Erotic Romance - TBA

  • Young Adult - TBA

Judging Dates:

October 1st – Electronic timemark 11:59 pm EST deadline for entries

November 15th - First round complete

December 15th - Finalists notified

Winners announced at the FCRW Mini-conference March 2010

Winners will be posted in the RWR.

4. Submission:

Entrant will submit the first thirty (30) pages of the manuscript. (Prologue and/or Chapters) Submissions must be in .rtf (RICH TEXT FORMAT)

The manuscript:

  • 1" margins
  • Double-spaced
  • 12 point font (Courier, TNR or any other similar, legible font)
  • One-line header each page: Title & category on the left side · Page number on the right side
  • Use the entry’s title as the file name, and save as an .rtf. For example, if the entry’s title is Annie’s Answer, the file name should be AnniesAnswer.rtf
  • CONTESTANT'S NAME MAY NOT APPEAR ON THE ENTRY. ANY ENTRY WITH CONTESTANT'S NAME WILL BE DISQUALIFIED

Optional – Entrants may add a three page synopsis. The synopsis will NOT be judged, but used as an aid to help clarify plot and characterization for the judge.  The entry (manuscript pages and synopsis) must be sent in a single .rtf file.

5. Entry Requirements:

  • Entry form: here
  • Payment (one check or a single PayPal payment may be submitted for multiple entries - please indicate this on each entry form)
  • Please don’t send cash

Multiple entries may be submitted in one envelope, but a separate entry form is required for each different entry.

6. Deadline:

Timemarked received by 11:59 pm EST October 1, 2009.

All entries timemarked after the deadline will be disqualified.

No mailed payments requiring a signature will be accepted.

7. Awards:

First place per category - Beacon Lapel Pin, and .gif for website (if applicable).

All finalists will received a certificate for their achievement.

8. Send Entry to:

Beacon Unpublished Coordinator fcrwbeacon@yahoo.com

Please send the entry and synopsis together in a single .rtf file.

The subject line of the email should be Beacon Unpublished–Category name. (For example, an entry in the Inspirational Category should have as the subject line Beacon Unpublished—Inspirational.)

For more information please contact the Unpublished Beacon Coordinator at fcrwbeacon@yahoo.com.

 

 

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