RWA contests

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WhirlyGirly

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Hi there! Have any of you entered an RWA writing contest before? I know the Golden Heart is a big one, and if you did I would love to hear about it, but I mean the various chapter contests. If you have, what was the experience like? Did the judges give useful critiques, or were you just given a score? TIA!
 

Marissa D

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I'm an RWA member and entered a metric cr*p-ton of contests years ago before being published (and still like to enter the contests for published books). The Golden Heart is just a score--no feedback--but chapter contests almost always have feedback in the form of score sheets with the criteria the judges use to judge by. The quality varies--some are excellent, some not so; it comes down to (a) how well the score sheet is constructed and (b) the quality of the judges. Most contests will post their score sheet so you can have a look and decide if your entry is likely to get good feedback. But there's no way to know ahead of time what your judges will be like. I had amazingly helpful judges who gave excellent feedback (it was a contest judge who helped me realize that what I was writing was YA fiction). I also had judges whose feedback was worse than useless--it was ignorant and flat-out wrong, like having already correct grammar and usage "corrected" or having my history "corrected"--I was once told that women didn't go to college in the 1920s and that I should do better research (*facepalm*) And just once, I had a judge who utterly savaged my entry, giving all aspects the lowest possible scores...except I'd sold that manuscript about two weeks before getting that contest's result, and just laughed. But she evidently had an axe to grind.

So yeah, they can be very useful...or not. It's a gamble. Maybe enter one or two of the better ones (again, look at their score sheets before deciding which to enter) and see what you think. Also, there are a few specialty chapters (Regency, YA, historical, paranormal, inspirational, romantic suspense, LGBTQ) so if you're writing in one of those sub-genres, have a look at their contests.

Good luck!
 

ElaineA

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Just a quick +1 to Marissa. I have only entered 1, and I did it as a critique experiment. All my betas knew my book too well and I wanted a completely uninformed look at the first chapter. I had 2 critiques/judging scoresheets returned to me. They were almost diametrically opposed. What I got out of it was "enjoyment is in the eye of the beholder." I, too, got some pithy (and erroneous) comments, specifically about passive language from someone who doesn't quite know what passive language is. (ie: simply the use of the word was=/=passive)

I still say betas and crit partners are the best resources for critique because they are (or should be) free. I was willing to pay for this one time, but I won't again. It's a very expensive way to get opinions and a great moneymaker for chapter annual conferences.
 

WhirlyGirly

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Thanks, ElaineA. I wonder if there are any contests that have a reputation of being better than others? The only ones I've heard of outside my own chapter are Fire and Ice (Chicago, I think?) and Denver. Those seem pretty good, but I think the Denver one is for published books.
 

Marissa D

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A lot of chapters have contests for both published and unpublished works. There's a list of current contests here. Again, the best thing to do is look at each individual contest's judging sheet (usually available on the chapter's website) and see if you think the judging criteria will help you improve your manuscript.
 

MartinaMay

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I've entered a few RWA contests. Like Elaine, I've used them to test my first pages, a new first chapter, etc. I have wonderful CPs, but sometimes it's good to get a critique from someone who doesn't know you or your writing style.

I've received great and not-so-great comments. Like any critique, you have to decide what works for your vision of the MS and what doesn't.

To me, the real bonus comes if you final. Getting an editor or agents comments on your first 20ish pages can be exceedingly helpful.
 

Deb Kinnard

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I belong to Chicago-North and I typically judge the Fire and Ice. We have a pretty good reputation AFAIK. The other chapter contest that I'm told is first-rate is Texas' (not sure which chapter) Desert Rose. I have personal experience with them and the feedback I got was spot-on. It helped me revise to make the story much better. Right after that, I sold for the first time and stopped sending to contests except for published books, so I have no more experience than that.

+1 also to Martina's comment. If you final, or with God's blessings, win, this can be a boost to your query letter to agents and/or editors, if you choose to seek trade-publication.

May your work find favor, whatever your decision.

ETA: I made a mistake. The contest in Texas I mis-said is Yellow Rose, not Desert Rose.
 
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LJD

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My chapter runs a contest, and I was a judge one year. Any member of the chapter could be a judge, and we were given advice on what to look for and how to score. But really...how useful the feedback was would depend on the specific judge. (There was a 2-page sheet for comments and scores, I think.) Previously, there were 3 judges per entry, but now there are only 2, and they get a 3rd judge if the first 2 have significantly different scores. If you final, your entry is read by an editor and agent. The winner and runner-up receive mentorships with some fairly successful authors.

So..how much you get out of it may vary a lot.
 
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