Here Comes Contest Season

I haven’t written as much original copy on my novel in the past couple of weeks because I’ve been polishing bits and pieces of it instead. Why? Because it’s contest season!

I’m working on my entry for the Genesis contest through ACFW (www.acfw.com) and just have to keep whittling my synopsis down to one page — that’s tough! You can only enter up to 15 pages of your manuscript in Genesis, but I’ll also have the chance to submit something for critique before going to the Blue Ridge Mtns Christian Writers Conference in May. You can submit up to 40 pages for critique there, so I’m planning to send my first two or three chapters.

Genesis is the only contest I’ve entered so far, but I promised myself I’d d better this year and submit to a few more. No, I don’t expect to win them — or even to place — but a lot of contests have well-established authors, editors and even agents who volunteer as judges. Getting feedback from two or three judges for a mere entry fee is well worth the cost, and it’s a great way to start getting your work in front of people in the industry.

If you enjoy submitting to contests or want to learn more about some of them, one of the best romance writing blogs around (IMO) posted quite a list of possibilities yesterday. Just hop over to The Seekers (http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/) and scroll down to the entry on Friday, Feb. 6. Happy writing and good luck!