Alert! Alert! Romance Writers Everywhere!

It’s that time again - Welcome to the 2^nd Annual How Lyrical Is Your Romance? Contest

Lyrical Press is searching for the next great romance. Entries must be complete works, any heat level welcome, open to published and unpublished authors.

Prizes:

The entry with highest average score will receive a $100 Advance and publishing contract with Lyrical Press, Inc. Highest-average scoring entry from each category will receive a 25-page edit and a revision letter from an acquiring editor.

Categories are as follows:

·       Contemporary Romance

·       Romantic Suspense

·       Historical Romance

·       Paranormal Romance

Deadline to enter:

Entries accepted from Feb. 1-10, 2013

First round

First 50 pages of manuscript will be judged based on the following criteria (50 possible points):

·       Hook                                                                                                           10

·       Worldbuilding/Backstory                                                                              5

·       Characterization                                                                                          10

·       Dialogue (consistent with era/culture/personality of character)       5

·       Mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, 1 POV per scene)              15

·       Author voice                                                                                       5

Top 5 entries of each category will advance to final round. (Any category with fewer than 5 entries will be eliminated.) Finalists will be announced on March 1^st, 2013.

Final round

Entire manuscript will be judged in this round, based on the following criteria (100 possible points)

·       Premise                                                                                              10

·       Pacing/Plot                                                                                          15

·       Characterization                                                                                15

·       Dialogue                                                                                            20

·       Mechanics                                                                                          20

·       Author Voice                                                                                       20

Winners will be announced on April 1, 2013 on our blog:

http://lyricalpress.com/lyrical-press-blog/

How to enter

For formatting instructions and to check allowable content, please follow our submission guidelines http://lyricalpress.com/submission-guidelines/

Entries should be between 20,000 and 100,000 words long, and must be a romance, with a happy ending. Non-romance entries will be disqualified.

Include pen name and category for entry in body of email.

Attach the full manuscript in .doc, .docx or .rtf format (named BOOKTITLE_FULL) and a 1-2 page synopsis (named BOOKTITLE_SYN), include “Contest entry” in the subject line, and email to:

Contest@lyricalpress.com

YA and NA entrants will be ignored, as Lyrical no longer accepts these works.

Once again, this year Lyrical Press editors will be able to offer a contract on any book that strikes their fancy. And best of all, the contest is free, no entry fees! Polish up those romances, dear authors, this is a wonderful opportunity for you.