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NTRWA’s Great Expectations
2006 Contest Results
2006 WINNERS
Historical --
Chris Keeslar
Senior Editor,
Dorchester/Leisure
200
Madison Avenue, Suite 2000, New York, NY 10016
First:
Desperate Measures by Pamela Hathaway (requested)
Second: Mark
of the Monster by Leslie Dicken (requested)
Third: Mustang
Wild by
Stacey Lynn Reimer (requested)
Fourth: A
Love in Disguise
by Courtney Hoffman
Long Contemporary –
Jennifer
Green
Editor, Harlequin Books
225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9, Canada
First: Lethal
Medicine
by
Victoria Wasserman
Second: Capturing
The Cowboy's Heart
by Kimberly Duffy (request)
Third: Kentucky
Cowboy
by
Jan Scarbrough
Fourth: Southern
Sweet Tarts by
Laura Post
Short Contemporary --
Demetria Lucas
Associate Editor,
Silhouette Books
233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279
First:
Babies in the
Bargain
by
Mona Risk
Second:
Reunion for the
First Time by
Pat Casiello & Kathie Clare
Third: The
Crush
by
Rachel Robinson
Fourth: Back
to Ben
by
Kim Schultz Kerr
Fifth: Scotland
or Bust by
Patience Jackson (requested at local conference)
Mainstream with Romantic Elements –
Sha-Shana
Crichton
Crichton & Associates Literary Agency
6940 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, MD
20912
www.crichton-associates.com
First: You
Don't Gnome Me by
Rachel Robinson
Second: One
Demon At A Time
by Andrea Geist
Third: Time
Off For Bad Behavior
by Dianne Donnelly-Smith
Fourth: The
Expatriates Wives' Club by Liese Sherwood-Fabre
Romantic Suspense --
Roberta Brown
Brown Literary Agency
410 7th Street N.W., Naples, FL 34120
http://brownliteraryagency.com/
First: Playing
For Keeps by Stacey Lynn Riemer
(requested)
Second: Eye
of the Beholder
by Diane Della Maggiora
(requested)
Third: Secrets
by Jerre Ferns
Fourth: Lying
Eyes by Amy Atwell
Single Title --
Margo
Lipschultz
Associate Editor, HQN Books
233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NT 10279
First: Painted
Blind by
Amy Atwell
(requested)
Second: Romancing
Ms. Stone by Christine Enta
(requested)
Third: Heiress
Unplugged by Jennifer Lewis
Fourth: There's
Only Been You by Donna Kowalczyk
Specialized
--
Jessica
Wade
Editorial Assistant, Berkley Books
375 Hudson Street,
New York, NY 10014
Futuristic / Fantasy /
Time Travel / Paranormal
First:
The Saints of
Midland by Terry Schaeffer
(request)
Second:
Kitsune Dreams by
Maya Milhous (requested)
Third:
Sword of the
Phoenix by
Lynne Simpson
Fourth:
Rider
by Lynda Mikulski
Fifth:
Time Treasure by
Sheila-Rae Z. Mohs
Sixth:
Eternal Hearts by
Jean Drew
Steamy Hot --
Kathryn
Lye
Associate
Editor, Harlequin Books
225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario,
Canada, M3B 3K9
First:
Masked By Desire by Diana Loftin
(requested)
Second: Seducing
Evangeline by Lynn Raye Harris
(requested w/revisions)
Third: Stolen
Moments by Andrea Geist
Fourth: Hot
Winter Nights by Diana Loftin
Young Adult
--
Michelle Grajkowski
Three
Seas Literary Agency
P.O. Box 8571, Madison, WI 53708
http://www.threeseaslit.com
First: Revenge
of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale
(requested)
Second: Investigating
the Hottie
by
Julie Heaton
(requested)
Third: Wishes,
Kisses and Near Misses by Lee McKenzie McAnally
(requested)
Fourth: Wishing
You Were Here by
Catherine Chant
Fifth: Princess
of Daytime by
Franny Karkosak
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2006 INFORMATION
 2006
Contest Rules
2006 Entry
Form
Pay
Pal payment option
2006 Sample Query Letters
Example # 1:
How to format your letter for our contest
Example # 2:
How to write a query letter by Victoria Chancellor
Example #
3:
A requested query letter by
the 2003 GE RS Winner
eHarlequin
Suggestions: Query Letter Do's and Don'ts, sample letter
2006
Great
Expectations Score Sheets
Historical
Category
Long Contemporary
Category
Mainstream with Romantic
Elements Category
Romantic Suspense Category
Single Title Category
Short Contemporary
Category
Specialized
Category (Futuristic/Fantasy/Time Travel/Paranormal)
Steamy Hot Category
Young
Adult
Category
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Frequently
Asked Questions
Q. What makes Great Expectations special?
A. We believe in email and stay in touch with our contestants.
Each entrant receives:
- an email confirmation when their entry arrives,
- notification when packets are returned and mailed to judges,
- notification when checks are scheduled for deposit,
- notification of their category’s finalists, and
- notification of all winners.
All finalists have the opportunity to update their query letter,
addressing their finalist status.
We believe that each contest category deserves its
own specific score sheet and have developed questions pertaining to
individual romance sub-genres. Example score sheets are available year
round.
We have a judges’ loop for Q&A. When a question is asked about a
particular genre, we ask published authors within that genre for their
opinion and advice.
Q. I do not live in the United States. Should I send
return postage?
A. NEW
in 2006: Electronic entries
for international contestants. Imagine, you’ll
receive your packets back within days instead of weeks and it won’t cost
you all the extra postage. You can even volunteer to judge.
Q. Is electronic entry only for
international participants?
A. Electronic entry is open to ALL contestants.
Q. Why does it
matter if I include my personal information on the query letter?
A. Since we have judges from around the world, we want everyone to
have the same playing field. Therefore, we’d like the query letter
personal info to be as generic as possible. See our contest example on
our website. If a query letter for the contest includes personal
information, Great Expectations will make every effort to contact the
entrant and ask that they email a corrected copy OR we reserve the right
to mark through the information (using a very black marker) before
sending it to judges.
For final round judging, all finalists will be given the opportunity to
email an updated query letter. Updated letters may include contest and chapter
information, but should still withhold names and contact particulars.
Q. If Great Expectations is a "first
chapter" contest, can I send my prologue and / or part of my second
chapter?
A. Yes. The Great Expectations contest will accept up to the first
25 pages of your manuscript, including the prologue or part of your
second chapter. Make certain the pages are numbered consecutively. AND
please make certain your entry ends with a completed sentence on a good “hook.”
Q. I have a 25,000-word manuscript. May I
enter it in the Great Expectations contest?
A. The 2005 Great Expectations contest does not include a category
for projected word counts of less than 40,000.
Q. I’m writing a romantic
suspense, but the final round editor/agent is not from the publisher I'm
targeting. Which category should I enter?
A. The
Great Expectations contest does not deduct points for entering a "wrong
category."
Our Romantic Suspense final round judge may be a single title
publisher or from Harlequin/Silhouette. First, the main objective of
entering a contest is to get your work in front of an appropriate editor
or agent. Choose the category that is most appropriate for your work.
Secondly, take a look at the score sheets for Long Contemporary, Single
Title and Romantic Suspense. Which will benefit your writing the most?
Q. I’m targeting Silhouette Intimate
Moments but the story is not a mystery/suspense and won’t benefit from
the RS score sheet. Which category should I enter?
A. Feel free to enter our Long Contemporary category. Check out our
examples of subgenres.
Q. I'm supposed to bind my entry ONLY with
a small binder clip. What is that, and where can I find one?
A. You can find binder clips at most office supply stores, probably
next to the paper clips. The very small binder clips fit better into a
Priority Mail envelope. To see a picture of a binder clip, check the
Office Depot website at
www.officedepot.com and search for "binder
clip."
Q. Contest rules
suggest using a Priority Flat Rate envelope. Is this important?
A. We are all for minimizing the cost of contests. Priority Flat
Rate envelopes are free at the post office, easily hold four 25-page
entries and cost a flat rate of $4.10 (as of February 2006) for 2 to 3 day
delivery. It is by far the easiest and cheapest way to return entries.
IF you choose NOT to use a Priority Flat Rate
envelope, please verify you have included enough return postage on your
SASE.
Q. What is RWA®? And do I really
have to be a member?
A. Yes, you need to be a member of Romance Writer’s of America®.
North Texas Romance Writers of America is a chapter of RWA®.
For more information on RWA®, visit their
national website.
If you have additional questions, please email our 2006 contest
coordinator,
Angi Platt.
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