My Mind Words Paper + writing contests

Deadline: 1 May 2012

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

Original opening scenes between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length, with a romantic theme.
Any sub-genre of romance is welcome.

WHO CAN ENTER:

Any resident of South Africa, or any South African citizen living abroad. For further entry requirements, please see the Terms & Conditions below.

ENTRY FORMAT REQUIREMENTS:

• Entries should be submitted via email as an attachment in either Word or RTF format.
• All entries should be in English.
• The entrant's name must NOT appear on the entry itself, only on the cover email.
• The cover email must include the following information: full name/pseudonym, daytime contact number, email address, South African ID number and title of entry

Round One:

All entries to be viewed by the shortlist judge, Ceridwen Morris, former book editor at Oshun Books. 15 x shortlisted entries to be selected.

Round Two:

Winner and two runners-up to be chosen from the shortlist by Rhonda Penders, Editor in Chief of The Wild Rose Press.

Judging - Published Entrants’ Category:

All entries to be judged by Helen Breitwieser, of the Cornerstone Literary Agency.
Winner and two runners-up to be selected.

PRIZES:

Prizes for Unpublished category

The winner's prize is a critique of his/her opening chapter by Rhonda Penders of The Wild Rose Press, a bottle of Durbanville Hills Merlot Rose wine courtesy of Distell, and a 750g box of chocolates. 2 x runners-up each win a critique of their opening scene by The Fiction Doctor, and a bottle of Durbanville Hills Merlot Rose wine courtesy of Distell

Prizes for Published category

The winner's prize is an online course on Blogging for Brand from author and social media guru Kristen Lamb, a bottle of Durbanville Hills Merlot Rose wine courtesy of Distell, and a 750g box of chocolates. 2 x runners-up each win a critique of their opening scene by The Fiction Doctor, and a bottle of Durbanville Hills Merlot Rose wine courtesy of Distell.

* Chocolates available to South African residents only *

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. The entrant agrees that the contest organisers may publish their name (or pseudonym, where applicable).

2. All copyright shall remain the property of the author.

3. Decisions of the Judge(s) are final and binding in all respects. No correspondence will be entered into, except between the contest organisers and the selected winners.

4. The Entry Administrator reserves the right to immediately disqualify, without notice, any entries that do not comply with the Terms & Conditions.

By entering this contest, the entrant hereby warrants the following:

i. The entry is original to the entrant. The entrant owns the copyright, and the entry has not previously been published in any form;

ii. The entry does not infringe upon the intellectual property or other statutory or common law rights of any third party (including but not limited to copyright, trademark and privacy rights);

iii. The entry does not contain libel, defamation, or obscenities;

iv. The entry does not promote discrimination against any race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;

v. The entry does not contain material that is unlawful, or in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations of the Republic of South Africa.

HOW ENTRIES WILL BE HANDLED:

• All entries are to be sent to contest@romancewriters.co.za
• An independent Entry Administrator (who is not eligible to enter this contest) will ensure that the entries are logged, that they adhere to the contest Terms & Conditions, and that the entries themselves are anonymous.
• The anonymous entries will then be forwarded to the Round One and Round Two judges.
• Once judging is completed, the judges will return the titles of the winning entries to the Entry Administrator, who will match the entries to the entrants.
• The Entry Administrator will publish the results on the ROSA blog and the ROSA Facebook page once the winners have been notified.

• Tuesday 14th February 2012: Contest launch.
• Tuesday 1st May 2012: Entries to be submitted before midnight South African time.
• 14th February – 3rd May: Entry Administrator to check that all entries are entered into the database and that they do not contravene the Contest Terms & Conditions.
• Friday, 4th May 2012: Entry Administrator to forward anonymous entries to Helen Breitwieser (Published Entrants) and to Ceridwen Morris (Unpublished Entrants).
• Monday, 14th May 2012: Ceridwen Morris to send shortlist of Unpublished Entrants’ submissions to the Entry Administrator.
• Monday, 14th May 2012: 15 x Shortlisted entries to be forwarded to Rhonda Penders of The Wild Rose Press.
• Thursday 31st May 2012: Rhonda Penders and Helen Breitwieser to notify the Entry Administrator of their decisions.
• Friday 1st June 2012 (AM): Entry Administrator to notify the winning entrants.
• Friday 1st June 2012 (PM): Winners announcement to be made on the ROSA blog and website.

For inquiries: contest@romancewriters.co.za

For submissions: contest@romancewriters.co.za

Website: http://www.romancewriters.co.za