2010 MWA Novel Contest

Maryland Writers' Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 65
Pylesville, MD 21132-0065

Who We Are:

The Maryland Writers' Association (MWA) is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art, craft, and business of writing. MWA's diverse membership includes publishers, agents, journalists, professional freelancers, published authors, writers aspiring to be published, and those who write as a creative outlet. Members hail from Maryland, D.C, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, plus a few as far away as southern Florida. Members produce both non-fiction and fiction, including novels, short stories, poetry, plays, scripts, speeches, feature articles, and essays. Some members work in specific genres such as romance, science fiction, mystery, thriller, fantasy, action/adventure, children's literature, horror, travel writing, or biography.

About the Contest:

The MWA Novel Contest is run as if it were the front office of a literary agency or publishing house. Editors and agents are inundated with submissions. They look for the first excuse to toss your work and put a generic rejection letter into your SASE. Such letters are normally devoid of hints on improving your effort.

The MWA Novel Contests submission package is patterned on the materials commonly requested by an agent or editor in response to a successful query letter. MWA contest volunteers screen and cull submissions following the same criteria used by agents and editors. Our contest judges critique and score each entrys effectiveness in meeting a standardized set of novel style and content criteria.

Unlike an agency or publishing house, the MWA Novel Contest will provide participants with detailed, constructive feedback about their submissions. In addition to the volunteers who perform the initial screening, each submission will be critiqued by at least two contest judges. Judges names will be published on the MWA web site after judging is complete. In the event of a tie, reserve judges will also critique and score the submissions. Every aspect of your submission will be evaluated, and two detailed evaluations will be sent to you in your enclosed SASE.

Contest Overview:

Each entry for our annual novel contest must be from a COMPLETED, English Language, book-length (at least 50,000 words), work of FICTION that is UNPUBLISHED and not currently under contract by an agent or publisher.

Entries will be accepted in the following categories:

• Action / Adventure / Horror
• Mainstream / Literary
• Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
• Romance / Historical
• Science Fiction / Fantasy / Speculative
• Young Adult

Entries must conform to the MWA guidelines and formatting instructions. Failure to follow the published rules and guidelines will disqualify the entry.

Membership in MWA is NOT a requirement for participation in or winning of the contest.

Entries must be postmarked by February 22, 2010.

Entry Fee: $35.00, MWA member, or $45.00, non-member, per submission, payable to "MWA. " Contest fees are not refundable after the entry has been passed to the judges for critique.

Prizes:

Prizes will be awarded at the MWA Awards Dinner on April 24, 2010. Featured speaker will be award-winning author Charles Jensen of The Writer's Center in Bethesda.

• Grand Prize: $150 (in addition to Category First Place Prize) + complimentary Awards Dinner reservations for winner and one guest + complimentary Annual Conference attendance
• First Place in Each Category: $150 + complimentary Awards Dinner reservations for winner and one guest + complimentary Annual Conference attendance
• Second Place in Each Category: $100 + complimentary Awards Dinner reservations for winner and one guest

Each winner will also receive an Award Certificate, a letter highlighting the attributes of the award-winning submission, and a Maryland Writers' Association's press release which may be used to publicize the work. All entrants will receive two (2) judges' critiques of their submissions.

Judging:

Each entry will be critiqued by at least two judges utilizing a standardized list of writing style criteria. Submissions are scored on the entry's effectiveness in meeting the criteria. Judges' decisions are final. Each category is evaluated as a group, and first and second place winners will be selected based on critique scores. In the event of a tie, contestants will submit the final 25 pages of their novels. The winning entry in each category will be entered in the overall run-off competition for the grand prize. These finalists will be contacted to submit the final 25 pages of their novels for judging. Reserve judges will critique and score the final round.

Mail your entry (postmarked) by February 22, 2010 to:

MWA Novel Contest
1009 Bay Ridge Avenue
Box 128
Annapolis, MD 21403

If you have any questions, send an email with the Subject: "MWA Novel Contest" to contest co-directors Mary Beth Creighton at mbcreighton@zoominternet.net or Newt Love at newt@newtlove.com. Emails that lack a proper subject line will be deleted unread. You may also use the MWA website's feedback form.

Rules:

1. Entries must be:
• English Language FICTION.
• A COMPLETED book-length work of at least 50,000 words.
• UNPUBLISHED and not currently under contract by an agent or publisher.
2. Entries must be submitted in one of the following categories:
• Action / Adventure / Horror
• Mainstream / Literary
• Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
• Romance / Historical
• Science Fiction / Fantasy / Speculative
• Young Adult
3. MWA reserves the right to:
• Eliminate or combine categories with fewer than five entries.
• Break out subcategories with more than ten entries into new categories.
• Return entry fees within specific categories and award no prize if there is no suitable winner.
4. Entries must conform to the submission guidelines and formatting requirements (below).
5. Entries must be postmarked by February 22, 2010. (No electronic submissions.)
6. Entry Fee: $35.00, MWA member, or $45.00, non-member, per submission, payable to MWA. Contest fees are not refundable after the entry has been passed to the judges, except in the case outlined in rule 3.
7. MWA membership is NOT a requirement for participating in or winning the contest.
8. Failure to follow the published rules and guidelines will disqualify the entry. Publishers discard submissions that do not conform to their guidelines. In the event that a submission is disqualified, you will be notified about the reason for disqualification.
9. Submitted materials will not be returned. Do not send your only copy.
10. MWA is not responsible for submissions that are lost in the mail.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Novel Packet: Send two (2) flat, unbound copies, 27 pages each, including:
• Title page: Title of your novel, category, total number of pages of the completed novel, and word count of the completed manuscript.
• A one-page, double-spaced synopsis of your novel. A guide to writing a synopsis is available at www.marylandwriters.org under Contests/Special Events/ 2010 Novel Contest.
• The first 25 pages of your novel.
• The Author's name MUST NOT appear anywhere on the manuscript or title page.
2. Author Info Packet: Print or type the TITLE of your entry on an unsealed 4" x 9" (business-size) envelope that contains the following and send with your submission:
• A 3" x 5" index card that lists the author's name, address, phone number, email address, title of submission, and category. On the back of this card, print or type a summary of your novel in 40 words or less. This summary will be used for publicizing the winning entries/authors.
• A 4" x 9" SASE (folded to fit inside the original envelope) for MWA to return the judges' critiques of your entry.
• A check or money order for $35.00, MWA member, or $45.00, non-member, payable to "MWA" per submission.
• OPTIONAL: Stamped, self-addressed postcard, which will be returned to you as confirmation of receipt of your submission. MWA is not responsible for submissions that are lost in the mail.

Do not seal Author Info Packet envelope.

Formatting Requirements:

• Font: Times New Roman, size 12, in black ink
• 8.5" x 11" white paper, printed on one side only
• Double-spaced
• 1 inch margins, top, bottom, left, right
• Header: Title on left, page number on top right or bottom center of each page

Checklist:

• 2 copies of submission
• UNSEALED 4" x 9" envelope containing:
• Completed Index Card
• SASE
• Check made out to "MWA"
• Stamped, Self-Addressed Confirmation Postcard (optional)

Mail to:

MWA Novel Contest
1009 Bay Ridge Avenue
Box 128
Annapolis, MD 21403

Postmark by February 22, 2010

Important:

The author's name must only appear on the index card included in the Author Info Packet. If the author's name appears anywhere on the manuscript the submission will be disqualified. DO NOT put your name on the manuscript.