Writing Contest – Lyrical’s Annual “How Lyrical is you Romance?”


*Entries accepted from Feb. 1st – 10th. Here is EIC Piper Denna’s (did I mention she is my awesome editor?) official announcement. Good luck, everyone!  
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It’s that time again – Welcome to the 2nd 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 Entries must be complete works, any heat level welcome, open to published and unpublished authors.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 1st, 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.