New Jersey Romance Writers 2018 Golden Leaf Contest for Published Authors

The Golden Leaf is awarded annually for excellence in romantic fiction by authors who are NJRW members or in Romance Writers of America (RWA). Winners will be announced during the NJRW Put Your Heart in a Book Conference being held October 19-20,2018.

Registration April 1 - June 1, 2018

Eligibility

  1. All NJRW members and current RWA members published in novel-length romance fiction who are eligible to enter the RWA RITA® contest.
  1. Romance novels with a first copyright date or first North American printing date of July 2017 through May 2018 are eligible for entry.
  1. There must be a minimum of five entries per category in order for judging to take place. If the minimum in a category is not reached, entrants will be notified by the coordinator, and books returned, unless an alternate category is provided.
  1. There is a maximum of twenty-five entries per category. The category will be closed after twenty-five entries have been received.
  1. Entrants can enter multiple categories but can only enter a maximum of three entries per category.
  2. Only one award per category. The decision of the judges is final.
  1. Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification. Disqualified books will not be returned except as stated in #3 above. Decisions of the contest coordinator are final.

Categories

  • Best First Book: any romance novel from a first-time author not previously published in book length romantic fiction, regardless of publishing medium.
  • Contemporary Romance: Short: Novels that are set from 1950 to the present that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and that are between 40,000 and 56,000 words in length.
  • Contemporary Romance: Mid-Length: Novels that are set from 1950 to the present that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and that are between 56,000 and 84,000 words in length.
  • Contemporary Romance: Long: Novels that are set from 1950 to the present that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and that are 84,000 or more words.
  • Historical Romance: Novels set prior to 1950. Includes Regency romances. 40,000 word minimum.
  • Novella: short pieces of romantic fiction between 20-40,000 words. (Trade magazines do not normally fall under the proper word count; however, if your novella does, the acceptability of such work will be the decision of the contest chairperson.)
  • Paranormal Romance: Any romance novel in which either time travel, futuristic, fantasy world or paranormal happenings are a major element of the plot. 40,000 word minimum.
  • Romantic Suspense: Any romance novel in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute a major part of the plot. 40,000 word minimum.
  • Erotic Romance: Novels in which strong, often explicit, sexual interaction is an inherent part of the love story, character growth and relationship development and could not be removed without damaging the storyline. These novels may contain elements of other romance subgenres (such as paranormal, historical, etc.).
  • Best Book by a New Jersey Romance Author: Open to any entrant (regardless of whether they’re an NJRW member) who is a current, full-time resident of New Jersey. The book must be entered in another category. Scores from that category will be used to determine the winner and finalists in the Best Book by a NJ Romance Author category. If the entrant is entering multiple books in the contest, only one may also be entered in the Best Book by a NJ Romance Author category. There is no additional fee to have a book considered for Best Book by a NJ Romance Author. No additional books need to be sent.

Submission Rules

  1. Registration is from April 1, 2018 through June 1, 2018.
  1. You may enter more than one eligible book in a category, but the same book cannot be entered in more than one category.

Exceptions:

  • A first book may be entered in both the Best First Book category and the regular category — which counts as two separate entries/categories).
  • One book entered in a category can also be entered in the Best Book by a NJ Romance Author category, provided the author is a full-time resident of NJ — no additional fee or books required.
  1. Electronic books may be entered provided they are presented in print book format, complete with copyright page produced by the publisher, with perfect or case binding and print on both sides of the page.
  1. A collection of novels/novellas is not one entry; rather each work must be entered separately. In the novella category, an RWA member need not write every story in a collection, only the work entered.
  1. Please send 4 autographed copies of the books to the Contest Category Coordinator located on the confirmation email. Books must be received by June 5, 2018. Coordinators are not responsible for packages requiring signatures or for picking up packages from mail carriers.
  1. Please be sure to mark the section on the entry form if your book is considered a sexy romance or erotic romance (i.e. Blaze, Brava, Ellora’s Cave). Failure to do so could have a negative impact at judging.
  1. Entry Fees:
  2. NJRW Members: $25 fee (first entry), $15 (subsequent entries)
  3. Non-NJRW/RWAMembers: $30 (first entry), $25(subsequent entries)

Submission postage is supplied by the entrant.

  1. Books which arrive late or do not meet the criteria cannot be returned.

Registration Instructions

Registration and payment will take place through MyRWA. Directions are below.

  1. Register and Pay via Click ‘Register for this Event’.
  1. Complete the requested information.
  • If you are an NJRW member, you will have received a special key code in your author letter, which will be emailed to you. You will need to enter this code below during registration in order to pay the special NJRW rate.
  • If you are not an NJRW member but are an RWA member, select the ‘Non-NJRW/RWA Member’ radio button and hit ‘update price’. Click ‘Ok’ to continue.
  1. Complete the entry form and select “Next” to continue.
  1. Additional entries: If you are entering more than 1 book, or are entering the same book in the Best First Book or Best Book by a NJ Romance Author categories, you’ll need to select an Add-on. If you are not entering more than 1 book, click ‘Next’. (Note: you can only enter a maximum of three books in the same category).
  1. Complete the requested information for your subsequent entry. If you’ve chosen the Additional Entry for an NJRW Member, you will be prompted to re-enter the key code. When finished, select ‘Ok’.
  1. You will now see the additional entry added at the bottom of the screen under the heading ‘Selected Items’. You can edit, view, or delete the additional entry from here as well. You can enter up to five additional entries, but a maximum of three is allowed in a given category (except Best First Book). Please contact the contest chair at f you have questions. When finished adding additional entries, click ‘Next’ to continue.
  1. You will now be brought to the Confirmation page. You can select the ‘Back’ button to return to the previous screens and make changes, including adding or removing additional entries. Otherwise, select ‘Pay’ to be brought to the payment page or ‘Cancel’ to cancel your submission.
  1. On the payment page, you’ll see a summarized total of your invoice. You can still cancel your entry by selecting ‘Cancel’. Otherwise, choose a payment option.
  • ‘Pay With Credit Card’ will take you to a screen to enter your PayPal password and complete the payment.
  • ‘Pay by Check’ will provide you instructions for where to send a check.
  1. Once receipt of your payment has been confirmed through PayPal or when the check is received, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for mailing your books. Please DO NOT mail your books until you receive this confirmation, which could take several days.

Notification

  • Top three finalists in each category will be notified by phone in late August 2018 as soon as the judging is complete.
  • The winner in each category will be announced during the Put Your Heart in a Book Conference October 19-20, 2018.

For more information, please contact the Contest Chair at or visit our web site at

General registration is April 1 through June 1, 2018. To register or for more information, click the button below.

Website link for the button: