Promotions BLOG and tips
Wednesday, April 26, 2006



Updated and all sites tested...Compiled by Donna Caubarreaux....May be forwarded with credits.
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E = Electronic Format Available
EO = Electronic Only
MO = Members Only
U = Unpublished
P = Published
P/3 = Not published in three years
Pnr = Published, but not by RWA standards
PC = Not published in category selected
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Golden Synopsis (U)
Maine RWA
Received by May 1, 2005
Up to 12 pages synopsis
http://www.geocities.com/mainerwa/GOLDENSYNOPSISCONTEST.html
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Swept Away (U)(E)
Celtic Heart Romance Writers
Received Deadline May 1, 2006
The first 30 pgs of ms+5 pg max synopsis, not to exceed 35 pages.
http://www.celtichearts.org/SA2006.htm
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The Jasmine
Lowcountry Romance Writers
Postmarked by May 1st, 2006
First 45 pages, plus up to 5-page synopsis
http://www.lowcountryrwa.com/
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2006 Published Maggie Award (P-Reg. 3 Only)
Georgia Romance Writers
Received by 5/2/2006
Copyright of 2005
http://www.georgiaromancewriters.org/Maggies/06pubrules.php
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Ignite the Flame (U - P/3)
Central Ohio Fiction Writers
Postmarked by May 6, 2006
Your hero and heroine's first meeting (up to 15 pages)
http://www.cofw.org/
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Aspen Gold (P)
Heart of Denver
Received by May 15, 2006
Copyright of 2006
http://www.hodrw.com/
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The Molly (U)
Heart of Denver
Received by May 15, 2006
First thirty pages max; synopsis- 5 pages max.
http://www.hodrw.com/molly.htm
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The Scarlet
Writer's Weekend
Received by May 15, 2006
First 5 pages; Query letter; Synopsis 2 pg single spaced.
http://www.writersweekend.com/contest.php
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We Dare You
Saskatchewan Romance Writers
Postmarked May 15, 2006
First twelve pages
http://www.saskromancewriters.4t.com/
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Share the Dream
Scriptscene RWA
Postmarked by May 15, 2006
First fifteen pages of screenplay.
http://www.geocities.com/rewrit2002/contestrules.html
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75th Annual Writer's Digest Competition
Deadline: May 15, 2006
There are ten categories
http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/annual/75th/
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Share the Dream
Scriptscene Chapter RWA
Postmarked by May 15, 2006
First fifteen pages of your screenplay (judged by industry professionals)
http://www.geocities.com/rewrit2002/contestrules.html
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Original Golden Opportunity
Toronto Romance Writers
Postmarked by May 17, 2006
Synopsis, first chapter & prologue (if applicable) to 30 pages, maximum.
http://www.torontoromancewriters.com/goldenop.html
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Haunted Hearts (U - P/5 - Pnr)
Gothic Romance Writers
Received by May 31, 2006
First chapter + one page synopsis not to exceed 26 pages.
http://www.gothrom.org/hhguidelines.html
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American Title III
Dorchester/Romantic Times
Received by June 1, 2006
First three chapters & synopsis of a Contemporary novel.
http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?ID=2097
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2006 Unpublished Maggies
Georgia Romance Writers
Received by June 1, 2006
Synopsis and beginning of manuscript, 35 pages total
http://www.georgiaromancewriters.org/
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Touch of Magic (U)
Central Florida Romance Writers
Received by June 1, 2006
First 25 pages plus 3 pg unjudged synopsis
http://www.cfrwa.org/contest.htm
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The Writer's Voice (U - P/3)
Calgary RWA
Received by June 1, 2006
2 pg. unjudged synopsis; first chapter to 23 pages.
http://www.calgaryrwa.com/contest.html
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Emerald City Opener (U)
Greater Seattle Romance Writers
Postmarked by June 1, 2006
First seven pages
http://gsrwa.org/emerald_city_con/ec_opener/EmeraldCityOpener_2006.htm
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The Anne Bonney Readers' Choice Award (P)
Ancient City Romance Authors
Postmarked by June 1, 2006
Copyright of 2005
http://acrarwa.com/contest.htm
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Book of Your Heart (U - P)
PASIC
Postmarked by June 1, 2006
First chapter up to 25 pgs + 3-10 pg synopsis
http://www.pasic.net/contest.html
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Colorado Gold (U)
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
Postmarked by June 1, 2006
First 20 pages plus synopsis up to 8 pages.
http://www.rmfw.org/
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Reveal Your Inner Vixen (U - P)
Maryland Romance Writers
Postmarked by June 1, 2006
One scene that showcases the sexual tension between the hero and heroine, not to exceed twenty (20) pages.
http://www.marylandromancewriters.org/contest.html
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Lone Star Writing Competition (U - P)
Northwest Houston RWA
Postmarked by June 5, 2006
First chapter up to 25 pages.
http://www.nwhrwa.freeservers.com/contest06.html
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Heart to Heart (U)
San Francisco Area RWA
Received by June 6, 2006
Scene where the Hero & Heroine meet, up to fifteen pages.
http://www.sfarwa.com/contests/h2h_info.asp
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Golden Leaf (P) Region 1 & NJRW ONLY
New Jersey Romance Writers
Register by June 10, 2006
Copyright between 8/05 - 7/06
http://www.njromancewriters.org/golden_leaf.html
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Labor of Love (U - P/5)
Heart of Louisiana
Postmark by 6/10/2006
Synopsis, prologue, beginning not to exceed 50 pages.
http://www.heartla.com/ContestEntry.htm
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Golden Gateway (U - P/5)
>From the Heart Romance Writers
Received by June 16, 2006
Beginning plus synopsis(10 pg or less)55 pgs total max.
http://www.fthrw.com/contest/goldengateway/
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Enter Laughing Contest (U - P/5)
Grand Rapids Region RWA
Received by July 1, 2006
2 pg synopsis (unjudged) + first chapter up to 25 pages.
http://www.grrrwa.org/contest.html
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Indiana's Golden Opportunity (U - Pnr)
Received by 7/1/2006, 2006
Total entry (manuscript + synopsis) not to exceed 55 pages.
http://home.insightbb.com/~irwa/contest/contest.htm
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Melody of Love (U)
Music city Romance Writers
Received by 7/1/2006
Prologue/first chapter, up to 25 pages.
http://www.mcrw.com/
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Write, Hook, Query Contest (U - P/3)
Pocono Lehigh Romance Writers
Postmarked by July 10, 2006
Submit a Query Letter
http://www.plrw.org/
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On the Far Side
FF&P RWA
Received by August 1, 2006
First fifteen pages + up to five page synopsis.
http://www.romance-ffp.com/OTFS2006Rules.htm
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Picture This Contest
Inland Empire Chapter
Postmarked by August 1, 2006
Send us the best scene from your book, 5-12 pages.
http://geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/2936/contest.htm
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Silver Rose Award for Website Excellence (U - P)
Sacramento Valley Rose
Received by August 15, 2006
http://sacramentovalleyrose.com/contest.html
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Barclay Gold (P)
Lowcountry Romance Writers
Received by 9/11/2006
Copyright of 2005
http://www.lcrw.org/contests.html#gold
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Check out all the contests on: http://www.geocities.com/divaswithtiaras/ContestDiva.index.html
Contest Alert-All the news on upcoming contests, plus Finalist & Winner
listings, questions, etc. Sign up now!
ContestAlert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Announcement only list: ContestDeadlines-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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For Published Authors ContestAlertPublished-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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If you're a Contest Judge, join ContestsJudges-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Donna Caubarreaux is a member of Coeur de Louisiane, Scriptscene Chapter, NOLA Stars, Heart of Louisiana, Kiss of Death, Eastside RWA and ChickLitWriters of RWA. She received a RWA Service Award in 1997.

Posted by Lisa Renee Jones :: 1:42 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006



Oh, grow up!
As 'chick lit' wanes, pub houses redefine the genre
By DIANE CLEHANE


The breathless story of the single gal in the big city who is more adept at
shopping than relationships that has come to define "chick lit" is as out of
style as last year's Jimmy Choos, say publishing honchos. "What we're
hearing from a lot of booksellers is that if they see one more pink cover
they're going to scream," says Hyperion's senior VP and publisher Ellen
Archer.

Ever since Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones's Diary" crossed the pond in
1998, contemporary women's fiction -- dubbed chick lit, to the chagrin of
many authors and publishers -- has spawned a seemingly endless bumper crop
of titles with varying degrees of success. Breakout star Jennifer Weiner
("Good in Bed") and one-hit wonder Lauren Weisberger ("The Devil Wears
Prada") are among the few authors who have generated sales and lots of buzz
for the genre, but the sheer number of books by no-name writers targeted to
lovelorn twentysomethings seem to have left the industry with a Cosmo-sized
hangover.

"When you see 'How to Write Chick Lit' books in the stores and it can be
deconstructed that way, you know they've jumped the shark," says literary
agent Daniel Greenberg of the Manhattan-based Levine Greenberg Agency.

But like its plucky heroines, the genre's highly invested publishers and
writers have found a way to reinvent themselves to attract new suitors.
"Some people say chick lit is dying out, but I think it's here to stay,"
says Karen Kosztolnyik, senior editor at Warner Books, whose chick lit
imprint 5 Spot was launched in September. "It's starting to spin off into
subgenres -- from bride chick lit to 'fancy moms' lit about getting divorced
or moving to the suburbs." Not so coincidentally, the imprint's "hot summer
read" is Jane Porter's "Flirting With 40," about a newly single woman and
her much younger love.

"Chick lit is evolving," says Jane von Mehren, VP and publisher of Random
House's trade paperback division. "The genre is diversifying with different
types of stories -- now there's glam lit, hen lit, even stories involving
the paranormal. We're seeing African-American and Latina authors selling
very well." The house is banking on Sofia Quintero's road trip tale "Divas
Don't Yield" to tap into the ethnic chick lit market.

Archer believes the biggest opportunity for growth is in going after the
older reader -- "women 35 and up -- the key-demo hardcover book buyers."
While the house has had success with authors like "Sex and the City" scribe
Candace Bushnell ("Trading Up") and up-and-comer twentysomething Cecelia
Ahern ("P.S. I Love You"), Archer believes Hyperion's new imprint will be a
place where older writers and readers can "tackle meatier issues."

Decrees the publisher: "There will be no chicks or hens here." The
yet-to-be-named imprint will be helmed by editorial director Pam Dorman, who
edited Helen Fielding while at Viking.

Bushnell concurs that the future for the genre lies in more grownup
heroines. "The characters in 'Lipstick Jungle' (her latest bestseller,
currently in development at NBC) are really the same characters that were in
'Sex and the City' but grown up," she says. "They've discovered it's
sometimes more exciting to be Mr. Big than to date him. That's what women
want to read about now."

Some of the most eagerly awaited books in the genre have replaced sex with
power as the key ingredient in one reconfigured formula for success. One
such title that's generating high hopes: "Because She Can" (Warner) penned
by former ReganBooks editor Bridie Clark and due out next year. The roman a
clef chronicles the life of a beleaguered editor driven crazy by her
tyrannical female boss.

Clark worked for media maven Judith Regan for two years, prompting insiders
to salivate over the prospect of having a hit that's a thinly veiled expose.
"It's our 'Devil Wears Prada," says von Mehren.

Greenberg, who reps Clark, says he's been "besieged by requests" from
Hollywood for a look at the manuscript, but the book hasn't been shopped
yet. Perhaps that's because producers are waiting to see if "Prada's"
bestseller status translates to bigscreen success.

Last year, when Chick Lit's high priestess Jennifer Weiner's "In Her Shoes"
underperformed at the box office and among critics, industry execs were
dismayed. "The book did so well, Jennifer has a huge following and the movie
had big stars (Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette), so no one expected that,"
says one insider. "It just shows that you never know what's going to work.
Publishers are really feeling that way about chick lit now."

Regardless, Hollywood remains high on the genre. A sampling of projects
currently in development:

* "Good Grief" (Warner Books) by Lolly Winston has been optioned by
Universal's Marc Platt. Michael Cunningham ("The Hours") is writing the
screenplay and it's been reported that Julia Roberts is slated to star in
the dramedy about a young window trying to rebuild her life.

* "Forget About It" (5 Spot), an unpublished novel by Caprice Crane
about a woman who fakes amnesia, was optioned by New Line, with Scarlett
Johansson attached to star.

* Wendy Finerman picked up "P.S. I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern (Hyperion)
for Universal. Richard LaGravenese has written the script, which is
scheduled to go into production later this year.

* Another Ahern novel, "If You Could See Me Now," was optioned by
Disney. "Chicago" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are developing it as
a musical, with Hugh Jackman set to star.

* "The Ivy Chronicles" by Karen Quinn, about a Wall Streeter turned
nanny, has been optioned by Jerry Weintraub. Catherine Zeta-Jones is
attached to star.

So is chick lit alive and well? "I don't think the term matters anymore,"
says Bushnell. "Women just want to read interesting, well-told stories about
other women's lives."

Posted by Lisa Renee Jones :: 2:44 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Thursday, April 20, 2006



http://alg.livejournal.com/84032.html#cutid1

Great post on HOW BOOKS MAKE MONEY

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006



Recorded for a NYT bestselling thriller writer’s most recent
book:

B&N: 4,140
Waldenbooks: 4,888
Borders: 3,993
Anderson Merchandisers/Walmart: 47,671
Target: 16,341
Price/Costco: 17,291
Sam's: 14,108
Amazon: 320
In other words being in the top 100k books for the week at Amazon
could mean you sold all of a FEW books

Posted by Lisa Renee Jones :: 7:05 PM :: 0 Comments:

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Monday, April 17, 2006



I stumbled on this GREAT article today! Check out the author and the many other resources on her site!

Who’s Got the Power?
How a Publisher’s Sales Force Can Make or Break Your Book
By Deanna Carlyle

Once upon a time before the Internet, I was an entry level sales assistant for a big, multinational publisher. It was a confusing time, not least because I had no idea what was going on in all those meetings my boss attended, seemingly for days at a time.

Every now and then an editor and her cohort would wander past my cubicle on the way back from one of the meetings and I’d catch a scrap of conversation, a clue to the mystery that is publishing.

“Did you get it past Sales?” editor A would ask editor B, her voice thin with worry.

“She has to check with the accounts.”

The editors would shuffle by, casting furtive glances into the offices that lined the hallowed halls of Sales. I watched their retreat and scratched my chin. Apparently I worked in a powerful department.

But from what I could tell, all my boss ever did was check things in the computer and chat on the phone, then run off to meetings, endless closed-door meetings.

What went on in there anyway?

Twelve years later I finally got the chance to find out. I asked several publishing insiders for the skinny on sales, and they graciously complied.

It turns out the cringing editors were right: Sales is a mighty force. It wields a powerful influence at every stage of a book’s career, from manuscript acquisition to print run and budget calculation to the retail connection. Sales can make or break your book.

Acquisition Power

How much influence does a publisher’s sales staff have on title acquisition? “Sales is very integral the acquisition process,” says Alison Lazarus, President of the Sales Division at Holtzbrinck Publishers (which owns St. Martin's Press and Tor Books). “We may be asked to read a manuscript or proposal and give our estimates on what we think the title could sell. If the readers are very enthusiastic about the project it can help influence the decision to try to acquire the title.”

Sales can also influence the decision to reject a title. “On at least two occasions,” one author says, “I've had books rejected where the editor has hinted to my agent that someone in sales or marketing killed the deal. It was obvious that the editors really loved the books and had wanted to buy them.”

If you’re lucky, however, someone on the sales force could bring your manuscript to an editor’s attention. That’s what happened to former romance writer Mary Daheim. In an interview she gave to About.com, Daheim describes how she asked her regional Avon sales rep to take at a look at the opening chapters of her first mystery. The rep then took the chapters to Avon’s regional sales conference and gave it to a senior editor. Within a month, Daheim had herself a three-book contract for a new mystery series.

Sales reps also look to acquire authors. “If our sales representatives see a competitor's book selling well,” says George D. Bick, Senior VP, Director of Distributor and Morrow/Avon Sales, “they alert us immediately to that fact and we get into gear to see if that's a viable author to go after. Since several of our accounts—Walden, B & N, Wal-Mart, Target—provide us with point-of-sales (cash register sales) information, we can instantly see competitors’ authors who are doing well.

Read the rest HERE:


http://www.deannacarlyle.com/articles/power.html

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Thursday, April 06, 2006



http://www.netpress.org/careandfeeding.html

The Care and Feeding of The Press

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http://www.agentresearch.com/news/article1.html

GREAT agent and career article!

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Wednesday, April 05, 2006



http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/12136620/

What's hot now!

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