2015 ACFW Genesis Contest Finalist

I’m delighted to announce that I’m one of the top three finalists in the Historical Romance category in ACFW’s 2015 Genesis contest. This is ACFW’s biggest contest, comparable to RWA’s Golden Heart for the secular market.

“What does being a finalist mean?” my husband asked as we drove to Pullman for a celebration dinner.

“It means I need to attend ACFW’s national convention in Dallas, in September,” I said. “I’ll attend the awards gala, where they’ll announce the winners.”

“Does it mean you’ll be signing a $30,000 book contract?” he asked.

I chuckled under my breath. Hardly. From my observations, writing is a lot like what farmers like to say about farming: “We’ll just keep farming until the money’s all gone.” We do it for love.

What else does being a finalist mean? I’ll need to buy a semi-formal dress (no sequins for me) to wear to the awards banquet. I’ll get to listen to informative talks. I might get to meet some of the stellar authors whose books I’ve been reading. I also hope to make many new friends, as I know no one in ACFW except my CP, Cindy Regnier.

It also means that my name will now be on the radar of all agents and editors in the Christian fiction industry.

That is huge.

Deciphering contest results

I have now revised one of my contest-finalist entries and will be sending it back after one last read. For this contest, eight finalists in all were chosen from across the eight entrance categories, rather than the top three from each category. It's the only contest I know of that does it this way. But hey! It's the way they choose to do it and I'm not complaining. I love that they gave me a week to revise my 10,000 word entry.

It's also fairly rare for a contest to allow the finalists to revise their entries before being sent to agents and editors. In the other contest in which I am a finalist, my entry went to them exactly as I had originally sent it in.

So it was a busy week of looking at each and every statement made by a total of eleven judges; I combined the results of all into one file and saw a fuller picture of the questions that came up as judges read the entry. For example, here is a sample of nine concerns that I decided I needed to deal with. Judges wanted to know:

1.       what made the hero and heroine fond of each other, after an exchange of only three letters (judge needed that answer, in order to have more sympathy for the heroine)

2. why the heroine trusted that the mail-order marriage was God’s will

3. To have another sentence of specific information about one of the villains, without taking away the mystery

4. why the heroine longed to be a mother

5. why the heroine wanted to be married, and why, specifically, the hero is the right man for her

6. To be shown something that allowed the reader to believe the hero was indeed of a higher station than the heroine

7. To read more of the hero’s thoughts, in order to make him more likeable, despite his harsh actions. If she hadn’t read the synopsis, and learned the motivation for his behavior, she said she would’ve hated him.

8. Pointed out that a certain situation (birth of twins) which I used as a motivator, and the way I dealt with it, was out of the time period in which I am writing, and mentioned also that servants had to give notice, even in Georgian and Regency era books

9. Pointed out that the trunks of early motorcars were non-existent or very small, and so I should rethink whether the heroine’s bags were strapped on the car, or small enough to fit in a shallow trunk. Also, that cars were exceedingly rare in 1912, and if I want to have a few cars parked along the street, meaning that they were accessible to the common man, that I should bump my date to 1915  

These are some of the problems I addressed. Some just needed a sentence or two to fix. Number eight took rethinking and rewriting an entire scene to make it work for my Edwardian time period.

Here's a sample of what six of my pages looked like, after I had inputted the comments from eight of the eleven judges. There were places that universally stumbled the judges, and also places that were universally liked. Not all of the comments are critical: 

That's a lot to digest, isn't it? It was quite a learning experience, and I am sure that my manuscript is now far better grounded than it was before, having answered reader concerns. Their questions forced me to go deeper into the characters' motivations. Now I understand more fully the themes and conflicts that I will carry throughout the book. 

As a result of the streamlining (several judges suggested that I reduce the total number of conflicts), at least one conflict was completely eliminated. My hero no longer walks with a limp as a result of childhood polio, which removes him feeling he's less of a man because of it, and me having to deal with that specific conflict. 

Interestingly, while continuing to write the book, I kept forgetting to have him grab his cane, and so yes, it really wasn't an issue for him, or me. References to it were easily dropped from the story.

I still have plenty of conflict, perhaps too much for the projected word count . . . I'll discover that as I continue to write the novel. I will be so happy when I can start making forward progress again.

How was your week, reading, writing, or otherwise?

Turning a corner

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I have begun to enter writing contests. In June and July, I entered my Young Adult Contemporary Romance in five contests. I have now received results from all of them.

In August and September, I entered my Inspirational Historical Romance in six contests.
I have now received results from all but one of these entries.

In all but two, the results were pretty good--close but no cigar. My YA submission always scored worse than my Inspirational Historical submission. 

In the other two contests, the results were great! I am a finalist in both. Yay!

What I will say about all of the contests I entered, and why entering contests is so worthwhile: The feedback is fantastic. Unlike the feedback you get from a critique group, where each individual member's knowledge of the craft may vary widely, contest judges are almost always published authors or contest finalists. They know the craft, and are able to spot weaknesses. Also unlike critique group feedback, these people do not know you, and are able to judge a manuscript on its merit, without fear of hurting your feelings.

Feelings should never be hurt in any case, but some writers tend to be sensitive about their work and even gentle criticism sends them into writers block. It's a huge fear of mine when critiquing the manuscripts of my friends. I may see a dozen things that need work, but I will gauge what I think they can handle, and may point out only two or three things, generally substantive rather than editorial. In the end, I am probably doing them a disservice, especially if they feel their manuscript is close to being ready for an agent or editor's eyes.

Each contest has its own score sheet for things that they are looking at, such as how well the opening scene is working; pacing; point of view; setting; characterization; dialogue; style; mechanics. Each judge is given the opportunity to comment freely. I've gotten both substantive (how well the overall story is working and what needs to be changed/improved) and line-edit type feedback. It has been, as I said, wonderful.

One especially helpful judge, who must be an angel, told me that the only thing between me and publication at this point is polish. I'd never understood (call me uninformed) what, exactly, was meant by polish. I thought it must mean that the words are so brilliant and evocative that they shine and float on the page. (Something that I could never achieve.)

It's more meat and potatoes than that. It means that you will not repeat a word more than once on a page. For example, you will not describe someone as beautiful at the top of the page, and then use beautiful again in the page, no matter who or what you are describing. In fact, if a word is a bit unusual--I used beacon twice in a 10,000 word submission--you do not use that word twice, either.

It means you will banish each and every cliche and replace it with your own fresh thoughts. It means you will replace most dialogue tags (he said) with action tags that contribute something to either the conflict, characterization, pacing, or any/all three. The action tags need to be more than "She bit her lip." (Which, again, is cliched and says nothing.) And, of course, you will not over-use adjectives and adverbs.  

So, what does being a finalist in two contests mean to me? It means that an editor and an agent (one each, from each contest), will be reading my pages. For one contest, that means Elizabeth Mazer, editor from Harlequin Love Inspired (the line I am targeting) will be reading them, as well as Amanda Luedke, from MacGregor literary (who I would love to have for an agent) will be judging my submission.

For the other contest, an editor from Bethany House will be reading it. As to the agent, I am being asked to request who I would like from a list of five agents. I will choose Nicole Resciniti from the Seymour Agency (a Christian agency--I would also love to have Nicole for an agent).

Being a finalist puts me one step further along the road to publication. I may discover that I still have a long way to go, but I am, at least, at this level.

If you're wondering about the type of things judges have said about my submissions, I've compiled a short list, below. These are all generalized, summation-type comments, and all are from judges who did not give my manuscript a score that was quite high enough to put me in the finalist category. All comments are about my Inspirational Historical submission.

What are the strengths of this entry?

• An interesting setting, a likable heroine, a good voice, a strong sense of theme and genre (both as historical and as inspirational).
• You craft interesting characters, and you have a good set-up for the conflict—a mail order bride arrangement contracted under false pretenses by a well-meaning child. Your command of writing craft is very good, and I found reading this entry very easy and enjoyable.
• IF THIS WERE REVISED, THE STORY COULD BE QUITE INTERESTING. I LIKE THE FAMILY SAGA ISSUES PRESENTED, AND THE MONUMENTAL HURDLES THE COUPLE WILL HAVE TO CROSS IN ORDER TO REACH THEIR HAPPILY EVER AFTER
• I have a strong sense of the time and place. The writing is strong. The conflict of having someone you didn’t know you were engaged to now working in your house is good. I like Sarah. She’s been through terrible things, but she’s still strong and capable and hopeful for the future
• This work has so much potential. 

Writing skills:

• Very smooth and controlled, neither overwhelming with detail nor skipping too quickly. There’s some telling at the start; I think this is more a function of where you chose to begin the story than of your style, and there are some inconsistencies (marked in text) that need to be reconciled.
•  You are a very deft writer, with good narrative skills. 

If you are on the fence about entering a contest or contests, I would strongly encourage you to do so. The feedback is invaluable.  

How was your week, reading, writing or otherwise? Have you entered contests? What was your experience? Would you do it again? 

What I learned by entering the Golden Heart contest 2013

The Golden Heart scores have now been released. If you're unaware, the Golden Heart contest is sponsored by RWA (Romance Writers of America) each year for aspiring writers in the romance genre. Entries are separated into six different categories: series contemporary, single title contemporary; series historical, single title historical; romantic suspense, and young adult.

After a preliminary round of judging, the top ten percent of each category's entries, with a limit of eight in each category, provided the minimum total score for each finalist equals 80 percent of the total possible score, moves into the finalist category, which is judged by acquiring editors. Therefore, having a manuscript final in the Golden Heart is a big deal. Many finalists become published authors not long afterwards.

Preliminary round judges are themselves contest entrants but, obviously, in a different category than they are judging. Most contest entrants are at the level of having completed at least one manuscript and are members of RWA PRO, which means they've submitted one or more manuscripts to editors, and have proof. I.e. rejections! (Yes, I am a member of PRO.)

There are many RWA contests throughout the year that provide great feedback, however this contest provides none, only the entrant's raw scores. Also unlike all other RWA contests, this one requires that a completed manuscript be sent along with the contest submission, although only the actual submission is judged. The submission includes sample chapters and a synopsis, with the combined total not to exceed 55 pages.

So why, if you get no feedback whatsoever, should you enter? The truth is, you probably shouldn't. I wish I hadn't.

I wish I had entered feedback-providing contests prior to the GH. Based on the feedback, I could've honed my manuscript a bit more before entering The Big Kahuna. Due to the flow of my life at the time, it just wasn't something I had grasped. But with my next manuscript, guess what I'll be doing instead?

Even so, I did learn a few things by entering the GH. 

I was judged by a total of five judges, which was cool. I got five different opinions about my manuscript's market readiness. The manuscript sample was judged on four criteria:

1. The Romance (20 points possible)
2. The Story/Plot (10 points possible)
3. The Characters (10 points possible)
4. The Writing (10 points possible)

Overall, the highest and the lowest judges' total scores were dropped, and the three middle scores averaged.

In all, I actually didn't do too bad. Although I wasn't a finalist, I missed being one by only 2.3 points.

See where entering prior contests might have made a serious difference to me? As stated before, I should've entered some of the other feedback giving RWA contests, gotten some great feedback, and revised my contest entry BEFORE throwing it into the GH pool. Had I done that, I *might* be a finalist. (GH winners will be announced at the national convention in August.)

As it turned out, two of the judges put me in the finalist category for overall score, but there was one that didn't like my entry, and gave me middling scores in every category.

But I did see that three out of the five judges believed the Romance was at finalist level. Three of the judges thought my Story/Plot was at finalist level. Three of the judges thought my Writing was at finalist level, and three of the judges thought my Characters were at finalist level. In fact, three of the judges gave me a perfect score of 10 for my Characters.

Expensive lesson learned. Others, please take heed: Enter other contests BEFORE entering the Golden Heart!

What I learned by judging the Golden Heart contest 2013

If you’re not familiar with the Golden Heart contest, it is Romance Writers of America’s biggest and most prestigious annual contest, with about 1200 entries in seven categories (Short Contemporary; Long Contemporary; Short Historical; Long Historical; Paranormal; Inspirational; Young Adult). Besides being a RWA member, the one requirement is that you’re unpublished in narrative prose of 20,000 words or more (by the contest entry deadline).

By entering the contest, you also agree to judge entries from a different category than the one you entered. My entry was in Young Adult, and I elected to judge historical romance. I accepted two judging packets, meaning I judged 10 entries instead of five. One packet was Short Historical and the other was Long Historical.

After the preliminary round of judging, which is done by contest entrants, the field is narrowed to approximately 100 finalists, which will be judged by acquiring editors from romance publishers. Many finalists go on to sell their manuscripts because of this exposure. Obviously, it’s a BIG DEAL to be a finalist. In addition to having your entry read (and maybe bought) by an acquiring editor, there is a huge Awards Ceremony at the RWA national convention in August.

For many reasons, simply entering the contest was a great experience for me, which I'll write about sometime in another post. In this post, I’ll focus on only one reason: THE OPPORTUNITY TO JUDGE.

I got the chance to pretend I’m an agent or editor. And if I were an agent or editor, I would want to look at the full manuscript of three of the proposals I read. Each was very strong in all of the judging categories: the writing; the story/plot; the romance, and the characters.

I’m not at liberty to be specific about the proposals I judged, but I think I can say some general things I learned about Golden Heart entries. 

Of the three I’d like to read the complete manuscript, the writing in one was unusually nimble—literary with sparkling and totally apt figurative language—a delight to read. The characters were also unusual—if made into a movie, I could see Helena Bonham Carter playing the "wicked" mother in the story whose tone overall was droll and delightful.The hero and heroine are delightful and what keeps them apart (the plot) is believable, as well as the development of the romance. I could say far more about this entry, but it has a traceable history on the internet, and so I need to stop here. In one word: UNIQUE! Unique story; unique writing style. Will UNIQUE be a finalist, or go on to win, this year? We'll see. I am so happy to have been given the opportunity to read and judge this one.   

Of the other two that I would like to read the full manuscript, one was totally perfect in every Romance marker way—great romantic development, plot, characters, writing and synopsis. I’m sure it will final, and I can’t wait to see it among the finalists.

The last of the three, although exceptionally well written, with interesting characters and an interesting plot, cannot be classified as a romance, but as a story with a strong romance element. I suspect that will take it out of the running. We might see it on general fiction shelves someday, but it will not be published with Romance on the spine. It’s sad, because last year, there was a category for stories such as this. But the powers that be have decided that RWA is about writers of romance. It does not include the broader umbrella of novels with a strong romance element. Romance as a genre has a certain shape to it, and certain reader expectations. The romance is always the “A” story, and everything else, if there is anything else, is the “B” story.

Of the ten entries, one other wasn’t by definition a romance, although it also had a strong romance thread. It suffered from other problems as well: the characters weren’t unique; the writing was way over the top. Historical romance is lush by definition, but this writer seemed to think that if two adjectives are good, three are better. Also, the emotional reactions were so overblown that I’d hate to think how the characters would react if they found themselves in a situation where truly strong emotion were required. When emotion has already been amped to the max, there’s no place to go with it.

Of the remaining six, two were relatively strong in three of the four categories they were being judged on, but suffered in one area. In one, I couldn’t figure out why the hero and heroine didn’t get together soon after meeting—there was little of any true significance holding them apart. What happens is that you end up with a plot that keeps hitting the same note.

The hero and heroine can’t get together because of [this one thing], rather than because of [this, and then this, and then this]. It’s true that the internal reason stays constant throughout a romance, but in this case, there was no compelling internal reason or any truly significant external reasons. I felt like I was reading the same conversation in every scene, page after page after page, although I loved the setting and the characters and the writing.

The second of the two that I rated in the middle range was very well written but it seemed, unfortunately, like a story that’s been done a thousand times over the years, and probably has been. I couldn’t discern any new twists, and while the hero and heroine each had a seemingly compelling internal reason to keep them apart, any reasonable person (such as these two appeared to be) should be understanding about it from the get-go. 

As a rule of thumb, if a hero and heroine were to sit down and have a simple conversation that would clear up the issue between them, then the issue isn’t big enough to carry a book. In this novel, there were also some external things that kept them apart, but it was another person—several other persons—over the course of the story. I’d call this another version of hitting the same note. And for some reason, the author ignored the most obvious and fruitful external reason to keep the characters apart. (Maybe that's where she thought she was being different?) 

Also, except for lust, I wasn’t given reasons why they should fall in love. Some romances are extremely sensual, as this one promises to be, but in the end, lust can’t be the only thing that attracts them. Even in a steamy romance.

Of the remaining four, one was so dreadful that I could hardly stomach reading it. The final three suffered from a variety of ailments, the most glaring being character reactions, thus plots, that were improbable, making no sense at all.

It’s sad, because the authors were all fairly adroit on the sentence level, in terms of grammar and description—but they pushed their cardboard characters around on the page. They were also guilty of weak dialogue, and of half-page insertions (of exposition or expository dialogue) that appeared to have nothing whatsoever to do with the theme or plot. In other words, the stories lacked focus; they were not honed and shaped to the point that every word held its weight.

These were things I noticed while judging 550 pages' worth of contest entries. But the biggest eye-opener for me came in the reading of the synopses.

Being that I read a maximum of about 50 pages of each manuscript, with a five-page synopsis (in most cases), I was able to discern the huge burden a synopsis carries as the vehicle for telling the rest of the story to a contest judge, prospective agent, or editor.

Nobody looks for fabulous storytelling in a synopsis, but the synopsis does need to convey some extremely important things. In the romance genre, these important things answer the question of what is keeping the lovers apart. It should also give hints as to what brings them together.

In almost all cases, these were the weakest elements in the synopses. Most clearly spelled out the plot, but sorely neglected these more important issues (when it comes to the romance genre). One would assume that if the information is lacking in the synopsis, it’s also lacking in the story.

Seeing this with my own eyes was truly educational for me. I’m in a critique group, and I dearly love my writing friends, but I’m the only one who writes romance, and we’re not all at the same stage in the writing journey. Few of us have completed several manuscripts, and are at the stage of writing proposals and seeking an agent or editor.

Thus, I haven’t had much experience with writing or reading short synopses, but I now understand at a new level what makes them work, as well as what makes them—and the stories they summarize—fail. 

I can clearly see how agents are able to judge an entire book after having read merely a 5-10 page writing sample, and a short synopsis. What an opportunity.