2014 Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest - DEADLINE FOR ENTRY: July 1, 2014

The Indiana Romance Writers of America’s IGO!!!

We welcome you to the 24th anniversary of Indiana’s Golden Opportunity (IGO), one of the premier chapter contests in RWA®. The Indiana chapter of Romance Writers of America (IRWA) has a well-deserved reputation for offering detailed constructive comments to our entrants from published authors and trained judges. Designed to identify the fundamentals of storytelling and grammar, our four-page category-specific score sheets will assist entrants by defining the elements in their manuscript that require more attention. Our goal is to assist IGO entrants with constructive feedback to help them polish their manuscripts. Many past winners have successfully gone on to catch an editor’s eye and/or final in RWA’s Golden Heart Contest. IGO attracts some of the most respected names in the industry as category and final judges.

***BENEFITS OF ENTERING IRWA’S IGO FOR 2014***
In keeping with the ever-changing publishing industry, IGO offers two (2) acquiring editor judges for each category – one (1) traditional print and one (1) e-pub when possible.
Updated rules, categories, and score sheets.
In 2013 – TEN finalists received requests from our fabulous editor judges to see their full manuscripts and FOUR are finalists in RWA's 2014 Golden Heart Contest! See our past finalists and winners here!



CONTEST CATEGORIES:

Please review the category definitions carefully. Manuscripts entered in the wrong category may be disqualified.

Please note that categories may have varying heat levels. All entries should have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic resolution to the romance.
Contemporary Romance – Romance manuscripts that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and have a contemporary setting.
Erotic Romance – Romance manuscripts in which the sexual relationship plays an integral part of the romantic relationship and the sex scenes are explicit in both description and language.
Historical Romance – Romance manuscripts set in any historical time period.
Inspirational Romance – Romance manuscripts in which religious or spiritual beliefs (in the context of any religious or spiritual belief system) are a major part of the romantic relationship.
Paranormal Romance – Romance manuscripts in which the future, a fantasy world, or paranormal elements are a key part of the plot.
Romantic Suspense – Romance manuscripts in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.
Young Adult Romance – Romance manuscripts in which the romantic relationship is between two adolescents and is geared toward young adult readers.


AWARDS: Category winners – First place entry will receive $50 and a certificate

Best of the Best – Winner will receive a special keepsake award and certificate


ELIGIBILITY:

The Indiana Golden Opportunity contest is open to any unpublished author in novel- or novella-length fiction by a non-vanity/subsidy publisher. Published authors who have not been contracted for publication (by RWA publishing standards) in the past three (3) years are also eligible to enter.

The IGO will be following RWA’s Policy and Procedure Manual (March 2011) 1.40, regarding vanity/subsidy publishing. Subsidy/Vanity is defined as: “Subsidy” or“Vanity” publishing means the production of books in which the author participates in the costs of production or distribution in any manner, including assessment of fees or other costs for editing and/or distribution. This definition includes publishing programs that withhold or seek full or partial payment or reimbursement of publication or distribution costs before paying royalties, including payment of paper, printing, binding, production, sales or marketing costs; publishing programs whose authors exclusively promote and/or sell their own books; and publishers whose business model and methods of publishing are primarily directed toward sales to the author, his/her relatives and associates.

Note: Members of the Indiana Romance Writers of America are not eligible to enter.



GOOD LUCK, AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING US CELEBRATE THE 24TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

INDIANA GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY CONTEST!