Risky Business - Should you enter
a controversial ms into the Golden Heart?
This article originally appeared as a blog at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood in November 2009.
Can you believe the Golden Heart is open for entries again? I haven’t even recovered from last year’s contest and yet here I am, wearing out my keyboard as I prepare to submit at least two manuscripts. If I win the battle against fatigue, I also plan to polish up two more books cowering in my hard drive.
Now, I know what’s on your mind. $50+ per entry is steep in an era when we’re all thinking twice about our purchases. There’s little return for your investment in terms of feedback. All you get back is set of naked scores. If you’re unlucky like me, you might even get a cross in the “This is not a romance” box. Amy Talley has given us an entertaining account of why you’d be nuts not to enter, despite those down sides.
Last year, 901 manuscripts piled into RWA’s Texas office. 901. About 100 of us made the finals and 10 deserving winners sashayed off with the prized hearts. If I were remotely talented in the maths department, I would give you the precise odds of finalling. Let’s just say competition’s stiff, shall we? So should you enter a “safe” manuscript that neatly fits inside traditional romance guidelines with inches to spare, or send in something a little (or a lot) more risky that leaps out of the box?
What do I mean by risky? I wasn’t necessarily thinking along the lines of Nabokov’s LOLITA or Jeff Lindsay’s DEXTER. Though, if you can draw universal sympathy for your serial killer heroine, I say go for it.
I’m talking more about entries that are left of centre. Maybe you’ve structured your novel as a series of blog posts. Perhaps the book of your heart’s first page begins smack in the middle of a hawt and heavy love scene. Or your romance is told entirely in a man’s point of view. Don’t be afraid to enter your book because it isn’t considered “safe.” Live dangerously! This is one time where you want to differentiate yourself from the pack.
However unconventional your story might be, give it every chance to earn high scores. Make it compelling. Stir emotions in the reader. Get the basic mechanics right and know when to break the rules.
Former double-GH finalist Anna Campbell entered an ms about a duke who falls in love with London’s most notorious courtesan. In the historical genre, this is an unconventional plot, yet the story worked. As a direct result of the GH, Anna’s courtesan attracted an agent, who quickly refereed a gruelling a four-day, three-way auction between the big houses of New York.
Anna says, “I entered the Golden Heart for the first and only time in 2006 and was lucky enough to final with both my manuscripts. One was a romantic comedy called “The Magnificent Marriage” which I’d say was on the ’safe’ end of the spectrum. The other was “No Ordinary Duchess”, the book that eventually became CLAIMING THE COURTESAN. It was dark and passionate and stormy and included a lot of elements that certainly weren’t ’safe’. By the way, neither won, LOL! Personally, I can’t see what you’ve got to lose (apart from the entry fee and a bit of postage) by entering any book you think is close to publication standard in the Golden Heart.”
“Sure,” you say. “My novel might be mind-boggling in its originality, but what if the judges don’t ‘get’ my plucky, beer-swilling, punch-throwing heroine?” You know what I’m going to say, right? It’s the risk you take. You might strike judges who’ll think, “Hey, this idea’s so crazy it just might work!”
Of course, not every judge will adore your work. Once you’re published, you’ll also have to contend with the buying public and reviewers. Scary, huh? But let me leave you with this thought. Any book that generates a strong reaction—readers either love it or despise it—is likely to be remembered and talked about.
Can you believe the Golden Heart is open for entries again? I haven’t even recovered from last year’s contest and yet here I am, wearing out my keyboard as I prepare to submit at least two manuscripts. If I win the battle against fatigue, I also plan to polish up two more books cowering in my hard drive.
Now, I know what’s on your mind. $50+ per entry is steep in an era when we’re all thinking twice about our purchases. There’s little return for your investment in terms of feedback. All you get back is set of naked scores. If you’re unlucky like me, you might even get a cross in the “This is not a romance” box. Amy Talley has given us an entertaining account of why you’d be nuts not to enter, despite those down sides.
Last year, 901 manuscripts piled into RWA’s Texas office. 901. About 100 of us made the finals and 10 deserving winners sashayed off with the prized hearts. If I were remotely talented in the maths department, I would give you the precise odds of finalling. Let’s just say competition’s stiff, shall we? So should you enter a “safe” manuscript that neatly fits inside traditional romance guidelines with inches to spare, or send in something a little (or a lot) more risky that leaps out of the box?
What do I mean by risky? I wasn’t necessarily thinking along the lines of Nabokov’s LOLITA or Jeff Lindsay’s DEXTER. Though, if you can draw universal sympathy for your serial killer heroine, I say go for it.
I’m talking more about entries that are left of centre. Maybe you’ve structured your novel as a series of blog posts. Perhaps the book of your heart’s first page begins smack in the middle of a hawt and heavy love scene. Or your romance is told entirely in a man’s point of view. Don’t be afraid to enter your book because it isn’t considered “safe.” Live dangerously! This is one time where you want to differentiate yourself from the pack.
However unconventional your story might be, give it every chance to earn high scores. Make it compelling. Stir emotions in the reader. Get the basic mechanics right and know when to break the rules.
Former double-GH finalist Anna Campbell entered an ms about a duke who falls in love with London’s most notorious courtesan. In the historical genre, this is an unconventional plot, yet the story worked. As a direct result of the GH, Anna’s courtesan attracted an agent, who quickly refereed a gruelling a four-day, three-way auction between the big houses of New York.
Anna says, “I entered the Golden Heart for the first and only time in 2006 and was lucky enough to final with both my manuscripts. One was a romantic comedy called “The Magnificent Marriage” which I’d say was on the ’safe’ end of the spectrum. The other was “No Ordinary Duchess”, the book that eventually became CLAIMING THE COURTESAN. It was dark and passionate and stormy and included a lot of elements that certainly weren’t ’safe’. By the way, neither won, LOL! Personally, I can’t see what you’ve got to lose (apart from the entry fee and a bit of postage) by entering any book you think is close to publication standard in the Golden Heart.”
“Sure,” you say. “My novel might be mind-boggling in its originality, but what if the judges don’t ‘get’ my plucky, beer-swilling, punch-throwing heroine?” You know what I’m going to say, right? It’s the risk you take. You might strike judges who’ll think, “Hey, this idea’s so crazy it just might work!”
Of course, not every judge will adore your work. Once you’re published, you’ll also have to contend with the buying public and reviewers. Scary, huh? But let me leave you with this thought. Any book that generates a strong reaction—readers either love it or despise it—is likely to be remembered and talked about.