Update: Thanks everyone for stopping by yesterday and a special big thanks to Debra Holland for being available. Using random.org the winning comment number that was selected for the $10 Barnes and Noble gift card was comment number 11, Anne Barton. Anne, please send me an email with your addy so I can get that sent out to you ASAP!
Hi everyone,
Please join me in welcoming Debra Holland. My first official guest blogger. Don’t forget, Debra will be available all day in the comments section for Q and A and one lucky random commenter will receive a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card.
Kaycee 
It’s Autumn, the time of year for unpublished writers to consider entering the RWA Golden Heart contest. The entry forms are due on November 16. The Golden Heart is RWA’s most prestigious unpublished contest. Finaling not only opens doors for your writing career, but is a LOT of fun.
When the GH call comes, the good news gives you a happy, bubbly thrill. It’s a great feeling to share with your family and friends. The high can last for weeks.
The days after the GH results are announced are a good time to send queries to agents and editors about your finaling manuscript. Finaling makes your queries stand out, leading to quicker responses. It also gives agents and editors more of a reason to request your book.
If your manuscript is already with an agent or editor, it’s good to call or email with the news. This can motivate the agent or editor to hunt through their slush pile to find your manuscript, instead of waiting the months, or even years, it might take them to get to it.
It’s not uncommon to have five to ten finalists sell their books in the months between the announcement and the national conference. During that time about the same amount of writers also sign with agents.
Sometimes an editor who is judging the contest likes what he or she is reading and directly buys the entry–before the winners are even announced at the awards ceremony in the national conference.
The finalists organize themselves into a yahoo group and begin to get to know each other. They share stories of their “call” and of their books. They support each other through rejections and acceptances and celebrate if one of them sells. By the time the conference rolls around, the group has become friends.
At the national conference, GH finalists get to wear pink finaling ribbons on their name badges and be princesses for five days. The ribbon identifies them to other conference attendees, agents, and editors, and they get a lot of people asking about their entry. There is also a special reception for the GH and Rita finalists.
At the awards night, the finalists dress up in beautiful formal gowns and sit in reserved seating in the front of the theatre. As each finalist’s name is announced, two overhead screens show her professional photo and the name of her book–a great way to build name recognition.
Winners receive a beautiful necklace with a golden heart. Once a winner places that necklace around her neck, she is forever a Golden Heart winner. The necklace is a symbol of her accomplishment that other writers can recognize whenever she wears it. However, it’s also a tangible reminder when future doubts creep in–yes, she is a good writer.
As I see it, there’s only two cons to entering the GH. One is the entry price. $50.00 can be a bit steep on an unpublished writer’s budget, especially in this economy. Multiple entries can really add up. Make sure you follow all the rules. If you break a rule, your manuscript will be disqualified, and your money won’t be refunded.
The second drawback of the GH is that the only feedback you will receive are numerical scores. You’ll never know why you received a 9 from one judge and a 4 from another.
How do you know if you are ready to enter the Golden Heart contest?
Is your manuscript completed or nearly completed? A completed manuscript is a requirement for the GH, making it different from RWA chapter contests. This weeds out the people who have completely polished the first few chapters and synopsis of their books, and enter them in all the local contests, but have never completed the manuscripts. These entries might be multiple winners in local contests, but the GH is for finishers, which gives you a different caliber of competition, and much more respect when you final.
I have used entering the Golden Heart as a spur to completing a manuscript. As a finishing-the-book tool, this has worked very well. Actually there have been several years when I was writing right until the deadline to overnight the entry in order to have it arrive the next day. In other words, the ending was done, but not polished. However, one of these books still finaled, and the other finaled the next year when it was polished. But don’t do this unless you are confident you can finish. Otherwise, your entry will be disqualified.
Make sure the first fifty-five pages, including your synopsis, are polished. Have a critique partner or two or ten go over your entry. In the first round, it won’t matter how much you’ve edited the rest of your book. The first round of judges only sees the first fifty-five pages, which includes the synopsis. You probably won’t win if the quality of the rest of the manuscript isn’t as good as the beginning, but winning is just a bonus to being a finalist.
So challenge yourself. Get out those manuscripts, finish them, polish them, and enter the Golden Heart Contest!
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Debra Holland is a three-time Golden Heart finalist. In 2001, her book, Wild Montana Sky, won the short historical category.
If I should final, I’m definitely NOT wearing a dress.
I’ve heard people say that entering the GH is really only for people that have finaled in other contests and that if you don’t have an entry that has finaled, you should try other contests first. What are your thoughts on that?
by Walt M November 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 am ♦The process sounds overwhelming! What a challenge. I’m not entering the contest, but my thoughts and good luck wishes are with those who do. Thanks for sharing your experience, Debra.
by Pat McDermott November 2nd, 2009 at 5:52 am ♦Hi Debra and Kaycee~
Great post. I think the Golden Heart was a fabulous experience. When I entered, my only goal was to end up in the top 50%. I scrambled to polish the first 50 pages to a blinding shine, sent it in, and quickly forgot all about it. You can imagine my shock when I received a phone call telling me I’d finaled. I had hoped for the top 50 %, but that was amazing! I ended up winning and selling to one of the final judges. The Golden Heart changed my life.
It’s well worth the money and the time.
by Robin Kaye November 2nd, 2009 at 7:41 am ♦Welcome to all Kaycee’s readers. I hope you’re working on your manuscripts for the GH.
To clarify, the final round judges receive your partial. After they turn in their scores, they can request the full manuscript. RWA contacts the author to let her know about the request, although she is not told the editor or the house. The author has the option of sending RWA a new, more updated full within 48 hours, which they will send to the editor. Or, RWA can send the full they have on file.
So even if you turn in a rough full manuscript, continue the work you need to do to finish it. That way you’re prepared if you do final and want to contact agents and editors, or if a final judge wants to read it.
by Debra Holland November 2nd, 2009 at 7:54 am ♦Thanks everyone for stopping by I hope you receive some excellent wisdom from this Guest Blog!
by admin November 2nd, 2009 at 8:46 am ♦Kaycee
Okay. Everyone receives a score from a judge for different things? If so, what are those things?
by Ae Noble November 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 am ♦I cried when I got “the call”. It was the 3rd time I’d entered, and as it would turn out, the last year I would be eligible. I was offered a contract two weeks later for a different manuscript. I’m still seeking publication for my GH manuscript.
by Kelly Fitzpatrick November 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 am ♦Lol, Walt. Definitel not a dress! A nice suit for a man.
I’d say enter. My own experience was that I’d never finaled with my first book–the one that won. In fact, I changed the beginning based on feedback I’d received in the Orange Rose contest a few months before I entered the GH. I think that major change is what made the difference.
Pat, I don’t think it’s overwhelming. You go through the same kind of writing/polishing regardless of whether you enter a contest or not. The contest just gives you a deadline.
As for the national conference, that can be an overwhelming experience, in a good way.
The first time I finaled was also my first national conference, and I had a blast. Romance writers are fun and kind, and you’ll make friends fast.
Robin, it never occurred to me that I’d final in the GH. I didn’t know the calls were going out that day, so it came as a complete shock. I screamed and my boyfriend came running, thinking something was wrong.
Kelly, we both had the same reaction to the call.
Ae Nobel, you receive one score from each judge. That’s the only feedback you get.
by Debra Holland November 2nd, 2009 at 11:59 am ♦Great post, Kaycee! Sounds like Golden Heart is a wonderful contest to take part in. Good luck!
by Martha Ramirez November 2nd, 2009 at 12:57 pm ♦Nice post, Kaycee! Thanks for sharing your Gold Heart journey with us.
And a big thank you to Debra for her willingness to share her wisdom.
by Jena Lang November 2nd, 2009 at 2:04 pm ♦Hi Debra and Kaycee –
Thanks for this great post. It sort of reads like a fairy tale, and I love that.
Good luck with your GH entry, Kaycee!
by Anne Barton November 2nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm ♦Thanks, everyone for stopping by. Good luck with your writing!
by Debra Holland November 2nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm ♦