Posts Tagged RNA
Black Pear Press Short Story Competition and KISHBOO
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Short Story on September 2, 2014
On Saturday I had lunch with the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
It was a very positive affair with lots of people having good news to share such as excellent reports from the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme, publishing deals and competition successes. As always I came away eager to get writing again.
One of our members, romantic comedy author Alison May has been asked to judge a short story competition for the first time and she gave us the details (unfortunately there’ll be no favouritism because it’s all judged anonymously).
The first Black Pear Press Short Story Competition is for stories up to 1500 words in any genre/theme.
First prize is £75 and second prize is two Black Pear Press publications. Entries may be published on the Black Pear Press website and may be included in an anthology.
Closing date is 26th September 2014 and entry is via email. Entry fee is £5.
Full details are here.
Another ‘first’ short story competition that you might like to consider is that currently underway at KISHBOO. This will become a regular quarterly competition with a first prize of £50 and a second prize of £25. The entry fee is £3 and the first competition closes on October 20th 2014. Again any genre/theme is acceptable and the maximum word count is 2,000. The full terms and conditions are here.
Good Luck!
RNA New Writers’ Scheme
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Writing on November 13, 2010
I’ve just come back from a meeting of the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. We get together every three months at the Edwardian Tea Rooms in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for lunch and a chat about writing in general and romance writing in particular.
I joined the RNA at the beginning of 2010 through its New Writers Scheme, which provides unpublished authors with a comprehensive report on a full-length romance novel. The report covers characters, plot and the suitability of the novel for its intended audience. This scheme has a limit of 250 places and opens for applications at the beginning of January each year (but you do have until the end of August to submit your manuscript). The scheme is usually full within a month – so you have to be quick off the mark!
My novel came out of this very badly but nevertheless it was money well spent. The following points came out of the detailed critque:
- Aim at a readership that you can identify with – it’s hard to write to chick-lit for 20-somethings when you’re old enough to be their mother!
- Get to know your characters before you start writing – my heroine had many inconsistencies in the way she acted, leaving it difficult for the reader to care about her at all
- Work out the plot in detail, again before you start writing, mine had as many holes as a seive
- Only include scenes that move the story on otherwise the book becomes dull
Don’t submit to the New Writers’ Scheme if you’re afraid of criticism – parts of my report were quite brutal. Recognise the report you receive for what it is – an attempt to help you become a better writer and that can’t be done without honestly telling you if your novel is bad.
Of course not everyone’s work is as bad as mine! Anne, who I met at lunchtime, was given some useful advice about giving her 1950s heroine more oomph and she is now working to improve her book. About 5% of manuscripts submitted to the scheme are judged worthy of a second reading and may then get sent on to an agent.
If you decide to submit – Good Luck! and remember, contrary to popular belief romance writing is not easy.
Today’s writing prompt: Easter Egg (not very seasonable now but remember if you’re writing for publication, magazines work several months in advance).