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2012 TARA Contest TARA is proud to announce we will be allowing electronic entries this year! Gear up to submit your polished
chapter for a chance of getting in front of our awesome line up of final
editor judges. (See below)
What Susan Muller, a 2011 TARA Contest finalist, has to say about the TARA Contest.
Or mail a $25 check payable to Tampa Area Romance Authors to: Deadline: Entries must be received by May 1st, 2012. Contents: The first chapter, 4,000 words max (actual word count), including prologue if applicable. *Word count will be verified. No part of a second or any additional chapters will be judged. Note: Per editor request, finalists must include a synopsis of up to 1,500 words at the time they submit revised entry for final judging. Entries in all categories must be romantic fiction, with the exception of the women's fiction category. Women's fiction stories should be centered on the female protagonist. Short stories, nonfiction, and fiction in genres other than romance or women's fiction will not be accepted. Category Coordinators reserve the right to reject any entry that does not meet the acceptable industry standards for romantic fiction. *** You may enter as many times as you wish, but each manuscript can only be entered once and only in a single category. All fees and rules apply to each entry. Eligibility requirements: The TARA Contest is open to unpublished and published authors of novel length fiction, however the entry must be the author's original work, unpublished and not contracted as of the time of the contest deadline. No entry can have been previously published in any format. (on author's website visible to the public, self-published, ebook, mass market, etc.) Manuscripts that have previously won the TARA contest may not be re-entered. Ineligible entries will be immediately disqualified, and the entry fee forfeited.) ***Past TARA Winners are eligible to enter a manuscript that has not previously won the TARA Award. Entry: All electronic. The first chapter, 4,000 words max (actual word count), including prologue, if applicable. *Word count will be verified. No part of a second or any additional chapters will be judged. End your entry on a hook, leaving your judges breathless with no more pages left to turn. If an entry finals, a synopsis of no more than 1,500 words is required to move on to the final round. ***All entries will be uploaded electronically via the TARA website. Submission must include the following:
Contest entry form and waiver: Each submission must include an original Contest entry form and waiver. The contest entry form and waiver are available on the TARA website. E-Mail questions to: TARAContest@tararwa.com or TARAContest@gmail.com Submission format:
***All entries will be uploaded electronically via the TARA website. Number of Entries: TARA reserves the right to not accept additional entries if a maximum number of 200 entries are met or at their discretion. TARA also reserves the right to eliminate a category if there aren't sufficient entries in the category. Judging: Judges: trained/experienced, published. Judging is based on the Diederich scale in the first round for a possible maximum score of 50 points. Individual judges are encouraged to make written comments directly on the manuscript and the score sheets. The degree and depth of the critique provided is at the discretion of the individual judge. A minimum of 2 judges read and score each entry. Judges will be either published authors or TARA-trained and certified judges. Note: All judging is confidential. The Category Coordinators will not reveal the names of the judges. Finalists: The top 3 finalists in each category are determined by averaging each entrants' scores and will be notified by the last week of June 2012 or the first week in July 2012. To be considered a finalist, an entry must have a minimum average score of at least 40 points. If there are no average scores of 40 or above in a particular category, TARA reserves the right to select no finalists in that category. All finalists will have an allotted amount of time (approximately 1 week) to review judges' critiques and make changes to her/his manuscript before it goes to the final-round judge. Note: Per the request of our editor judges, all finalist must submit a synopsis (up to 1500 words max) via email. The finalists may also submit a revised version of their finalling manuscript. The synopsis and the revised manuscript (or the original manuscript on file, if the entrant does not revise) will be sent to the editor judge. ANY FINALIST WHO DOES NOT SUBMIT A SYNOPSIS IN THE FINAL ROUND WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. Prizes: Editor judges rank the top 3 entries in her/his respective categories. Top prize: Sterling silver TARA pendant. All finalists receive certificates. Winners are announced in the Romance Writers Report. Approximate date of winner notification is September 30, 2012. Failure to Comply: Any entry failing to comply with the rules as stated herein will be disqualified and entry fee forfeited. No fees will be refunded on the basis of disqualification or withdrawal. The TARA Contest Chair reserves the right to return any entry that does not comply with contest rules.
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