The Laurie Contest

Good morning, everyone. I'm passing on the info for this contest -- Lynda

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The Smoky Mountain Romance Writers of Knoxville, TN proudly announce the
Laurie Contest for unpublished authors. Deadline February 29, 2008.
Participation is open to all unpublished authors not contracted in novel
length romantic fiction 40,000 words or more at the time of the contest deadline.
Previous finalists and winners may not re-enter the winning entry, even in
edited format. They may, however, enter another work.

Guidelines
• Send a title page, the first chapter (not to exceed twenty-five
(25) pages), and the synopsis (not to exceed five (5) pages) via e-mail as an
attachment, along with the entry form to the coordinator for the category you
are entering. The total number of submitted pages for chapter and synopsis is
not to exceed 30 pages. Do not “borrow” pages from the synopsis to add more
pages to the chapter.

• Use Microsoft Word format (.doc) or rich text format (.rtf).

• The title page should be a separate attachment and include the
manuscript title, author's name, address, e-mail, telephone phone number,
category, target publisher and line, and if the manuscript is complete (this is for
our information only).

• Each page of the manuscript shall have one inch margins, be double
spaced and have the title, category, and target line in the upper left hand
corner, and a page number in the upper right hand corner in the form of a
header. Do not put your name; you will be disqualified. Font face should be Times
New Roman 14 pt., Courier, or Courier New 12 pt. Not to exceed twenty-five (25)
lines per page. The margins, number of lines, font and size will be checked.
The first page of the manuscript shall begin 1/3 of the way down the page
(about 8-12 single spaced lines).

Deadlines
• The entry, entry form and fee must be received February 29, 2008

. NO EXCEPTIONS. Use the PayPal link on the webpage to pay the entry fee. If
you prefer to send a check or money order, please contact Deborah Brent at
LaurieContest@gmail.com

• Finalists will receive notification of the final round status by
approximately March 31, 2008.

• The winners will be announced the end of April or first of May
2008.

- Short and Long Contemporary Series (40,000 - 85,000 words)
- Historical (Includes Regency):
- Single Title Contemporary (90,000 - 110,000 words) (includes
romantic suspense and mainstream)
- Paranormal/Fantasy (Includes Sci-Fi, Time Travel, Fantasy, etc.)
- Manuscripts entered in the incorrect category will be
disqualified. Contact the contest coordinator if you are unsure of the category to enter.

Entry fees will not be refunded for disqualified manuscripts.
Authors may enter as many submissions as they like. Each submission must be
on a separate entry form and must be accompanied by a separate registration
fee. The same manuscript cannot be entered in more than one category.

CATEGORY COORDINATORS
Questions should be directed to Deborah Brent Submissions should be sent to
the attention of the following Category Coordinators at:
lauriecontest@gmail.com

- Short and Long Contemporary Series: Cheryl Hutton

- Historical (including Regency): Petrina Aubol

- Single Title Contemporary: Teresa Delaney

- Paranormal/Fantasy: Stacie Webb Keller

- Members Entries (All Categories): Deborah Brent

FINAL ROUND JUDGES
Historical – May Chen, Avon
Single Title – TBA
FF&P - Chris Keeslar, Dorchester
Short and Long contemporary – Keyren Gerlach, Harlequin

Judging & Scoring--Please Read

BE AWARE THAT THIS IS A TOUGH CONTEST. Judges are required to go through an
intensive judging workshop. Judges are encouraged to write positive and helpful
comments on the manuscripts and comment sheet. Remember all comments are
subjective. Three judges will read each entry. Judges are encouraged to be
constructive and positive. A detailed comment sheet is required to be filled out by
each judge and returned to the entrant. The top five manuscripts in each
category will go to the final round. The score for finaling is 80% of the total
score available. Only those that score 80% and above will go to the final round.

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