The results are back! At the end of last year I entered two competitions with my third complete manuscript. So... the results.
Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Competition. For this I only have the judges scores to determine how well my entry did. Five judges in all, three gave it a good score and the other two rated it lower. I would love to know what they liked and didn't like, but I have since learnt that it is a huge competition, so I'm pleased with the scores for a first entry.
Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Competition. This is the second year I have entered this competition. The judges read and score the first three chapters for round one then the top fifteen go on to round two. Last year I had a good score for round one, but didn't make it into round two. This year my entry made it into the top fifteen, which meant the whole manuscript was read again.
Not only did I get a score from this competition, but score sheets with judges comments, which are so useful, enabling me to see my strengths and weaknesses and look at my work with fresh eyes.
Since receiving this feedback and having attended Kate Walker's course in February I have been working on my recently completed fourth manuscript, trying to edit out potential problems. This will be my submission to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme, where it will be critiqued by a published author. These critiques and score sheets are brilliant and have certainly helped me to improve my writing.
So I'd just like to say a big thank you to all the judges and NWS readers.
