The Royal Ascot Contest

2013 ROYAL ASCOT

The Royal Ascot Contest promotes Regency Romances by recognizing as-yet unpublished authors who set stories in the Regency Period. All entries must have at least partial Regency (Late Georgian) setting, broadly defined: within the United Kingdom and between the years 1780 and 1840.

The 2012 Royal Ascot resulted in 12 requests for more material, of which 8 were requests for full manuscripts!

CATEGORIES & JUDGES

Categories will be used to determine first round judges only. Categories are:

Regency Historical (longer Regency or Mainstream Regency-set)
Hot Regency (Very sensual to Erotic, including ménage and m/m)
Wild Regency (Paranormal, Time Travel, other similar Regency)
Sweet & Mild Regency (Traditional, Inspirational, Young Adult or other without explicit sex)

First Round Judges: Three judges, at least one published in Regency Romance.  Lowest score will be dropped.  However, in the event of a tie, the third score will determine which entry moves on to the final round. Six finalists will be determined based on highest score.

Final Round Judges:
Agents
Elaine Spencer, Knight Agency
Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon
Diana Fox, Fox Literary

Editors
Linda Kichline, ImaJinn
Laura Fazio, NAL
Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks

Six finalists will be sent to a panel of final round judges, all agents and editors. The final round judges will rank each of the six finalists from 1st place to 6th place. The total of all the rankings will be added and the entry ranked closest to #1 wins the $100 grand prize. No other rankings will be given, however each finalist will receive a $25 cash prize. The entrants will receive their final score, but information regarding which judges gave which score will not be given.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Opens for Entries February 1st, 2013
• Wednesday April 17th, 2013, midnight PDT: Deadline for all parts of entry
• Finalists Announced May 26, 2013
• Winner(s) will be announced at The Beau Monde Conference on July 17, 2013

ELIGIBILITY

• Open to unpublished authors and authors who have not been contracted in book length fiction by RWA PAN definition in the last 5 years.
• All entries must have at least partial Regency (Late Georgian) setting, broadly defined: within the United Kingdom between 1780 and 1840.

PRIZES

• $100.00 and a certificate for Grand Prize Winner
• $25.00 and a certificate for all Finalists
• Grand Prize Winner and Finalists will be featured in all publicity.

FEES

• $25 for Beau Monde Members for the first entry.
• $30 for Non Beau Monde Members for the first entry.
• $20 for subsequent entries. Multiple submissions welcome provided separate entry form and fee accompanies each.
• Checks should be made payable to The Beau Monde.
• Entrants may also may use MyRWA.
• Entries from outside the United States please use electronic payment or pay by International Postal Money Order.
• Checks and money orders can be sent to the Beau Monde Treasurer:

The Beau Monde
c/o Karen Dobbins
23920 SE 277th Pl
Maple Valley, WA 98038

MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING

• Beginning of manuscript. Maximum 7000 words in the text of manuscript. Please note we are looking for openings that would normally be about 1 to 2 chapters long, with or without prologue. No page count this year, but please double space with 12 point Courier or Times New Roman font. Entries must be electronic only. No paper entries.
• Times New Roman 12pt Font or Courier 12pt may be used.
• Standard manuscript formatting of 1″ margins.
• Double-spaced (No more than 25-lines per page)
• Headers: Category on the left side of the header and Title and page numbers on the right.
• Your name should not be anywhere on the entry.
• Save all entries as .rtf or .doc files.

HOW TO SUBMIT

• Fill out the application form once for each entry. Attach your manuscript as .rtf or .doc file fomat.
• You may put a message to the coordinator in the message box.
• You will be sent a copy of your submission. Please email royalascot2013@gmail.com if you do not receive a copy of your entry (but check your spam box first).
• Payment may be made by check, money order, PayPal (please use this email address for PayPal payment: treasurer@thebeaumonde.com), or MyRWA. Any checks or money orders must arrive by the contest deadline.

CONTACT

If you have any questions or need help with your entry, please feel free to contact the contest coordinators at royalascot2013@gmail.com.