gateway to the best
2020 Winners
MORWA congratulates all entrants to the Gateway contest.
single title/
contemporary series/romantic suspense
Final round judge:
Rachel Gilmer, Editor, Sourcebooks
1st Place - Cloud Tide
by Jenny Devon
2nd Place - West Texas Heat
by Denise Huddle
3rd Place - Don’t Start Now
by Tara September
HISTORICAL
FINAL ROUND JUDGE:
MICHELE GRAJKOWSKI, AGENT, THREE SEAS LITERARY AGENCY
1st Place - The Brewery Bargain
by Esme Cooper
2nd Place - Baby and the Bank Robber
by Candace Lucas
3rd Place - The Captain’s Kidnapped Bride
by Abby Rice
Paranormal/
Fantasy/Time Travel/Alternate Reality
final round judge:
Amy Acosta, Editor, Entangled Publishing
1st Place - Star Crossed
by Geneva Fox
2nd Place - Kiss of Life and Death
by Elle McKay
3rd Place - Mind Crime by Elle Keen
WOMEN'S FICTION
FINAL ROUND JUDGE:
JOSETTE ARTHUR, EDITOR,
WILD ROSE PRESS
1st Place - All the After
by Vicki Volden
2nd Place - Lost and Found Heart
by Kate Lutter
3rd Place - A Safe Distance
by Bernadette Walsh
Grand Prize Winner: A Safe Distance by Bernadette Walsh
what is the gateway to the best?
A contest for unpublished and self-published authors
The annual Gateway to the Best contest is open to anyone not published since July 30, 2017 and self-published authors with any work that has not at any time been published
or self-published. MORWA will consider any work available for purchase online or in print at any time, up through the conclusion of the contest, to be published and ineligible.
You do not need to be a member of RWA® to enter this contest.
Open
to the public.
** All information on this web page is subject to the Official Rules of this contest.
View Official Rules
Gateway to the best categories
single title/
contemporary series/romantic suspense
Final round judge:
Rachel Gilmer, Editor, Sourcebooks
A novel set between 1950 and the present that primarily focuses on a romantic relationship overcoming conflicts to reach a satisfying romantic conclusion. A contemporary single title romance generally exceeds 70,000
words and is targeted for release as a stand-alone novel. A contemporary series romance generally has between 40,000 and 70,000 words and meets the requirements of existing publisher series, like the many Harlequin
series lines. Romantic Suspense must be a novel in which mystery, suspense, thriller, or action and adventure elements create or contribute to the main conflicts to be overcome in the satisfying resolution of
the romance.
Submit a Single Title
Contest Entry Now
historical
Final Round Judge:
Michele Grajkowski, Agent, Three Seas Literary Agency
A novel set in any time period prior to 1950 wherein the historically appropriate conflicts result in a satisfying resolution of the romance. Historical romances may use real historic locations or completely imaginary
historic locations (for example, a fictional island kingdom off England's coast), but they use minimal (if any) magical, paranormal, fantastic, or fictional scientific elements. For example, a ghost story set
in an otherwise historically and scientifically accurate Victorian England would be classified as an historical romance but a steampunk romance would not.
Submit a Historical
Contest Entry Now
Paranormal/
Fantasy/Time Travel/Alternate Reality
final round judge:
Amy Acosta, Editor, Entangled Publishing
A novel (taking place in an alternate reality present or past, fantasy, or futuristic setting) in which magical, paranormal, fantastical, or science fiction elements (such as preternatural characters, imaginary
creatures, magic powers, and fictional technology) create or contribute to the main conflicts to be overcome in the satisfying resolution of the romance.
Submit a Paranormal
Contest Entry Now
women's fiction
final round judge:
Josette Arthur, Editor,
Wild Rose Press
A novel (in any tone, style, or time period) told mostly, if not completely, from a female's point of view in which a woman's journey to understand her life or rediscover herself is the primary plot but where overcoming
or dealing with a romantic conflict is integral to the story's satisfying resolution.
Submit a Women's Fiction
Contest Entry Now
novella
Final round judge:
Lauren Blecher, Agent,
Fine Print Literary Management
A novella has a targeted word count of between 17.500 and 40,000 and can be in any category listed above. Please note that novellas also need to conform to the same romantic journey as listed in the book-length
categories for this contest.
Submit a Novella
Contest Entry Now
New/young adult
Final round judge:
Tia Mele, Agent,
Talcott Notch Literary Services
Novels about young adults, emphasizing their growth as they overcome conflict. The typical character is 15-21 years old and the plot may or may not include a romantic relationship. Good examples: Harry Potter, Twilight,
The Vampire Diaries. Completed word count of 60-90,000 words. Example target imprints: Harper, Teen Dial Group/Penguin, St. Martin's Press, Little, Brown.
Submit a New/Young Adult
Contest Entry Now
First round judges wanted
The Gateway to the Best is in need of first round judges. Judges should have an excellent grasp of romantic fiction writing craft including characterization, conflict, and plotting. Judges are not required to be published authors, but should have significant experience in writing and reading romantic fiction. Judges must be willing to read 4-6 entries in the contest categories (you are able to opt out of categories for which you're not familiar with the the reader expectations).
Books can be a powerful force for change. MORWA invites all writers willing to contribute their expertise to encourage, support, and celebrate the diverse voices of our fellow authors.
prizes
Grand Prize:
$100 cash
First, second, and third places are awarded in each category. See official rules for category winner prizes and judging calculation methods.
View Official Rules
schedule & deadlines
The Gateway to the Best contest will open for entry submission on August 10, 2020.
Entries must be RECEIVED not later than 11:59 pm CDT September 12, 2020.
First Round Finalists Announced on/about: November 2, 2020.
Final Judging Results Announced on/about: November 23, 2020.
judging criteria
Each entry will be judged by three experienced judges with the lowest of the three scores dropped from the final tabulations.
Judges will be encouraged to write comments on both the score sheet and manuscript.
View Judge's
Score Sheet
submission package
The Gateway to the Best Contest is an electronic format only contest. Please read the official rules prior to completing the submission process.
Manuscripts must be in Word .doc, .docx (preferred) or standard
.rtf (rich text format) only. We will reject entries that do not conform to one of these formats.
View Official Rules
here are some of our frequently asked questions
HOW DO YOU CHECK THE WORD COUNT I SUBMITTED?
We use the word count feature in our word processing software when we first review your manuscript.
We have found instances in which documents converted from Mac Pages to .docx format has increased the word
count between the two programs.
WHAT IF MY WORD COUNT IS OVER 7,000 WORDS?
Accidents happen. The contest or category coordinator has the option of contacting the author and asking for the submission file to be fixed, letting the manuscript pass on to the judges as is, modifying the manuscript
themselves, or refusing to accept the entry.
Please note that refusing the entry because of incorrect word count does not justify a refund of entry fees.
SHOULD I SEND A SYNOPSIS WITH MY MANUSCRIPT?
Please don't send a synopsis.
The Gateway to the Best contest asks our judges to look at your story the same way most readers do - by sitting down with the first 25 or so pages and reading them.
We
don't want the judge to be influenced by the story your synopsis reveals, but by the writing you provide them.
If you do include a synopsis, we will remove it from the file before forwarding your ms to the judges.
WHO JUDGES MY ENTRY?
First round judges are other published and unpublished authors from within MORWA and elsewhere.
When we ask for volunteers to help judge our contest, we look for people - like you - who read romance novels
first, and understand the craft of writing romantic fiction second.
In other words, you're reaching three people who like to read the kind of book you've written.
Final round judges are editors from print
and digital publishing houses who have graciously volunteered their time to read the top three scoring entries in each category.
WHAT IS MY ENTRY FEE USED FOR?
MORWA is a non-profit organization operating as a chapter affiliate of Romance Writers of America®.
The Gateway to the Best contest is our primary fundraiser that allows us to provide both our member services and
our special events that we open to the public.
Your entry also supports the administrative costs of running this contest.
DO I NEED TO WORRY ABOUT FORMATTING?
Yes, you do. At least a little.
Most publishing houses have guidelines on how they want your manuscript formatted. To get you used to that, and to ensure our judges receive standardized entries, we ask that
you follow the formatting guidelines in the contest's official rules.
If your entry is not formatted according to our rules, the category coordinator may return the submission for revision, or revise
the submission prior to forwarding the entry to the judges.
WHAT DOES AN "ALL-ELECTRONIC" CONTEST MEAN?
The Gateway contest was one of the first writing contests to go "all-electronic". We realized it was taking a lot of money to mail manuscripts around the country, so we chose to do everything via email several years
ago.
You'll fill out a web-based submission form and upload your manuscript file to a secure server and send your submission to us via e-mail. Payment may be made via PayPal or a check mailed to us. You'll
get at least one confirmation e-mail when your submission is received and often another when your payment is confirmed.
Judges will receive the manuscript and instructions via e-mail. Judges will
use a web-based scoring form and upload their commented manuscript, which is also stored on a secure server as well as e-mailed to the contest coordinators.
Results are e-mailed back to the entry author.
An
all-electronic contest has saved a lot of money and trees!
WHY SHOULD I ENTER THE GATEWAY TO THE BEST CONTEST?
There are usually two reasons to enter writing contests.
One is to catch the eye of an editor or agent judging in the contest with your entry in the hopes they'll like it and request a full or partial manuscript,
which will lead to publication, fame, and fortune.
The other reasons to enter contests like the Gateway to the Best is for feedback. For a small monetary investment, you will get feedback from at least
three people who've never read your work before. Your first round judges are readers who can give you honest, helpful opinions on what works or doesn't work in your story. Many judges often provide recommendations
on resources to help (books, websites, etc.) you strengthen your weak areas and capitalize on your strong areas. You get to choose which advice to to use in your writing.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW THE JUDGING WORKS?
Sure! In the first round, each manuscript is sent to three first round judges. We ask the judge to read and evaluate your manuscript against a standard score sheet.
We also ask judges to make comments
about what the author did well and suggestions for improvement both inside the manuscript and in the comments section of the score sheet.
The first round judges return the score sheet and commented manuscript
and we review the comments to make sure they're appropriate. Our goal is to give you constructive feedback to make your story the best it can be.
The grand prize winner is determined by adding up the three
judge's scores. The prize is awarded to the highest mathematical score in the entire contest, across all categories.
Category finalists are determined by adding the highest two scores (the lowest score
is dropped) and ranking the entries in each category for the highest three scores. The category finalists are sent to the final round judges.
We ask the final round judge to rank the entries first,
second, and third. Some final round judges will provide additional comments or request full or partial manuscripts for publishing consideration.
View the Gateway Judging
Score Sheet
IF YOU'VE READ THE OFFICIAL RULES, LOOKED OVER THE SCORE SHEET AND STILL HAVE QUESTIONS...
Send us a message!
