Entry Rules and Guidelines

Eligibility for Entries

Romance Requirement

  • Stories in this contest must be categorized as romance. Which means they need to have a HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN (Happy For Now) ending.
  • The only exception to this rule is if the story is part of an ongoing series. Authors are required to disclose whether their entry is part of a series and must confirm that their series will include a HEA or HFN resolution at the completion of the series.

Eligibility for Entries

  • Books must have a publication date between May 2023-April 2024.
  • The book has been professionally edited.
  • Entries can be traditionally or independently published.
  • The contest is open internationally, with the exception of the Canadian category, which is for Canadian authors and Canadian judges only.
  • Bookstagrammers judging the contest can enter the contest but they CAN NOT enter the category they are judging.
  • Entries must be between 40,000-130,000 words.
  • Entries CAN be re-releases, but there needs to be a publisher change and/or significant manuscript changes to be considered.
  • If a category does not acquire enough entries it will either be cancelled or combined with another category.
  • Entry forms must be submitted by April 13th.
  • Entries must have fees paid by April 27th 2024.
  • Entry ebook files must be submitted by April 27th 2024.

Can an entry be considered for more than one category?

Due to this being the first year, and the amount of judges, we will only be accepting one entry per author, no second category entries.

Can an author enter more than one story?

Due to this being the first year, and the amount of judges, we will only be accepting one entry per author.

How many times will an entry be read?

This will depend on the number of judges in each category. Entries will be read and scored by a minimum of 3 judges.

Will authors get to see the judges scores for their entry?

Yes. The judges names will remain anonymous, but authors will have the chance to see what their scores were.

Please Note:

If fees are not paid by the deadline your submission is disqualified.