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Each year, RockWay Press, LLC holds annual creative writing contests, in all genres, for authors without agent representation or for authors who are not attempting to "pitch" their books to RockWay. No previous publication history is necessary to enter any of the contests, and you may have published books or chapbooks before. Previous publication of any parts of your manuscripts in national periodicals or literary journals is helpful but is not a prerequisite. Unpublished, up-represented (by agents), self-published, or self-publish-print-on-demand POD writers are especially encouraged to enter the contests. Self-published authors & self-published Print-on-Demand (POD) authors may send copies of their finished book in lieu of an unbound manuscript, but bear in mind that no entries will be returned, not even those sent in book format. All entries to the contest are destroyed afterward to protect the entrants from plagiarism. You need not include query letters with your entries, but you must address it to the appropriate editor, e.g., Graphic Novels, Poetry, or Novel; or Short Story, etc. Manuscripts for the Annual Writing Contests are accepted throughout the year, but they are held for reading until after the 31 December deadline.
Traditionally end-rhymed & metered poetry will not compete with free-verse; Christian works will not be compared to Buddhist works will not be compared to Jewish works will not be compared to Islamic works; satire will not be ranked against philosophical works; experimental literature will not be judged with traditional literature. Therefore, there would be Prizes awarded for each of those categories (and for any other which are not necessarily listed here). The same holds true for other categories as well. In Creative Non-Fiction, for instance, a True-Crime entry will not be judged or evaluated against a Humorous entry only against other True-Crime entries. That means there will, no doubt, be True-Crime Prizes, Humor Prizes, Creative Non-Fiction First Prizes (fitting into no particular classification). Just as Memoir entries, which are, in fact, creative non-fiction, are only evaluated against other memoirs, so it is with each type of writing within each individual category. In the future, True-Crime or Humor may be listed in separate categories, but at the present, rather than restrict entrants because they are unsure whether their manuscripts should go into category "A" or category "B", which are both falling under the larger grouping of Creative Non-Fiction, we have one general category and the editorial staff separates the entries into their more specific groups. In short, RockWay Press expects to award multiple prizes each larger, more general categories "Poetry," "Short Stories," "Creative Non-Fiction," "Novels," etc.
All entries should be at least 75 typed pages (Poetry manuscripts may be single-spaced, one poem to a page, one-side only). Include author BIO, table of contents (if applicable), title pages, & all previous publication credits with the manuscript. Submit your entry in unbound hard-copy printed on one side of the page only (self-published and POD authors may send a copy of the finished book in lieu of an unbound manuscript but bear in mind that no manuscripts, self-published, or self-published-POD books will be returned) to the appropriate editor and contest at RockWay Press, LLC's Postal Address.
No contest entries will be returned. At the conclusion of the contest, all hard copies (including self-published and self-published-print-on-demand [POD] books) and CD-ROMs will be shredded and appropriately discarded. Your work will not be seen by anyone except the editors at RockWay, so your private contact information and the creative presentation of your ideas will not be distributed in any way, shape, manner, or form. RockWay protects all its contestants from plagiarism in this way.
Comedy, humor, satire, and parody (some of the most difficult writing to do consistently well) is considered work by "serious" writers. "Serious writers" are those are dedicated to their craft and to constantly improving it, writers who are disciplined and can meet manuscript deadlines, writers who are willing to make the complex and demanding transition from "writer" to "author" (there's even more work to do after a book is accepted for publication), writers who are serious about being professionals, writers whom we'll be proud to have representing RockWay Press, LLC. So, please, if you're a serious writer and you're funny, send us a manuscript. We love to laugh, too.
An author may submit as many entries as he wishes, in as many different genres as he wishes, but each manuscript must be sent individually, in its own envelope/box, for distribution to the judges/readers.
No Fed Ex, UPS, Certified, Return Receipts, or other mail services which require signatures, please. The first two companies do not deliver to PO boxes, and the Post Mistress in Cerrillos returns other items without notification to RWP. No electronic (e-mail) submissions except by special permission from the publisher and pre-authorization for writers residing outside the USA only.
However, if your manuscript is chosen for publication in another contest, we require you to notify us immediately -- in writing -- so that we may withdraw your manuscript from our competition. If your manuscript is chosen for representation by an agent or by another type of author's representative (such as an attorney), we require you to notify us immediately -- in writing. The manuscript will be withdrawn from the competition so that your agent may sell it. If you already have agent representation, you may enter the contest so long as you realize that, should your manuscript be chosen as a winner to be published by RockWay Press, LLC, no contract negotiations will be made -- with or without an agent or other author's representative -- since it is one of RockWay's founding principles that all authors, no matter their reputations or publication histories, are treated equally. Therefore, you and your agent should read the contract before you enter your manuscript into the contest because if your manuscript is chosen as one of the winners, that is the contract you will receive, without any changes. All authors at RockWay Press, LLC receive exactly the same publishing contract. If you wish to give your agent or representative his contracted portion of your royalties for any RockWay Press, LLC book, that is to be decided between you and your representative. There is a place in the contract for the author to provide RockWay with his representative's address and tax identification information. When that section of the contract is filled in, all monies due to the author will be sent to his duly appointed representative. For more information, you may review a copy of our book contract. If your manuscript is chosen for publication by another publishing house, we require you to notify us immediately -- in writing -- so that we may withdraw your manuscript from our competition.
Please do not send SASEs or call our offices for the list of winners. Check the website after 1 April of the following calendar year.
Send us an E-mail or give us a call, toll-free in the USA (all 50 states) at 1-866-473-9011, or, outside the US, at 505-473-9011.
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RockWay Press LLC If Maxwell Perkins were alive, he'd want to work here.™ |
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DUE TO THE CURRENT ECONOMIC RECESSION/DEPRESSION, RWP IS SUSPENDING ITS ANNUAL COMPETITION, ITS OUT-OF-PRINT SERIES SUBMISSIONS, AND IS NOT ACCEPTING QUERIES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE (2010) OUR BOOKS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE IN BOOKSTORES AND ONLINE EVERYWHERE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITIONS IN ALL GENRES No Entry or Reading Fees
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