We’ve started receiving a number of great entries in the First Chapters Romance Writing Competition, and we’re looking forward to the voting round!
In addition to entries, we’ve also gotten questions regarding what’s involved in the submission process. To make things as easy as possible, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide for how to enter your novel in the Competition. Read on!
Step #1: Join Gather.com and the First Chapters Romance Group
- Click the “Join today-it’s FREE” button at www.gather.com
- Follow the instructions until you have registered
- Visit http://romancenovel.gather.com
- Click “Join This Group”
Step #2: Post the first chapter of your novel as an article in the First Chapters Romance Writing Competition group (do not post your second chapter at this time)
- On the top navigation bar, click "Publish"
- Click "Publish an Article"
- Enter your book title: “Book Title – Chapter 1”
- Type or copy/paste your first chapter (2,000-5,000 words) in the body of the page.
- In the “Tags” field, type “romance” (you can include other tags if you want, but romance has to be in there, separated from any other words by a comma).
- Click "Continue”
- Under “Who can view my article,” select “Everyone” and "First Chapters Romance Writing Competition." DO NOT select any other groups
- Click "Publish"
- The next page should show your article. Copy the URL that's in the search bar (should be something like http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=XXXXXXXX)
Step #3: Send an email to romancenovel@gatherinc.com that includes the following:
- An attachment containing your completed manuscript, (make sure your manuscript is 100,000 words or less).
- An attachment containing just the first 2 chapters of your novel.
- In the body of the email, include the following information:
- Your name (first, last)
- Email address
- Phone number
- Manuscript title
- Manuscript word count
- Gather.com username
- A hyperlink to your article URL on Gather.com (paste the URL you copied after publishing your article)
- Send the email to romancenovel@gatherinc.com
If you have any trouble following these instructions, email support@gather.com. Remember – the deadline to submit your entry is August 22. Good luck!
Competition Announcement
Eligibility & Submission Guidelines
Official Rules & Regulations
Competition Frequently Asked Questions
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 86
Bon
At the rate we're currently going, we should definitely have over 200 submissions. Thanks!
Thanks!
There will not be a universal place to read all of the submissions until August 27, when the reading/voting period begins. For now, you would have to know the author's name or be connected to them to find their work. Thanks for the great question!
<<<<
Thanks, Kristen! One more question and I promise to hush!! When people DO start voting, will they be able to vote at either place--at the central location OR on our home page? ??? They won't have to vote at two places for the same author for the chapter one vote, will they? I'm trying to make a instruction sheet for a few friends and can't figure out the best place to send peeps to read & hopefully vote after August 27. THANKS!
I would just like to ask, when submitting full manuscript is that to include the synopsis and bio, and the intro and dedication. And, thank you for your most humble support!
I'm in the queue with everyone else--patiently waiting for an email confirmation that you received my manuscript and chapters. I emailed them on Tuesday, August 7th.
Thanks!
Gather is in the process of moving offices, so I apologize to those of you who haven't received your email regarding the receipt of your manuscript. We will email folks tomorrow (Tuesday) to confirm receipt - in the meantime, please sit tight. Thank you!
Regarding your question about where to vote, there is only one real page for your chapter, which is the link you emailed to us. Even though you can access that page from multiple places (your namespace page, plus the link we'll be posting), everyone will be directed to the same place for voting. Thank you!
Only authors with a full, completed manuscript are eligible to enter this contest. If you will not have a complete manuscript by August 22, then you may not compete. You are welcome to participate in the voting, of course, which begins August 27. Thank you!
At this time, you do not need to submit a separate synopsis, bio or dedication. Thank you! Keep the questions coming!!
Thanks!
Laina
1. Does every chapter have to begin on a new page?
2. Is it better to have the chapter number centre aligned or left aligned?
3. If some text needs to be emphasized, what is the best way to do it – Italics or underline
4. Double space with one inch of indent in every paragraph – is it acceptable?
Liz, formerly from Montana has the voice of an angel! ( No I am not related- just love her singing!).
In the instructions, we are required to enter the tag "romance" for the competition entries.
Are other tags okay as well? I notice some entries have other tags and some do not.
In the First Chapters contest, it was hard to find entries after the first day; additional tags might help that.
The URL link is the web address where your article "lives" once you publish it. And yes, the First Chapters Romance group is moderated so that we can make all the entries live in the group at the same time to be as fair as possible. Thanks for your questions!
I also wanted to get some help on my query letter (it's my first) from other groups on Gather.com, but I don't want to break any rules for the competition.
The official rules say to post your title as
Title- First Chapter
This post says to post your title as
Title- Chapter 1
Which way is it? Or does it matter?
Either way is fine - thank you!
Thanks!
Thanks - this is a great opportunity for writers.
We do expect to have more writing competitions in the future with publication as the prize, but that is all I can share with you at this time. Stay tuned!!
Hey Kristen - I emailed my manuscript and included all the requested info, but I mistakenly put my screen name "Mai V." in there instead of my gather.com username (the one I use to sign on with). I was a bit confused being new to gather. Anyway, I emailed back quickly and noted what my actual username is. Do you think that will be okay?
Thanks!
I, too, found formatting issues when I first tried to publish my first chapter. Key returns disappeared so that multiple quotes were all crammed together in one "paragraph" and font sizes changed randomly. Initially, I thought it was a problem at my end of the system but, with others noting similar problems ... is this just a glitch in the system that needs to be addressed or am I really as ditzy as I presently seem to be?
Thanks.
The good news is, we all seem to have gotten our first chapters uploaded and i'm sure we're all deeply grateful for such an astounding opportunity!
I am so discoraged and had sent my manuscript in three times cause of the URL and also my chapters. I also do not have the stars to get rated:( I have done something wrong. Pleasse someone help me here and I would be so grateful. I ahve been trying and I am about to give up:( I have sent emails and no repsonses back.
Josephine Edley
I'm not sure where the confusion stems from. If you go to your namespace, http://starwsh.gather.com/, you will see that your chapter is published twice. If you click into both articles, the rating stars are found at the end of your chapter, below where its says to print or email the message, and above the comments section. You have not done anything wrong, but you should delete one of your chapters so that anyone reading won't be confused. Keep whichever one is your most recent, and delete the other. Please let me know if you have any other questions - you can call me at 617-720-4000 x1070 if you need more help. Thanks!
I have traded emails with Tom Gerace's assistant, MaryAnne Flynn, because I also run a website (much smaller than Gather!) which is centered around the search for quality writing. When you're a member of litmocracy (www.litmocracy.com), you can post and read submissions from other members and indicate which submission is your favorite, second favorite, third, etc. This information is used to find submissions that are most favored. MaryAnne says it would be interesting to see how my method compares, and I agree! But to see that, you'd all have to come and post your chapters on my site too. This is your invitation :-).
Winning submissions are published in Literal Translations, which is printed quarterly. The next issue goes to print on 9/17. Contributing authors are paid 1 - 2 cents per word, and you can check out the site for details.
OK, so I am impatient ..
Let me know. Thanks!
Mai
PS: Other authors may want to check to see if any of your comments wen AWOL to the Image folder!
Thanks! Bon