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Boosting Morale: Week 46, #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

Simply Romance Posted on by

Boosting an author’s morale

So, technically, the topic for this week’s MFRW Author Blog Challenge and Hop is “Let me brag for a minute”.  I decided to share with you a couple of my writing contest successes and near misses.
Fabulous Five

Before I turned to Regency romance, I did my best to hone my skills in contemporary romance. The Fab Five was my first contest win, and it gave a huge boost to my morale.

I’ve never had confidence in the feedback from critique groups, especially ones where the members are perennially unpublished. So before I was published, I depended a lot on contests for feedback.

Subjectivity

Even contest feedback can be confusing, right? One or two judges will you give you a high score, and one will give you just above a zero. Author and writing teacher Shannon Donnelly has a very wise explanation for this: the stronger your writing voice, the sharper the reaction from contest judges, both good and bad. So, if you have both very high scores and very low scores, your voice is strong, and it’s time to submit.

Recognizing the subjectivity inherent in this business has been a great blessing.

Book Buyers Best

With no bites from trad publishers on any of my contemporary romances, I decided to go out on a limb and write a short novella in response to a call for submissions from Avon Impulse. They wanted a 20k word historical-set holiday novella with a ring in it, any kind of ring. Since I write long, this was an excellent exercise for me.

I decided that, since I like to read Regency romances, I would write a story set in that historical period. Avon didn’t buy it, but one of my RWA chapter mates encouraged me to submit it to other publishers. I did so and had my first sale!

Rosalyn’s Ring went on to win the Book Buyers Best contest in the novella category.

Near Misses

Subsequent books have come close to contest wins: an honorable mention in the RONE Awards for Bella’s Band, finals in the National Readers’ Choice award for Liliana’s Letter and The Marquess and the Midwife.

And a Hit

The Marquess and the Midwife helped me reach a lot more readers who went on to buy my other books. It’s my bestselling story so far, and that, in my opinion, is better than any contest win, and a huge boost to my morale.

Every story I write challenges my confidence, so I’m grateful for the positive feedback and “bragging rights” I received.

Let’s see what my fellow MFRW authors have to say on this topic.

Photos are the authors

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Comments

Boosting Morale: Week 46, #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge — 20 Comments

  1. Loved your post. A boost in morale is a great thing to have. This week has been rough for me.

    I’ve not done contests yet, but I’m starting to consider it. I recently joined RWA and will be joining my local chapter as well. One of the ladies in my reading group is big on contests and has peaked my interest in them.

    Congrats on your wins and best of luck in any future contests.

    • The best contests, IMO are the ones that give feedback. It’s nice to know the reasoning behind a low score. Most of those are for unpubbed authors though!

  3. Congratulations on your successes and on your near-misses. I agree that they all lead to improvement I sold my first romance as the result of an RWA chapter contest, so I’m a believer 🙂

  7. Interesting comment about high/low scores. And I would consider those near-misses as successes. It’s quite an accomplishment to even get a honorable mention in a Rone

    • Yes, another chapter mate who finaled in the RITAs said that being a finalist is just as good as winning.

    • Yay! I’m always happy if I can give a fellow author hope. This is such a crazy, subjective business, it’s really a struggle to build confidence. I wish you great success with your writing, Raine.

  10. Congratulations on your success! I’ve only entered one contest, and made it to the 2nd round, but not the final. That’s when I realized my book didn’t really fit the criteria…..but at least it got me a little further than I expected!

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