RESOURCES: CONTEST & AWARDS
See below for a list of contests that include published & unpublished romance categories.
| CONTEST | ENTRY TIME | GENRE(S) | WEBSITE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgar Award | monthly (for each previous month of published works) | published mystery | https://edgarawards.com/ |
| Booksellers Best | January | published romance | https://www.gdrw.org/our-contest |
| The Encore Award | January | published second novels only | https://rsliterature.org/the-encore-award/ |
| Eric Hoffer Book Award | January | published indie, university, and small/micro presses | http://www.hofferaward.com/ |
| Forward INDIES Book of the Year | January | published indie and small press published fiction | https://publishers.forewordreviews.com/awards/ |
| Orwell Prize | November – January | published fiction & non-fiction political | https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-prizes/ |
| Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers Choice Awards | January *only for books reviewed by PRG reviewers the prev year | published paranormal romance | https://paranormalromanceguild.com/prg-reviewers-choice-awards/ |
| PRISM | January | published paranormal, scifi, fantasy romance | https://ffprwa.com/contests/prism-contest/ |
| SPUR Awards | August – January | published (must be submitted in print) American West/frontier *including romance category | https://westernwriters.org/spur-awards/ |
| Autumn House Fiction Prize | February | unpublished fiction | https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/fiction/ |
| Carol Awards | February | published Christian fiction | https://acfw.com/acfw-contests/carol-awards/ |
| IndieReader Discovery Awards | February | published indie, hybrid, or small press published fiction and non-fiction | https://indiereader.com/the-discovery-awards/ |
| SFWA Nebula Awards | February | published science fiction, fantasy, or a related fiction genre | https://nebulas.sfwa.org/ |
| Next Generation Indie Book Awards | February | published indie and independent press published fiction and non-fiction in 80 categories including romance | https://www.indiebookawards.com/ |
| Passionate Plume Awards | February | published erotic/ertoica romance | https://passionateink.org/about-contests/ |
| The Booker Prize | March | published (UK only) fiction *only publishers can submit | https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-prize |
| The Christy Award | March | published Christian fiction | https://www.christyawards.com/ |
| IPPY Awards | March | published indie only several genres *romance category included | https://ippyawards.com/ |
| National Indie Excellence Awards | August-March | published print only indie authors / indie publishers / small and medium presses / university presses several categories | https://www.indieexcellence.com/ |
| Rubery Book Awards | March | published indie author / small press several categories | https://www.ruberybookaward.com/ |
| Shirley Jackson Award | March | published horror | https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/ |
| Stiletto Contest | March | published & unpublished contemporary romance | https://contemporaryromance.org/2022-stiletto-contest/ |
| Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards | March | self-published separate print and ebook contests several genres | https://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions |
| Locus Awards | April | published science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative, surreal, slipstream, crossed genres, similarly themed YA, art books, and related nonfiction | https://locusmag.com/aboutlocusonline/submission-guidelines/ |
| PEN Open Book Awards | April | published BIPOC authors | https://pen.org/literary-award/pen-open-book-award-5000/ |
| National Book Awards | March-May | published 5 categories; fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translated literature, young people’s literature | https://www.nationalbook.org/national-book-awards/ |
| RONE Awards | May *voting in May, books selected from those reviewed by InD’Tale | published romance | https://indtale.com/rone-eligibility-and-rules |
| RSJ Aspiring Author Contest | May | unpublished romance | https://rsjconvention.com/aspiring-author-contest-enter-now-promoting-diversity-in-literature/ |
| RSJ EMMA Awards | May | published romance | https://rsjconvention.com/emma-awards-romance-books-promoting-diversity-in-literature-2/ |
| Golden Leaf | June | published romance | https://www.njromancewriters.org/contests.html |
| On the Far Side | June | unpublished paranormal, scifi, fantasy romance | https://ffprwa.com/contests/on-the-far-side-contest/ |
| Put Your Heart in a Book | June | unpublished romance | https://www.njromancewriters.org/contests.html |
| Romantic Novel Awards | June | published romance | https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/awards/ |
| CWA Daggers | July; November (2 submission periods) | published crime | https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers |
| Pulitzer Prize | May-July | published categories including genre fiction | https://bdmentrysite.pulitzer.org/ |
| Women’s Prize for Fiction | August | published (UK only) women authors only *only publishers can submit | https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/ |
| The Emily | September | unpublished romance | https://leagueromwriters.com/theemily/ |
| National Jewish Book Awards | September | published Jewish literature – multiple genres | https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/awards/national-jewish-book-awards |
| The Neilsen Prize | September | unpublished (first novel only) fiction | http://www.semopress.com/events/nilsen-prize/ |
| The PEN/Faulkner Award | June-September | published fiction several genres *only publishers/literary agents can submit | https://www.penfaulkner.org/our-awards/pen-faulkner-award/ |
| NAACP Literary Image Award | October | published 9 literary categories BIPOC authors | https://naacpimageawards.net/ |
| The Bram Stoker Awards | November | published horror | http://www.thebramstokerawards.com/ |
| LAMBDA Literary Awards | September – November | published lgbtq+ stories *romance category included | https://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/ |
| The Swoon Awards (Swoonies) | November *nomination process, rather than entry process | published romance | https://www.theswoonawards.com/ |
| Goodreads Choice Awards | November *no submission, voting starts in Nov | published all genres *romance category included | https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/ |
| Coretta Scott King Book Awards | December | published inspirational and educational BIPOC authors | https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/coretta-scott-king-book-awards |
| Newberry Medal | December | published (indie or traditional) children’s books (up to age 14) | http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal |
| #ReadRChatAwards | ? hosted on twitter | published all genres | https://twitter.com/hashtag/readrchatawards |
Texas Romance Writers 