Clendon Award
AKA “Finish The Damn Book!!”
for a completed Romance Manuscript
Sponsored by Barbara & Peter Clendon in conjunction with RWNZ
Final judging for Clendon Award
Mary-Theresa Hussey – Executive Editor
A First Prize of a perpetual Trophy (with miniature) and $100.00 cash.
Certificate and Book Basket for First, Second and Third placed manuscripts.
The 2012 Clendon Award competition co-ordinator is Tyree Connor
Entry Fee: $55 per entry
Send entries to:T Connor, Clendon Award,
110 Tainui Rd, RD5, Morrinsville 3375, New Zealand
It’s the only contest we know where your whole book is judged by every judge … and depending on how far you get in the contest, that could be up to eight judges (minimum three). What’s more, all judges are romance readers, not writers – a network of readers lead by Barbara and Peter Clendon, the inventors and wonderful sponsors of the Clendon Award.
The Clendon Award is open only to paid-up members of RWNZ (if you have friends who’d like to enter, now’s the time for them to join!). Entrants must be unpublished, uncontracted and unaccepted for print publication or e-publication at the closing date of the competition. Published short stories up to 30,000 words, non-fiction publications, or a fiction publication more than five years previous will not affect eligibility.
So, what do you need to do?
- Write your book – yes, the whole thing! We suggest you finish it by February, to give yourself a chance to polish it to publishable standard.
- Look out for the entry form in this issue of Heart to Heart, and available on www.romancewriters.co.nz website.
- Send in your manuscript (three copies), your entry form and your $55 entry fee by the deadline of Friday, 30th March 2012. Refer to the entry form for further details.
Why enter the Clendon Award?
Apart from the fantastic motivation to FINISH THE DAMN BOOK – check out how many authors have sold their first book as a direct result or soon after winning the Clendon: Sophia James, Frances Housden, Helen Kirkman, Bronwyn Jameson, Melissa James, Yvonne Lindsay, Karina Bliss, Abby Gaines – last year’s winner Rebecca Skrabl…
The feedback you’ll receive from real readers is unique. Because your whole book gets read, it’s not instant death if first chapters don’t happen to be your strong point (though we strongly advise you to write the best first chapter you can, of course!)
Your story can be any kind of romance: historical, contemporary, paranormal, young adult, suspense etc. For the purpose of the contest, “romance” is defined as a fictional story which has the development and resolution of a romance between a male and a female as the primary motivation of the plot. A happy ending is mandatory!! Entries deemed “not a romance” will be disqualified, so do make sure your story contains a strong romance.
Unsure which is your best work? You can enter up to three manuscripts in the contest. Manuscript length must fall between 45,000 and 110,000 words.
The finalist entries – at least three of them – will be sent to Mary-Theresa Hussey, Executive Editor at Harlequin in New York for final judging.
In addition to the wonderful chance to have your book read by an editor, the winner will be awarded the coveted Clendon trophy for a year – which brings with it UNLIMITED kudos as the Clendon Winner!
(Based on 2010 Clendon Announcement)
So get those manuscripts polished and send them to Tyree Connor, this year’s Clendon Coordinator. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact her email
Huge thanks to Barbara and Peter Clendon for their vision, passion and on-going incredible support of the Clendon Award – you both ROCK!!