What are the Golden Heart Awards?

RWA (Romance Writers of America) hosts the Golden Heart Contest as a show of support for the efforts of the thousands of unpublished members in their efforts and struggles along the way on the road to publication. The contest brings these completed manuscripts written by the unpublished members of RWA to the attention of the publishing community. It is done as a way to celebrate and give recognition to some of the excellent, unpublished writing.

I don’t have any statistics for the Golden Heart winners who have gone on to be published. But I plan to do a bit of research to find out so check back for updates.
Okay, so every year, about 1200  manuscripts are entered in the Golden Heart contest by unpublished members of the RWA. These yet-to-be-heard-of writers haven’t reached first sell status.

In the preliminary round, the manuscripts are read and judged by published members of RWA. The manuscripts are then narrowed down to a field of 100 finalists with the final round being judged by acquiring editors from different publishing houses which specialize in the romance genre.

 And the 2007 Golden Heart Winners are…..

Best Short Contemporary Romance Manuscript

Weekend Agreement by Barbara Tanner Wallace

Best Long Contemporary Romance Manuscript

All or Nothing by Beth Burgoon

Best Paranormal Romance Manuscript

Black Jack by Jennifer Stark

Best Inspirational Romance Manuscript

The Heart Beckons by Carla Hughes

Best Young Adult Romance Manuscript

Coven by Trish Milburn

Best Short Historical Romance Manuscript

The Lost Jewel by Debra Bess

Best Long Historical Romance Manuscript

Sager’s Passion by Elaine Levine

Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements Manuscript

According To Jane by Marilyn Weigel

Best Romantic Suspense Manuscript

Falling Into Darkness by Bronwyn Clarke

Best Contemporary Single Title Romance Manuscript

Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kawczynski

Tags: Golden Heart, RWA //