CONTEST
LABOR OF
LOVE
2007
For more information, contact
Kris Harding at
krisharding@cs.com
Click below for Forms
Rules and Entry Form
Sample Score Sheet
With a
fifty page maximum
for an entry, the Labor of Love Contest is one of the few contests that
allows you to get a critique of your first three chapters, which is what
you would submit to an agent or editor. Deadline is approaching,
so check out the requirements and entry form below. Also view our
sample score sheet for an understanding of the areas of importance that
will be ranked by our judges. We hope this contest will be helpful
to writers wishing to hone their chapters before submitting to agents,
editors or the Golden Heart Contest.
HeartLA is a small chapter and Labor of Love is a small contest
(we limit it to
50 entries.)
We see that as a positive thing. We give each entry our personal
attention. We are a diverse group of avid readers with interest in many
genres. We will read any type of commercial fiction, but our detailed
two-page score sheet is geared toward the romance genre -- historical,
contemporary, or paranormal (includes futuristic, time travel, ghosts,
angels, vampires, etc.) There is only one set of winners in the
contest; we ask the category simply to help us get your entry to
the correct judge.
Each entry is read by two judges
familiar with and interested in its type (we guarantee that your cowboy
love story will not be read by someone who absolutely hates cowboys.)
If there is too great a discrepancy between the two scores a third
judge will read the entry and the lowest of the three scores will be
dropped.
Top scoring entries go into a second round of judging where they will be
read and ranked by several published authors. The three highest scoring
entrants will receive beautiful wood and brass, engraved plaques. Other
finalists will be awarded certificates suitable for framing. The first
place winner also gets a reading of the full manuscript by
Kristin Nelson
of Nelson Literary Agency.
A number of our previous contest
winners have gone on to be published. While we claim no credit for the
success of these talented authors, we hope our thoughtful critiques were
helpful to them.
Below is the list of winners for some of our past Labor of Love contests.
2006
Labor
of Love
1st -- Fire at
Midnight / Lisa Marie Wilkinson
2nd -- The Prowler’s Daughter / Nancy E. Gibson
3rd -- A Life Worth Living / Lorrie Ann Kruse
4th -- And They Were One / Joy Smith
Honorable mentions:
Montana Sky at Dawn / Caroline Fyffe
Letters From Home / Kristina Y. McMorris
2005
Labor
of Love
1st -- Emma's
Heart / Melinda Porter
2nd -- Lethal Medicine / Victoria Wasserman
3rd -- Overlander / Gail Zerrade
4th -- Moment of Glory / Kelly Gottuso Mortimer
Honorable Mentions:
Cat Scratch Fever / Jodi Redford
There's Only Been You / Donna M. Kowalczyk
2004
Labor of Love
1st --
Playing to Winn / Lynn Mapp
2nd -- DeLinda's Plan / Toni Lea Andrews
3rd -- Burning Bridges / Kristine Anderson
4th -- Till Death Do Us Part / Beth Watson
Honorable Mentions:
By Jove! / Marissa Doyle
Tangled Web / Sharie Kohler
Secrets & Seduction / Elizabeth Stock
