BEHIND THE SCENES: Organising the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards

After a fabulous evening spent at the recent Romantic Novel of the Year event we began to wonder how such talented authors became part of the short list and what was involved in the judging system.

We spoke to the four ladies who know about such things.

Pam Fudge (PF) is the outgoing organiser of the Romantic Novel of the Year and Nicola Cornick (NC) is the incoming organiser.
Chris Stovell (CS) is the outgoing RoNA Rose organiser with Tracy Hartshorn (TH) the new organiser.

Thank you, ladies for finding times in you busy schedules to answer our questions. Apologies for there being so many. It is an interesting subject that many of our members will be interested in reading.

What is the difference between the RoNA’s and the RoNA Rose?

CS: The RoNA Rose Award celebrates shorter/category fiction, for example Harlequin Mills & Boon or My Weekly Pocket Novels.  Entries may be modern, period or historical but the main focus must be on the central romantic relationship.  There is a minimum word length of 30,000 words.

PF: The categories for the RoNA’s are:

Romantic Comedy for romantic novels that are humorous or amusing
Contemporary for romantic novels set after 1960
Epic for romantic novels containing for grittier fiction including sagas/multi-generational
Historical for romantic novels set in a period before 1960
Young Adult for romantic novels where the main characters are teenagers/young adults.

It is the publishers who decide which category each book is entered for not the organiser – unless the book is entered by the author, in which case the author will decide

 Who reads the books during judging?

 PF: Each book is sent out to three readers. The readers are volunteers and members of the general public, not members of the RNA. Shortlisted books are read by RNA members who have no vested interest in that category or book. The winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year is then selected from the category winners by an independent panel of judges.

CS: A gallant and very hard-working panel of voluntary readers, spanning a variety of age groups and occupations, who do not belong to the Romantic Novelist’s Association

NC: The books go out initially to a reading panel. Three independent judges read and score each book. Those books that are awarded the highest scores then go through to the fourth round judging before the final judges make their choice of the Romantic Novel of the Year.

Can anyone apply to be a reader?

 PF: Anyone can apply to be a reader – as long as they do not belong to the RNA and they reside in the UK (because of the cost of postage)

TH: Readers can be from any walk of life, but they cannot be members of the RNA. This ensures there’s no bias towards RNA members who enter.

 NC: We welcome applications from anyone who reads and enjoys romantic fiction and can undertake to read the books within six weeks and exercise unbiased judgement. That said, members of the RNA cannot be readers in order to avoid any suggestion of a conflict of interest. It’s important that the whole process is seen to be fair and we pride ourselves on the rigorous nature of the judging. There is a reader application form here, for anyone who would be interested in joining the team:

http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/awards/romantic_novel_of_the_year

 How many readers are there?

 PF: I was dealing with the RoNA books and I had a list of 100 readers

NC: I currently have over ninety readers standing by!

CS: For the 2014 RoNA Rose Award there were initially 21 readers, a good number, but bear in mind that these are unpaid volunteers with busy lives and differing tastes. One of my readers, for example, had been recently bereaved and requested not to be sent stories with medical themes. Some readers prefer historical novels, others contemporary. It was very important to me to be sensitive to the readers whilst doing my utmost to make sure that all entrants were judged on a fair and level basis.

Do you receive many entries?

PF: During my year I received 156 entries and, in spite of the work load, it was encouraging to see so many published books when authors are constantly told that books aren’t getting published!

CS: After a slow start, a total of 49 entries was received from 24 authors.  Many entries were not submitted until the last weeks of the competition.  Some were late because authors were waiting for copies, but, in some cases, authors needed a little encouragement to enter!

NC: I’m waiting to see! As this is my first year organising the RoNA it’s all a new experience for me, but as it’s such a well-known and prestigious award I’m prepared for a lot of interest in it.

How many times is each book read?

TH: In the first instance, the books are read by three readers. Then if a book is shortlisted, it goes to a fourth reader.

PF: The category winning books are read by a panel of independent judges who decide the overall winner of Romantic Novel of The Year

How many copies of each book does the entrant submit?

TH: They have to submit four copies of their books.

PF: The entrant – usually the publisher but sometimes the author – submits the four copies of each book

How do you cope with your home and writing life while juggling entries and arranging readers?

CS: Most of the time it was fine, but the volume of late entries meant that some readers were disappointed not to have books for their summer holidays, others were busy in September starting courses or otherwise occupied once their children returned to school. This did require some juggling and meant that organising the RONA Rose took first priority over everything else.

TH: It’s my first year organising the competition (though I was scorekeeper last year), so I’m still learning how to do this, but so far it’s going okay. I try and put by half an hour to an hour a day to deal with RoNA Rose admin, but I expect that time to rise when I have to start posting out books to readers and collating scores. Like with all things, this will be much busier towards the end, as last minute entries are coming in and we’re chasing up readers for scores.

PF: Luckily I live alone and I’m my own boss. During the busiest time – which was pretty much June through to December – my dining room was full of boxes of books. When I was actually sending books out to readers – which was constantly - my dining table was lined with piles of books all in their specific categories. There were two of us packing five books per parcel, each book was sent together with the appropriate score sheet. We worked from check sheets to ensure there were no mistakes made. I gave up trying to write at all during the busy months!

Also, I live on the coast of west Wales, a pretty far-flung part of the world, so the nearest post office is a car drive away and attending RNA committee meetings means a minimum of two, sometimes three days away from home because of the constraints of public transport here. However, I’d taken this into consideration before accepting the role and I wanted to give a bit back to the RNA.

NC: I’ve tried to be as organised in advance as I can be, setting aside time each day to deal with emails from readers and publishers, answer all the queries and do the paperwork. It reminds me of my time as NWS Organiser when I almost disappeared under a huge pile of manuscripts, only this time it’s a pile of books! Still, there are worse ways to go…

Are there times you wished you’d taken up knitting instead of organising such a prestigious competition?

PF: It was a steep learning curve and I really had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I took on the role of RoNA Organiser. The scale of work involved is huge and it is a massive responsibility. Luckily I was used to working with spreadsheets and that made life easier when it came to keeping track of the books coming in and going out, plus the scores. It takes over your life. However I did enjoy the contact with authors, publishers and readers.

 TH: There were certainly times when I was doing the scorekeeping last year that I wished I’d taken up knitting. The problem is getting people to do what you need them to do in the time you need them to do it. We appreciate that everyone is very busy, but becoming a reader is a big commitment, so I would suggest that anyone wanting to be a reader for the competitions makes sure they have the time and energy to devote to the competition. We’ve had people agree to read then say ‘But I’m going on holiday for (whatever time frame we needed to get the books back in!)’

CS: I had a few sleepless nights because I took my role as RoNA Rose Organiser very seriously and didn’t want to let anyone down

NC: I haven’t got to that stage yet but I have a sneaking suspicion it will have its stressful moments!

 How do you manage to work on your own novels whilst liaising between entrants and readers?

 PF: I actually stopped working on the book I was writing because it became impossible to get into any sort of routine because you never knew when books were going to arrive or how many. I got to know the postman and various delivery drivers by name!

 TH: It takes some discipline, but it is doable. The trick is to give yourself permission to wait to deal with the comp entries, and do your own writing first. At least that’s how I’m doing it this time. So in the morning I write, and in the afternoon I deal with RoNA Rose admin. This is easy because my post doesn’t come till around noon anyway. But I’m always arranging the RNA Parties so I’ve no idea how this is going to work when they overlap in November when it’s time to work out the shortlist and I also have to finish last minute party details. Like many committee members, I do more than one job in the organisation. Somehow it all works out.

CS: Well, my third novel, Follow A Star, has just been published so I did manage it… just!

NC: It’s already been quite tricky as the preparation for the award process does keep the organiser busy. I try to protect my writing time by allocating specific periods of time to it and not being tempted to read and respond to my emails etc until I’ve met my word count. Everyone who has a busy job or other commitments knows how tricky that can be!

How is each book judged?

CS:  Readers are sent a selection of up to five books and asked to read and judge them according to the score sheet. The Romantic Novel Awards are awards for excellence and the winning novel should reflect this.  Readers are reminded that they should try not to be biased one way or the other by big names.  They’re asked to consider whether or not love and romance is a major theme in the novel.  Is it a good read?  Is the writing of a high standard?  In short they’re asked to be critical in their approach so that it’s the outstanding books which reach the short list.

TH: Each book is sent to three readers, who are given a score sheet. They score based on characters, dialogue, setting, plot, romantic element etc, and each book can potentially earn 500 points in all. They can also earn minus points too! Then the first three sets of scores are added together, and the six books in each category that scores the most goes to a fourth read. Then all four scores are added together, and we should get one book that scores the most.

Where can we find the rules?

NC: The rules can be downloaded from the RNA website: http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/awards/romantic_novel_of_the_year

 I’m also happy to send out a copy to anyone who is interested and would like to email me on ncornick@madasafish.com

How much does it cost to enter and does the publisher or the author pay the entry fee?

CS: There’s an administrative fee as follows:

Entries by publishers — £15 per book, irrespective of whether author is RNA member 

Entries by agent or author — £15 per book where author is RNA member

Entries by agent or author — £65 per book where author is NOT an RNA member

Rona Rose:
Entries by publishers — £10 per book, irrespective of whether author is RNA member

Entries by agent or author — £10 per book where author is RNA memberEntries by agent or author — £60 per book where author is NOT an RNA member.

What happens at the Awards event?

TH: It’s a very glitzy, enjoyable event, where we can all dress up and eat canapés. There’s generally a celebrity prize giver. In the past we’ve used Richard and Judy and the glorious Darcey Bussell. The shortlists are read out, and then the winners announced and everyone goes away feeling very smiley and happy, even if they don’t win.

PF: The shortlisted authors will know who they are and the event commences with a photo call for the shortlisted authors in each category. Following the meal the winner in each of the categories – including the RoNA Rose category – is announced and they each collect their trophy (this year from Darcey Bussell) before the winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year is announced.

NC: Its years since I’ve been to the Awards event and I am looking forward to next year’s ceremony very much indeed!

Is there a prize?

NC: There is a trophy for each category winner and a special trophy for the overall winners, plus a cheque for £5000.

PF: There was a trophy and £5,000 cheque for this year’s Romantic Novel of the Year winner, Veronica Henry, with her novel A Night on the Orient Express and a £1,000 cheque for the RoNA Rose winner, Kate Hardy.

Thank you, ladies for answering our questions in so much detail.

If you have a question for the organisers of the awards please add it to the comment section below and it will be answered.

This blog was brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleimman.

America Calling: Radio Ga Ga in the USA

We are thrilled to welcome, author Hazel Gaynor who tells us of her experiences with American radio.

 It’s 8.20pm on 14^th April. My phone rings. My heart starts to race. I’ve been waiting for the call all day - my first live radio interview, with a station in Seattle. Ten minutes later, it is all over and a bit of a blur. I think I sounded reasonably sane. I managed not to swear. The kids didn’t interrupt me. One down, nineteen to go.

Two weeks earlier, my debut novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME – A Novel of the Titanic had been published in America. Full book-promo mode kicked in: guest posts, interviews, reviews, giveaways and, most unexpectedly, a U.S. radio tour, came my way.

It started with an email from my publicist: ‘Would you be up for a radio tour to promote the book?’ Would I what?! I expected a slot on one or two shows. It turned out to be twenty shows, spanning the entire U.S of A. Gulp!

Most of the interviews were scheduled for 15^th April to coincide with the 102^nd anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. Most were live on air. Some were pre-recorded. I chatted to energetic morning show hosts (like the alarmingly-named, but ever-so-lovely, Bulldog) and had more serious conversations with hosts like Cindy Wolfe Boynton at Literary New England. I spoke about my characters, Titanic, research, the writing process and my cat. I even managed to get in a song request for my children.

Promoting my debut novel live on air was a strange and wonderful experience. Now that I’ve had chance to reflect, here’s a little of what I’ve learnt …
 

1) The phone will work. It won’t inexplicably break, just because you’re expecting important calls from America. You don’t need to keep checking the dial tone (although, of course, you will).
 

2) No matter how quiet you ask the kids to be while they play Hobbits downstairs, real life carries on outside. The ice cream van will blare out ‘Pop goes the Weasel’, the neighbour will cut his grass and someone will call the fire brigade. All you can do is cringe, close the window and hope America can’t hear.
 

3) At least once, you’ll forget the question. Good idea to scribble them down as they are asked in case you go off on a tangent, or have a ‘Hobbit’ unexpectedly appear and distract you.
 

4) Listen to live streaming before you go on air. Every show is different. While you are prepared to talk knowledgeably about Titanic and your novel, you may find the host wants to chat about gin, Jägermeister and your cat. Really – they might.
 

5) Stand up when you’re talking and walk around. Someone once advised me to do this when I worked in an office and had a difficult phone call to make. It works.

 

6) Give the title of your book – preferably several times. Saying ‘my novel’ won’t help people identify it when they go to buy it.
 

7) Don’t be put off by the sixteen members of your family you’ve invited round for Good Friday lunch (yes, it really happened). They’ll threaten to start heckling after they’ve drunk all your Prosecco, but you must remain professional at all times – i.e. retreat to the attic and ignore them.
 

8) Keep an eye on the time, or set a stopwatch. Ten minutes passes very quickly. Make your point and don’t overrun. The stations work to tight schedules (and you have guests to feed, remember).
 

9) Keep a note of the host’s name. You don’t want to thank Tom when you are now talking to Bonnie. This is easily done when you have back-to-back segments and a ‘Hobbit’ hiding under the desk.
 

10) Have an extra bottle of Prosecco in the fridge for when it is all over and you can collapse in a deck chair in the garden.
 

If you’d like to hear the interviews, visit my website where I’ve posted a selection of podcasts. I’m also thrilled to be speaking at the 2014 RNA Summer Conference on ‘Romance and Disaster: Love and the Titanic’ and look forward to meeting lots of you there!

Hazel x

About Hazel:

Hazel Gaynor is a novelist and freelance writer. Her debut novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME – A Novel of the Titanic was published by William Morrow (HarperCollins) in the U.S, UK and Ireland in April 2014. Hazel is also a guest blogger and features writer for writing.ie  Originally from Yorkshire, she now lives in Ireland with her husband, two children and an accident-prone cat. 

Web: http://www.hazelgaynor.com/

Twitter: @HazelGaynor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hazelgaynorbooks

http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/about/author/hazel_gaynor

Amazon page: The Girl Who Came Home

Thank you Hazel

RNA blog posts are brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman.

We are currently seeking articles on the craft of writing. Contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com if you would like to write something for the blog.

New Writers Scheme and Beyond

Today we welcome Natalie Kleinman who is going to tell us about her graduation from the New Writers Scheme

Welcome Natalie.

You are a graduate of the RNA’s New Writers Scheme. Why did you decide to join the scheme?

I was very lucky to be a student of The Write Place where I was pointed in the right direction. Frankly I didn’t have a clue! At the designated time in January 2013 I emailed my application and I have nothing but good things to say about the RNA and its NWS.

Did you find the report from your reader helpful?

Immensely helpful and very encouraging. You can imagine how I felt when I read. ‘Your ability with dialogue is excellent’.

How long after receiving the report did you send your book out into the big wide world?

There were edits to do, naturally, but not huge changes to make. I fired it off pretty quickly.

How did you find your publisher?

Again I have The Write Place to thank. Safkhet was just one of the publishers on a list that was made available to the students. Submission was by email and I was offered a contract within a week

I understand you attended the Conference at Sheffield last year. Would you recommend it to new members of the RNA?

Without a moment’s hesitation. I learned so much in that one weekend, knowledge that has been invaluable. I would recommend it to anyone aspiring to be published.

How about RNA chapters? Do you attend one? What do you gain from your chapter?

I attend the London and Southeast Chapter as often as I can, which is most meetings. Unfortunately I can’t make the next one as I have a wedding to go to. People are so inconsiderate aren’t they?

I suppose I’d better ask about the parties. Great or Fabulous?

Both. People are so helpful and welcoming that after my first party in the summer of 2013, when I went with my ‘comfort group’, I had enough confidence to attend the winter party on my own as they had something else arranged for that evening. Glass in hand, naturally, I moved into a hall so teeming with people there was barely room to stand. At first I only recognised one person…but that was enough. I was taken by the hand, literally, and introduced first to one member, then another, then…

How important is your relationship with your publisher?

It’s very important. While there is necessarily the business side of things to deal with, it’s been a joy to liaise with people who have a wonderful off the wall sense of humour that I can relate to and which frankly suits me down to the ground.

Your book, Voyage of Desire was published two weeks ago. You must be busy with promotions? Is this important and how are you coping?

I had a lovely time organising an online ‘launch’ party (sorry about the pun) on Facebook and am at present in the middle of a blog tour. How am I coping? A year ago I would have had no conception of the amount of work and time involved in promoting a novel. Had I done so I might have headed for the hills. I’m so glad I didn’t. I’m enjoying every moment and have been privileged to meet new people and make new friends. I’m overwhelmed by how supportive other writers have been, helping to promote me on Facebook, tweeting and retweeting. So yes, it’s been important both in terms of raising my profile and affirming my faith in human nature.

Would you encourage new writers to join the RNA New Writer Scheme?

Unreservedly! I have never wanted to go the self-publishing route and there is no question in my mind that without the RNA and its wonderful scheme I would not yet be published. It was wonderful, too, to graduate in my first year.

So, what’s next for Natalie Kleinman, author and RNA member?

I am fortunate enough to have a People’s Friend pocket novel, Secret Love, (DC Thomson) hitting the newsagents and supermarkets shelves on 17^th July. In the meantime I have dug out a manuscript from my bottom drawer and am in the process of rewriting my first book – different point of view, different hero, same basic story. It was written four years ago and I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in that time. I almost put it back in the drawer but I do so like a challenge.

Thank you, Natalie.

Links:

Amazon: Voyage of Desire

Blog: http://writemindswriteplace.wordpress.com/

Publisher:  http://www.safkhetpublishing.com/authors/Natalie_Kleinman.htm

Twitter: https://twitter.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natalie.kleinman


If you would like to write a craft article for this blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

History and Love with Jenny Barden

History and Love – how can we ever unravel the truth?

Today we welcome Jenny Barden who has written about love in historical fiction.

The historical records provide evidence of events about which we are certain, but what of the feelings of those who lived long ago – how can we know how they experienced love? Consider attitudes in the Elizabethen era, when women were typically under the complete control of men, could not own property or trade (except in widowhood), and could not even protest if their husbands beat them because that was legal and expected in cases of disobedience. Women were inferior to men so how could they be loved as equals?

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Shakespeare wrote of his lover, Thou art more lovely and more temperate. In language that has resonated through time with the power of his feeling we all know how the sonnet ends:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

The words are beautiful, but it is Shakespeare’s mastery with his pen that gives his lover immortality. In this, he possesses her absolutely.

For historical novelists the recreation of emotion poses a dilemma. We want to accurately reflect the attitudes and mind-sets of the past, to make our characters convincing in terms of being true to their age, but we also want to show them experiencing emotion in a way that we can identify with in the here and now. They have to be empathetic to modern readers. How accurately can we conjure up the passion in relationships that flowered long ago? Is it possible to do this simply by transposing how we might feel now in similar circumstances within the framework of what actually happened according to historical sources?The difficulty is that while there are many accounts that deal with incident in time and place, there are few that document emotion, particularly genuine expressions of love. There is a wealth of Elizabethan love poetry, not least because declarations of love in rhyming couplets were expected of every gentleman of the time, but relatively little was written by women, and the stylised poetry that formed a conventional facet of courtship may well have had more to do with the idea of love than the reality.

 

Did Elizabeth I really love François, Duc de Anjou, when she wrote: 

 

 

                                                     …I am, and not; I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.

My care is like my shadow in the sun --
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands, and lies by me, doth what I have done;
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be suppressed...

The lyricism is captivating, and there will be a part of any sensitive modern reader wanting to believe that Elizabeth was heartbroken when the young Frenchman, who had steadfastly courted her for three years, left England for the last time. But Elizabeth was playing a clever game of political expediency by encouraging the courtship of her ‘frog’ as she affectionately called him. For as long as the heir to the French throne was courting her, France would not ally with Spain to England’s disadvantage.

 

As Elizabeth approached her fifties she may well have dallied with the idea of sharing a bed with a man, then in his mid-twenties, who had declared her to be the object of his infatuation. But it was more fantasy than substance. Most historians consider the poem to be a sophisticated conceit, on a par with the £30,000 paid to the departing duke to sweeten his leave-taking along with bills for £20,000 more. Pricking the fiction of her love came at a price.

Yet within the measured lines of Elizabeth’s poem is there real feeling showing through; a deep sadness for the loss of a kind admirer; a recognition that she would never find fulfilment as a mother; a cry from a soul unable ever to commit to passion? ‘I freeze, and yet I burn.’

Perhaps the Elizabethans experienced love far more intensely than most of us do now, in the way that love is often heightened in wartime by stark confrontation with the fragility of life. For the Elizabethans, life was often harsh, cut short by unexplained illness, afflicted by conflict and vagaries of fortune. Perhaps they became inured to tragedy, or perhaps they loved with a depth of feeling we can only guess at in looking back.

 

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, John Donne wrote The Good-Morrow in which his love transcends reality and makes the world seem like a dream.

 

 

…And now good-morrow to our waking souls,

Which watch not one another out of fear;

For love all love of other sights controls,

And makes one little room an everywhere.

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone;

Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown;

Let us possess one world; each hath one, and is one.

 

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;

Where can we find two better hemispheres

Without sharp north, without declining west?...

 

The subject may well be Anne More who John Donne married in secret, leading to his ruin, imprisonment and penury at an early age, before he began a new career in the church. Anne died in childbirth with their twelfth or thirteenth child leaving Donne ‘by grief made wordless’. In The Good-Morrow he wishes only to be close to his love and the room around them becomes a universe beyond which all the drama of intrepid voyages to far-flung lands is insignificant. There’s little evidence here of the commonly held view at the time that men were the God-placed superiors of women who were born weak, unstable, incapable of higher levels of thought, and were typically: ‘lascivious, crafty, whoorish, theevish and knavish.’

 

 

When men and women travelled together to the

New World intent on founding the first English

colony in America could they have loved as deeply

 as Donne’s poetry suggests? We cannot know for

certain; the records deal only with their names and

the events of the voyage. But perhaps they did.

When Elizabeth locked herself in her room for days

 following the death of Robert Dudley, Earl of

Leicester, was she distraught at the loss of the only

 man she had ever truly loved or merely seeking

some privacy? Perhaps the words on the letter she

kept in her bedside treasure box for the rest of her life tells us all we need to know: ‘His last letter’.  

Quotes are from: Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII; On Monsieur’s Departure (1581), reputed to be by Elizabeth I; The Good-Morrow by John Donne (c1592-5); and from Joseph Swetman in The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward and Unconstant Women (1617)

 

Jenny Barden’s latest book The Lost Duchess has just been released in paperback by Ebury Press. It features a love story at the heart of the mystery surrounding the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the first attempt to found an English settlement in America.

More about Jenny can be found on her website: http://www.jennybarden.com/ on facebook at jennybardenauthor or on twitter @jennywilldoit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Jenny for this most informative article.

 

The RNA blog is bought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman.

 

If you would like to write a craft article or cover a writing event for our members please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com