Contact: www.awomanswrite.com

Prize: $500

Entry fee $40 includes a thorough, thoughtful critique, and the option to resubmit during the same contest period.

The Good Read competition is for novels written by women 18 or older in English. Send 75 pages, a query letter and a two-page synopsis.

Contest begins January 1 annually, and closes November 30 annually.

We are more interested in a good story well told and a point well made than in attempts to sound literary or poetic. Send us your best, simplest work. Make us love or hate your characters, believe or disbelieve your thesis, by your excellent prose composition. Get us involved in the narrative, or interested in the facts, by moving us skillfully from point A to point B.

AWW is a resource for creative women. We want to encourage work by, for and about women, but stories about men will not be overlooked. Just be sure that your viewpoint rings true and the experiences you portray are authentic to the character and setting. Be natural.

Do not use special script for emphasis. Read rules for the use of italics and do not use italics for simple emphasis. Do not overuse the exclamation point. Books will be judged on objective standards and demerits will be assigned for: word repetition, incorrect grammar and syntax, incorrect punctuation, improper formatting of paragraphs, weak characterizations, contradictory or illogical plot development, unbelievable or inconsistent setting. It will also be judged subjectively by our editors, as nearly as possible to mimic the experience of a new enthusiastic reader who has picked your book off the shelf and is embarking on the adventure of involvement in the world you have created. What stops, bores, or confuses that reader/editor will stop, bore, and confuse a larger audience.

Read the instructions carefully and submit accordingly. Inattention to detail can result in disqualification. The editors of AWW are themselves contest entrants (and occasional winners) and are well acquainted with the frustrations of getting it wrong and kicking oneself for having gotten it wrong. Please, read. For questions, email us.

Important: Contestants should be 18 or older. Submitting your entry certifies that you are eligible, and that all work submitted is your own. Entry fees are non-refundable and are payable only through PayPal. Judge’s decisions are final.

Visit the website for Guidelines for the AWW “Good Read” Fiction Book Competition 

at:  http://www.awomanswrite.com/rules.html#enter