All Love, All Voices Contest

Everyone deserves a happily-ever-after and that's why Forever invites you to enter the All Love, All Voices Contest.  We believe in celebrating diverse views and inclusivity and are excited to receive your submissions sharing stories that have been traditionally underrepresented in the romance genre in your own voices.

We’re looking for full-length romance novels and women’s fiction from authors with diverse backgrounds who are promoting diversity in their work. #OwnVoices stories are welcome and encouraged.

Please read the OFFICIAL RULES for Contest details.

In women’s fiction, the focus will be on a woman’s journey and life experiences. Often these books center on female friendships, sisters, or discovering family secrets, told from the woman’s point of view.  The narrative can either be in first person or third person.

For romance, we’re looking for a celebration of falling in love—characters who get to know each other, overcome obstacles, and then have a resolution that gives us all the warm, fuzzies of a happily-ever-after at the end. Often, there are dual, third-person points of view from each of the main protagonists.

The most successful romances draw from certain tropes, or types of stories, that are always popular. Some popular examples include second-chance romance (someone who’s reunited with a high school crush, for example), friends-to-lovers, forbidden love (think Romeo & Juliet), secret baby, marriage of convenience, fake engagement/significant other, or a Cinderella story (this is where your royals and billionaires come in!)—just to name a few.

Three First Prizes

Three winners will each receive one 30 minute phone consultation with an editor from Forever to discuss editorial feedback on their submission.   These three manuscripts will also be considered for possible publication under the Forever or Forever Yours imprints. Please read the OFFICIAL RULES for more details on this and the Contest.

Five Second Prizes

Five winners will each receive one round of written editorial feedback (approximately 1-2 pages in length) on their complete submission prepared by a panel of Forever's editors.

Ten Third Prizes

Ten winners will each receive one round of written editorial feedback (approximately 1-2 pages in length) on their submission’s synopsis prepared by a panel of Forever editors.

Each Submission that is entered into the Contest must meet ALL of the “Submission Requirements” set forth in the OFFICIAL RULES. The Submission must:

•Be a full-length manuscript for a novel in one of the following two genres plus a 5 page synopsis:

• adult romance (i.e., focuses on characters meeting, getting to know each other and overcoming obstacles for their happily ever after); OR women’s fiction (i.e., focuses on a woman’s journey and life experiences);
• •Be reflective of diverse backgrounds and experiences, with an emphasis on #ownvoices, a hashtag associated with the movement supporting books about diverse characters written by authors from that same diverse group
• •Consist of text only in English, specifically between 75,000 - 95,000 words and should not include any photos, illustrations or names of real people;
• •Include a cover letter consisting of entrant’s name and the manuscript’s title and word count;
• •Include a 5-page synopsis detailing the plot, character, and relationship arcs in the manuscript;
• •Be entrant’s original work and shall not consist of any third party created, owned copyrighted and/or trademarked material;
• •Be submitted as one digital upload in Microsoft Word format only via the Entry Form with the following file name format: [Manuscript Title] _[Entrant’s Last Name] (Note: Sponsor will not accept hard copy or email submissions sent outside of the Entry Form)

All winners’ Submissions will be selected by a panel of judges, consisting of members of the editorial team of Forever and Forever Yours imprint, from among all eligible Entries using the following criteria:

• •30% Characters: Delineation of characters is well thought out and characters themselves are interesting, appealing, and relatable.
• •30% Storytelling: An engaging story that features diverse characters with diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences.
• •20% Dialogue: Dialogue in the Submission is clear, sufficient and presented in a believable, authentic and accurate manner.
• •20% Grammar: The Submission is grammatically correct and entrant understands basics of syntax and punctuation.