Romance Writers of America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Romance Writers of America (RWA) is a national non-profit genre writers association. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction. It supports top authors such as Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.

1 RITA award
2 Golden Heart award
3 Hall of Fame
4 Statistics
5 External link

[edit] RITA award

The RITA award is named after the Romance Writers of America's first president Rita Clay Estrada. In a shape remnescent of the Oscar, the RITA award is the most prominent award given throughout the genre of romantic fiction as it signifies excellence amongst the genre in thirteen different categories. In the fall novels are submitted by authors and editors to undergo critiquing and ranking. In mid-spring 100 finalists are announced, these are known as "RITA Finalists." Finally the winners are announced and the statuette presented the last week in July on the last day of the RWA Annual National Conference at the "RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony and Gala" along with the Golden Heart award for unpublished manuscripts.

[edit] Golden Heart award

The Golden Heart award is an award specifically designed for RWA authors who have not had a novel published. Writers first send their manuscript in to the competition. The manuscripts are then read and rated by a panel of five RWA members, those that make it are sent on to the final round to be judged by editors at romance publishing houses. The winners are announced at the RWA Annual National Conference on the last day at the "RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony and Gala." Due to the exposure the winning novels receive, the manuscripts are usually sold by the authors for publishing purposes.

The award itself is a gold medallion in a heart shape thus giving the award its name.

[edit] Hall of Fame

The RWA's Hall of Fame was established as a way of honoring those authors that have won at least three RITA awards in a specific category of romance (For example: Long Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, or Regency Romance). Formerly a novelist had to have won four RITA awards in a specific category to be inducted into the Hall of Fame but the criteria for induction has changed to require only three RITA awards per category. The first RWA Hall of Fame inductee was Nora Roberts. Other authors honored include Jo Beverley and Jennifer Greene.