2020 Call for Judges

The Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) was founded in 2013 as a professional, non-profit organization for women’s fiction authors, writers, and publishing professionals. With more than one thousand international members and growing, WFWA is the premier organization for women's fiction.

WFWA is seeking published authors and allied publishing professionals ​like you ​to help judge the 2020 Rising Star Award.

This competition recognizes excellence in unpublished women’s fiction, and provides all entrants with valuable feedback on their submitted manuscripts. After the first round of judging is complete, finalists are presented to a panel of literary agents who acquire women’s fiction. While we are delighted that past winners have secured representation, we believe all participants win in the end because of the invaluable feedback judges provide to aspiring authors.

Please lend us your time and talent. You don’t have to write women’s fiction to know when it’s written well.

How it works ​You will be assigned three entries, each 5,000 words with a synopsis and a scoring sheet. You will read each piece and assign points based on the scoring. We also ask that you provide constructive feedback for each entrant.

In return ​You will earn our gratitude, recognition on our website as a judge, and prior to the winners’ announcement, inclusion in WFWA’s social media campaigns surrounding the winners’ announcement and awards ceremony. Additionally, you will earn the credential as a 2020 WFWA Rising Star Award judge. (You may even help discover the next best women’s fiction author!)

Timeline ​Your assigned entries will be to you on or around April 28, 2020. Scores are due back no later than June 7, 2020.

The Finer Print ​Women’s fiction is defined by WFWA as any story where the main character goes through an emotional journey. Unlike a romance novel, there isn’t always a happy ending or even a romantic theme. Stories may contain controversial subjects such as religion, sex, abuse, drug use, etc. We are looking for judges who are willing to read and comment on a variety of literary themes and plots with an open mind.

If you are interested in joining our 2020 judging team, or you have additional questions, please contact one of the Rising Star Award Co-Chairs, Susan Morris at [email protected] ​or Suzanne Adams at ​[email protected]​.