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Winners will be announced at the 2021 Women's Fiction Writers Association Awards Gala & Keynote

September 24, 2021

9pm ET/8pm CT/7pm MT/6pm PT

General Information

Important Dates

Submission Details

Entry Fee

Guidelines

The STAR Award is designed exclusively for the published women's fiction author. 

The STAR Award has two categories. 

• A general category for all full-length published women's fiction, regardless of time period of the premise or additional plot element.*
• The second category is ‘Outstanding Debut'.To be eligible, the entry must be the author’s debut published work in any genre.

*Not sure if your novel is eligible? See below.

The STAR Award Contest is limited to the first 50 entries in each of the two categories. 

First round judging is by readers of women's fiction, the final round by librarians with an interest in women's fiction.

Entries with the top three scores in each category (General and Debut) will be declared finalists and advance to the final round.


Important Dates

Entry Opens: January 2, 2021 (9:00 am EST) for WFWA members; January 16, 2021 (9:00 am EST) for non-WFWA members, space permitting.

Entry Closes: January 30, 2021, midnight, EST.

Deadline for Entered Books to be Received by the Award Coordinator:  January 31, 2021 *Note: first round judging is electronic*

Preliminary Judge’s Scores in: April 30, 2021

Finalists Announced: May 2, 2021

Deadline for Finalists' Books to be Received by the Award Coordinator:  May 15, 2021

Final scores due: August 21, 2021

Winners Announced: September 22-25, 2021 at the Albuquerque Annual WFWA Retreat

Submission Details

Preliminary Round: Complete the entry form, pay registration fee, and either: Upload the file in .mobi format (ONLY) when you register, OR email three (3) digital copies of the book as an Amazon Kindle gift to the STAR Award Coordinator at [email protected]. These will be forwarded to the judges.

Final Round: Mail three (3) copies of the professionally printed book to the STAR Award Contest Coordinator. Finalists' books must be received by the coordinator by May 15, 2021.

Entries will be disqualified and fees forfeited if not received by the award coordinator by the specified deadlines.

Scoring Criteria for Judges: Scoring Guidelines can be viewed here.

Entry Fee

Paid electronically only – no mailed checks.

Guidelines

Eligibility

Definition

Format

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility

Open to all authors of book-length women's fiction (60k words or more). All work must have an ISBN and have a copyright page with an original copyright date in the calendar year 2020. If an entry doesn’t meet these requirements, it will be disqualified and entry fees forfeited. No novellas or short story collections are accepted.

My book is available online as an eBook only. May I enter?
Yes. But for the final round, all entries must be submitted as printed books.

I’ve self-published my book. Can I still enter?
Yes. Providing it has an ISBN and is available at retailers, either physical stores or online.

I’m published in another genre, but this is my first work of women's fiction. Can I enter as a debut author?
No. The novel entered in this category must be a true debut – your first published in any genre. Novellas and short stories collections count as being published.

Definition

How do I determine if my novel is Women's Fiction?

Women's fiction may include romance, or it may not. It could be contemporary or historical and have magical, mystery, thriller, or other elements. What defines a novel as women's fiction is that the driving force is the protagonist's journey toward a more fulfilled self. The driving force of a romance novel is a love story, a mystery's is the exposure of an event, a thriller's is a fear-inducing chase or escape, etc.

If your manuscript's driving force best fits another genre, such as romance, science fiction, thriller, etc. it is not eligible for the STAR Award.

Format

The STAR Award accepts published .mobi format entries only. If your novel is only available in e-book format, you must submit a physical book (Traditionally bound as a hardcover, trade or paperback. No unprofessionally printed manuscripts will be accepted.)

Additional Questions? Contact the STAR Award coordinator at [email protected].