I like to describe my own experiences in this arduous quest as something akin to following the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz. Each brick is shaped like a heart and leads right to the Emerald City where a huge RWA hangs boldly over the arched entry.

The road has been difficult, fraught with obstacles. I've been attacked by fiendish judges chortling, "You're not good enough, my pretty!" Our computer has crashed, taking my WIP with it. My writing time was shortened dramatically by the need to find full time employment.

Occasionally I was graced by a kind hearted agent or editor who touched my head with their glowing wand of encouragement.

My rag tag critique partners accompanied me on my journey. We were plagued by questions along the way. Did we have the courage to persevere in a sometimes harsh industry? Was our uncertainty a sign that our hearts weren't into the pursuit of a publishing contract? Could our brains be minus a few cells for even thinking we could write?

I travelled the Golden Heart road four times, certain with each attempt that I would final. For my fifty dollars, mailing expenses and weeks of polishing my submission, I received a single page with numbers. Numbers that mean absolutely nothing.

Let me explain my cynicism.

The RWR printed an excellent article last year detailing the complex judging process that determines who will final in GH and who will not. It was disheartening to say the least. Because of the way the judges scores are tallied, a writer with lower scores might actually final over someone with higher scores.

And then there is the matter of the judges themselves. Many are entrants who are not allowed to judge in their own categories. I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect someone who writes a Victorian era historical to pass judgment on a genre they don't read or write. I understand most writers read multiple genres these days. But it only takes one person to mark down your entry because they fail to understand a paranormal relationship might start off a little slower because of world building. After all, the "rules" say….

Don't get me started on that one.

I also read about a Golden Heart entrant who had not found a publisher after three wins. While I truly believe finaling and/or winning Golden Heart is a huge honor and opens many doors, I do not think it assures publication. Nor is it the only way to get published.

And finally, I know of one Golden Heart entrant who rigged her entry with mindless jibberish to build up the word count so it would look like she had a completed manuscript. She actually did quite well with her fifty pages. I don't know if she ever finished the book.

There are thousands of authors - good authors - who have never won a contest. There are just as many novels that have been soundly thrashed by contest judges right before the author received "the call".

RWA is increasingly becoming an organization for writer's with fat pocketbooks. Mine happens to be pretty thin at the moment. I will not enter Golden Heart because I don't get enough bang for my hard earned buck. Numbers on a page just don't do it for me.

I wish everyone the best on their contest entries, whether it be Golden Heart or a local chapter. As for me, I prefer to keep my butt in chair, hands on keyboard, money in pocket, queries in the mail.

Deb