The 2022 Passionate Plume Contest

The 16th Annual

PASSIONATE PLUME CONTEST

for Published and Unpublished Works of Erotic Fiction

CLOSED

Judging and Prizes

Works will each be judged by three readers, writers, reviewers, booksellers or librarians. The top two scores are added to form the final score. The lowest score is dropped. Ties are broken using the dropped low score or with a fourth reading. The decisions of the judges are final.

First place winners will receive an award with the category, author name, and title of the winning work, and an award graphic for their website/social media. The winner in the Virgin category will be eligible to have their winning 5K word entry included in the next Passionate Ink Anthology as a teaser for their future publication. All others will receive a finalist graphic for their website/social media.

Finalists will be announced May 21, 2022. Winners will be announced June 4, 2022. Details about the announcements will be posted in social media and emailed to the participants. Results of the finalists and the winners will be promoted in Passionate Ink’s newsletter, social media accounts, and on the Passionate Ink public FB page.

Questions? Write Passionate Ink Vice President Jordyn Kross at vp@passionateink.org

RULES FOR ENTRY: Entries accepted 2/14/2022-3/31/2022

Eligibility

Contest is open to all erotic fiction works published in 2021. Erotic romance stories have HEA and the romantic relationship grows through sexual interaction. The genre is discussed here by one of our founders, Sylvia Day. Erotic fiction stories do not require an HEA/HFN.
All entries must be previously unpublished in any format prior to 2021 and must possess an original copyright date of 2021. (If the paperback format was released in 2020 and the ebook was released in 2021, 2020 would be the date of first publication and the book would be ineligible for Passionate Plume entry.)
No members of the executive board of Passionate Ink or any of the Passionate Plume committee members are eligible to enter.

General Rules

It is the author’s responsibility to enter the book in the correct category. All clarifications as to category should be made prior to submission. Entries submitted in the wrong category, as determined by two or more judges, will be disqualified without refund. The judges’ decision is final.
One novel cannot be entered in multiple categories, but multiple works (up to three entries per category of long and short) are welcome if accompanied by the proper completed entry form and full entry fee.
All categories, except the Virgin, will have two divisions, long and short. The long divisions are for works 40,000 words or greater. Short divisions are for any work less than 40,000 words. All works, no matter the length must meet the definitions of the parent category. If less than 6 entries are received in either the long or short division of the category, the entries will be combined and three finalists announced for the overall category. If any category, has less than six entries received total, including both long and short divisions, that category will be canceled and authors will be notified as well as refunded their entry fee for the impacted submission.
Virgin entries are limited to a maximum of the first 5000 words of the manuscript and a blurb of up to 300 words. No exceptions.
Works that have been published in anthologies in 2021 are eligible, if the writer holds the copyright to the work. Enter only the work to be considered, not the entire anthology.
Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification.
Decisions of the Contest Coordinator are final.