Entries must be romance stories, as defined here:
- Stories in this contest must be categorized as romance. Which means they need to have a HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN (Happy For Now) ending.
- The only exception to this rule is if the story is part of an ongoing series. Authors are required to disclose whether their entry is part of a series and must confirm that their series will include a HEA or HFN resolution at the completion of the series.
Categories
- Historical (Stories set pre-1950s)
- Fantasy/Urban Fantasy (Stories set in worlds different from our own. This includes steam punk stories.)
- Sci-fi (Stories set in space and/or the future)
- PNR/Paranormal Romance (Stories involving paranormal creatures but takes place in our world)
- Dark Romance
- Erotica
- Suspense
- Sweet/Closed Door Romance (Stories that are lower heat level and/or closed door love scenes)
- LGBTQ+ (pairings or multiples that are not m/f. This category is for m/m, f/f, trans main characters, etc.)
- Why Choose/Reverse Harem (RH)
- Small Town/Country
- Contemporary
- Canadian Author (This category will be for Canadian authors only and will be judged by Canadian Bookstagrammers) This category has been removed for 2024
Categories must receive a minimum of 7 entries to run. If a category does not reach the required minimum it will either be cancelled or combined with another category. Judges will still be assigned to those books that requested to read books in the original category.
