Harlequin and Mills & Boon Global Writing Contest Offers More Opportunities to Win a Publishing Contract Than Ever Before

-- So You Think You Can Write online conference allows aspiring writers to spend a week with  more than 50 Harlequin and Mills & Boon editors from around the world

NEW YORK, LONDON, TORONTO, SYDNEY and AUCKLAND, Sept. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Harlequin (Harlequin.com), a leading publisher of books for women today announced the expansion of its tremendously popular global English-language writing contest that offers aspiring authors the chance to win a publishing contract. This year Harlequin is expanding opportunities for authors by introducing a separate New Adult competition, which will take place on Wattpad, the world's largest online community for reading, writing and sharing stories. Between the contests, five new authors will each be awarded a publishing contract with Harlequin/Mills & Boon.

The contests are part of So You Think You Can Write (soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com), the free 24/7 online conference that will take place September 16–20, 2013. So You Think You Can Write allows hopeful romance novelists to spend a week with more than 50 Harlequin and Mills & Boon editors from Toronto, New York and London through social media tools including podcasts, webinars, blogs, live chats, writing challenges, community discussions and Twitter events. Aspiring authors will attend a virtual romance-writing "boot camp" designed to teach them how to write a romance novel that will attract the attention of publishers. So You Think You Can Write has been organized in such a way as to help participants prepare completed manuscripts for submission to the So You Think You Can Write contests beginning September 23.

Entrants into the contest portion of the conference will experience the path a professional writer undertakes from the genesis of a story idea all the way through to the publication of a novel. Participants will initially be asked to submit a first chapter accompanied by a maximum 100-word pitch. In mid-October, the Harlequin and Mills & Boon editorial offices in New York, Toronto and London will select the top 50 best chapters and request full manuscripts from the respective writers.  The editors will evaluate those completed manuscripts and narrow the field to 10 manuscripts, which will then be posted online for public voting. The winner will be offered a publishing contract.

This year Harlequin is excited to be partnered with Wattpad, the world's largest online community for discovering and sharing stories, to launch a New Adult genre contest hosted exclusively on Wattpad. Beginning September 23, writers will be able to upload their chapters online for immediate feedback from Wattpad's community of 16-million avid readers. Harlequin and Mills & Boon editors will select four winning manuscripts from the completed Wattpad entries and award contracts to their respective authors for the publisher's New Adult digital romance series.

Adding thousands of new stories every day, Wattpad connects writers with an incredibly active community of readers to help writers share their work, build a fan base and receive instant feedback on their stories.

Last year, approximately 700 participants entered the So You Think You Can Write contest and in addition to the winner, Jennifer Hayward, Harlequin signed seven new writers to contracts. Harlequin and Mills & Boon editors believe that by engaging aspiring writers, showcasing the tremendous appeal of the romance genre and offering expert insights into crafting the perfect story, they can help promising novelists hone their skills and achieve their dreams of writing for one of the world's leading publishers of books for women.

For more information, please visit soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com.

About Harlequin
Harlequin (www.Harlequin.com) is one of the world's leading publishers of books for women, with titles issued worldwide in 34 languages and sold in 110 international markets. The company publishes more than 110 titles monthly and more than 1,300 authors from around the world. Harlequin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation (www.Torstar.com), a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin's website is located at Harlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 18 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information, please visit Harlequin.com and Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks. Follow Harlequin on Twitter @HarlequinBooks.

About Wattpad
Wattpad is the best place to read and share stories on the web and across every mobile device. Every day, millions of people discover great fiction on Wattpad or share their own creative writing spanning mystery/thriller, romance, sci-fi, poetry, fan fiction, and more. Referred to as "the YouTube of Books," Wattpad is a new way to connect directly with people writing your favorite stories and for writers to reach the next generation of readers. www.wattpad.com.

Media Contacts

North America
Melanie Dulos
Harlequin
+1-416-391-7008
melanie_dulos@harlequin.ca

United Kingdom/Ireland/South Africa
Lisa Wlodyka
Cherish PR
+44-020-8-735-4241
lisa.wlodyka@cherishpr.com

Australia/New Zealand
Lauren Roberts
Brand Manager, Harlequin
+612-9415-9218
lroberts@eharlequin.com.au