Edition 45 - March 15, 2026

In This Edition:

NERFA - OPEN for entries! Now thru March 31, 2026

GRW's Maggie Awards - OPEN for entries! Now thru April 4, 2026

FCRW's Anthology Projects - Sign up now to participate in 2026's Anthologies

Reader's Corner - Learn about ARC and Street Teams

Books by Friends of FCRW - Come see what we're writing!

Book Signing Events - 2026 Coastal Magic Convention Recap

FCRW Hosted Workshop - Featuring Weapons Expert Scott "Scooter" West

The National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA) 2026 is open for entries! This is FCRWs major fundraising project.

Click/Tap HERE to learn how to enter NERFA. 

If you published a romance novel available for purchase in the United States in 2025, then you’re eligible to enter the 2026 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award. Have you dreamed about being able to promote yourself as an award-winning author? Well, here’s your chance. 

Books must be copyrighted and entered in PDF Format. This year we are offering eight categories: Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Speculative Romance, Young Adult Romance, Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance, Romantic Novellas (15k-40k), and Best First Book (in addition to another category).

Fee: Non-Members = $40 per entry, Members = $30 per entry and $5 to also enter Best First Book category. Submissions began March 1st. Currently, PayPal is the only acceptable payment form and must be submitted using the PayPal button on the entry form.

Prizes: All 2025 finalists will receive a NERFA Finalist web logo and certificate. Winners will a receive a NERFA Winner web logo, a beautiful trophy as shown of the FCRW website, a write up in our monthly newsletter The Reader & Author Gazette, and be highlighted in a video posted on all FCRW’s social media accounts including our Facebook page and website.

About NERFA judging: FCRW uses romance readers as judges for the first round. The second-round judges are librarians, booksellers, and book bloggers. They will pick a single winner from the top three in each category. 

NERFA Schedule:

• OPEN for contestants, March 1-31, 2026
• First Round (romance readers) Judging. April 8 – May 19, 2026
• Finalists will be announced June 1, 2026
• Final Round Judging June 1-30, 2026 (Librarians/Bloggers/Booksellers)
• July 8th— The eight winners are announced

Please check out our website for more information. https://nerfa.firstcoastromancewriters.com

2026 Georgia Romance Writers
~Maggie Awards~

The Maggie Award is a symbol of recognition given by Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) to bring special attention to these authors. The Maggie, a silver medallion commissioned by GRW, receives national attention. Librarians, booksellers, and other professionals will rank books in the publishing industry.​​

Important Dates:

The Maggie Award for Excellence opens for entries on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2026. Entries must be RECEIVED by April 4, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern, and must follow all format requirements listed in the rules. Finalists will be notified on June 22, 2026, and winners will be announced at the Maggie Award banquet on October 17, 2026.

Fees:

GRW Member: $30
Non-member: $40

• Payment through PayPal only. No personal checks accepted.
• Entries, including a completed entry form, must be RECEIVED by April 4, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern AND before your category is full.
• Those received after that date or received after the category is declared full will be disqualified.
• Failure to comply with any of the above deadlines and any of the Maggie rules may disqualify the entry, and the entry fee will not be refunded.
• Rules for published Maggie submissions are found HERE.
• Rules for pre-published Maggie submissions are found HERE.

Questions may be addressed to:
maggiechair@gmail.com

Planning for FCRW’s 2026 Anthologies

Participating in one of FCRW’s anthologies is a great way to write a reader-magnet short-story for your author’s newsletter, get your work published for the first time or enjoy reading short stories from a variety of authors. Writers: click the links below to learn more.

Spring 2026 – Rainy Day Romances

• Theme: Rainy Days
• Word count: 8k – 15k
• Story due date: 4/21/26
• Preorder date: 5/5/26
• Publication date: 5/19/26

Entry period for the 2026 Spring Anthology has ended.

Winter 2026 – Winter Wishes

• Theme: Snow
• Word count: 8k – 15k
• Commitment date: 8/4/2026
• Story due date: 10/27/2026
• Preorder date: 11/3/2026
• Publication date: 11/17/2026

Sign up for the Winter 2026 Anthology HERE.

*   *   *

*Proceeds from our anthology projects benefit the First Coast Romance Writers, an independent non-profit organization, which helps writers hone their craft and expand their knowledge of the publishing industry.*

Here's the thing about being an author: writing the book is only half the journey. The other half is getting it into the hands of readers who will love it, and that's why every author needs both an ARC Team and a Street Team. 

What exactly is an ARC Team?

ARC stands for Advance Review Copy. ARC readers get to read books before anyone else, for FREE! In exchange, they post an honest review on launch day to places like Amazon, Goodreads, or even their social media. Reviews genuinely make a massive difference for both traditional and indie authors.

And what about a Street Team?

A street team is basically an author’s personal hype squad and book launch crew. Street team members help spread the word about new releases by sharing posts, participating in cover reveals and countdown celebrations, sharing the book in reader groups, and just generally being the amazing, enthusiastic booklovers they already are. 

To be part of a ‘street team,’ you don't have to be an influencer or have thousands of followers. You just have to love books and love lifting up authors you believe in. In return, street team members get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, early peeks, and all the bookish fun that comes with being on the inside of a launch!

Why does this matter?

Indie and small-press authors don't have big publishing houses throwing marketing dollars behind their books, but they do have something that money can’t buy. A community of people who genuinely love books. When readers share a post, write a review, or tell a friend about a book they’ve read, they’re helping authors. And, they might also be putting a book into someone’s hands who might need exactly that story right now. These small things mean the world to an author.

ARC Teams and Street Teams - by Leah Miles
https://leahmilesauthor.com

Baby ConSEALed won the 2024 Georgia Romance Writers’ “Maggie Award”

Rissa Parker struggles to support herself and her daughter by working overnights as a home health nurse. After witnessing her employer’s murder, she has no choice but to grab her two-year-old and run toward the one person strong enough to protect them, the Navy SEAL who fathered her child during a one-night stand.

Navy SEAL Bernard “Burn” Cruz is a straight arrow, approaching work and play in equal parts. He doesn’t regret much in life, except for one woman he’s never forgotten. Nearly three years after their initial encounter, she shows up in San Diego at the bar his team likes to frequent, and he believes Forever might have knocked on his door. Until a child cries, and all hell breaks loose.

As bullets fly and bodies drop, Rissa must outrun a killer whose connection to her past threatens to destroy any chance at a future with the father of her child, and Burn discovers the family he didn’t know he wanted might be the only thing worth dying for.

Baby ConSEALed, an award-winning contemporary romantic suspense novel, is fast-paced, steamy and suspenseful. Pick up your copy today!

Baby ConSEALed releases on March 26, 2026. If you enjoy reading romantic suspense with some steamy romance and want to join Leah's ARC Team or Street Team please visit her website at the button below. 

2026 Coastal Magic Convention Recap
By: Melody Johnson

A lifelong love of reading connects people from far and wide every year at the Coastal Magic Convention. Unique among conferences, Coastal Magic hosts a reading challenge, incentivizing participants to buy and review attending authors’ books before the event. They also host zoom panels in advance of the conference, so by the time I arrived to meet readers, many had already read my books and were excited to continue conversations we had started online.

The tagline of this year’s conference was, “reading helps your mind bloom,” and that theme thrived throughout this event, beginning with the Welcome Mingle on Thursday evening. Several authors hosted crafty tables where readers could engage in fun activities and break the ice with new friends and favorite authors. I enjoyed reconnecting with Hildie McQueen, JD Monroe, Veronka Kane, and Kari Lemor—after all year following them online, it’s such a pleasure to finally see them in person. Especially exciting for me, the stars aligned for a childhood friend to crash my book weekend, and we partook in some girl time shenanigans before the conference and between sessions. 

On Friday, I presented in the “It’s Gettin’ Hot In Here” panel alongside Meka James, Hank Edwards, and Kait Ballenger. Even at nine in the morning, the room filled with a lively crowd willing to laugh at our many puns and innuendos as we discussed our spicy novels. I also participated in the “Murder In Bloom At The Poison Garden” murder mystery game as Malone Langsley, pirate smuggler. Everyone—from the players acting as ghosts and thieves and gardeners to the participants attempting to solve the murder—had a roaring good time. Shoutouts to authors Caroline Lee, who won Best Costume, and Vinni George, who won Best Actor.

Coastal Magic culminated in the Saturday book signing, which was also open and free to the public. I had the absolute pleasure of sharing a table with the fabulous Nicole Blanchard. Both new and returning readers visited us, and many of them are now meeting their next vampire and alien boyfriend in my novels. Sixty-six authors met hundreds of readers over three days of mingles, panels, meals, and countless other activities. It might be the books that bring us together, but it’s the people—the wonderful readers and lovely fellow writers—that keep me coming back year after year to bloom at the Coastal Magic Convention. 

FCRW holds monthly meetings on the 2nd Saturday of each month at the West Regional Branch of the Duval County Library, and online, unless otherwise posted. Part of these monthly meetings include an Author Workshop where we host a guest speaker to teach a specific area of the writing, publishing, and  promoting process. You may attend all the upcoming 2026 workshops by joining the First Coast Romance Writers for the annual dues of $50, or you may attend individual workshops online as a visitor for $10 each. You may also attend in person, as a guest, three times for free, before becoming a member.

Visit https://firstcoastromancewriters.com/ for more information. If you're a non-member, and would like to attend, here's the link to sign up: https://firstcoastromancewriters.com/fcrw-workshop-sign-up-form/

Please check each meeting description to see if the meeting is ZOOM-ONLY or IN-PERSON & ZOOM. If you need the Zoom link to attend, email the chapter president: president@firstcoastromancewriters.com You will be provided with a link to log onto the meeting. You can log in virtually for social time at 10am, and our business meeting will begin promptly at 10:15am.

Our next workshop, on April 11, 2026, will feature Weapons Expert Scott "Scooter" West. 

Scott "Scooter" West - Weaponry

Scott “Scooter” West has possessed an insatiable love of swords and sword-like objects since he was a child. After years of typical play with prized toys and whittled sticks Scott started formal fencing training and was introduced to theatrical combat in late high school. Scott developed a keen interest in the build, use and history of medieval and Renaissance weaponry and has now pursued this interest for an excess of 25 years. He has participated and lead any number of combat shows, historical reenactments, combat and choreography training sessions, and even a few lectures. Scott lives in Gainesville Florida with his very patient wife, two teenage kids, and a revolving door of Labrador retrievers that his family raises for Dogs Inc, where they will be trained as guide dogs for the visually impaired or other service jobs. Scott has written, directed, choreographed, armored, trained, presided over and anything else you can think of for Thieves Guilde Productions, a stage combat and improvised theater group in Gainesville. Professionally Scott is a Registered Nurse at UF Health Shand's Hospital, and also plays in the Celtic folk band Jig to a Milestone.

Writers Workshop: Fantasy Weapons and the Writer

A comprehensive overview of pre-modern weapons, terminology, tactics and historical thinking. This workshop will include physical examples of some of these weapons, discussion about and opportunities to handle these items. We will also discuss ways to more accurately describe combat with the written word. This workshop focuses on European based techniques and technologies. For example the Katana (samurai sword) and Japanese cultural combat traditions are not covered by this content. That being said, please feel free to submit specific questions to me (swordscooter@gmail.com) and I will come prepared to address them.

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