RITA Awards: Overview
The purpose of the RITA® contest is to promote excellence in the romance
genre by recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas.
The award itself is a golden statuette named after RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada, and has become the symbol for excellence in published romance fiction.
About the Contest
Up to 1,200 romance novels from 12 different categories are entered in the RITA competition each year. A novel may be entered either by the author or by the book's publisher in one of the 12 categories. After the first round of judging by published romance authors, the competition narrows to approximately 100 finalists.
Once RWA announces the RITA finalists, a final round of judges evaluates and ranks these novels to determine the 12 RITA Award winners. The RITA Award winners are announced at the Awards Ceremony at the RWA Annual Conference.
Romance Writers of America will announce the winners of the 2010 RITA Awards on at its 30th Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
The word RITA® and the RITA statuette are registered service marks belonging to RWA. The drawing of the RITA statuette may not be used in generic fashion as a logo or decorative motif for any purpose in any publication not explicitly authorized by RWA. Permission to use RITA and Golden Heart symbols and institutional marks of RWA for any publication in other than fair use hard-news reporting must be obtained in writing from RWA.
