RITA Report July 2019


Every year, the Board votes on changes to our RITA contest at the July Board Meeting, the only meeting of the year where the contest is not running. We limit the scope of the information we share with the membership on agenda items because until a motion is moved at the Board table and voted on, it’s not official. Language and direction can change as a result of of the Board’s review, and we are careful not to accidentally provide misinformation or cause confusion by releasing information prematurely. The Board is relaxing that usual practice to provide a review of our thinking and our discussions on the RITA to date prior to the final vote.

First, we are happy for our finalists this year, and very proud of their accomplishments. We are excited to celebrate them at this year’s award ceremony. 

As we look to next year’s RITAs, we recognize that there is an ongoing problem with the contest that previous policy changes did not address. The contest has been a positive for many RWA members. It has also helped to highlight the careers of some of our members from marginalized groups, but not enough of those members.  The purpose of the RITA contest is to promote the romance genre by recognizing the best the genre has to offer. It cannot serve that purpose if authors from marginalized communities are continually underrepresented as finalists. 

The Board is committed to making the contest valuable and fair to all members. Since March, we have been reviewing options, looking at alternative contest formats, and discussion revisions to the current contest. Below is a glimpse into our thinking and decision-making process.
 

Discussions

 
The Board discussed and reviewed a variety of options including: 

  1. a different type of contest that features a small group of nominated finalists,
  2. a hybrid submission/nomination contest, and 
  3. a revised version of the existing RITA. 

No option is perfect, but one point every Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) expert we consulted made was this: inherent bias is everywhere and in every contest, and the best chance of dealing with it and positive impacting our members is a combination of education and training. With that input in mind, and after reviewing serious issues with other non-RITA options, the Board believes that next year’s contest should be a modified version of the RITA. The tentative plan we have developed for next year will address issues of inherent or unconscious bias as they relate to judging. 

The Revised Contest


Next year’s contest will be a test year. We are modifying the RITA in the hope of improving it, but if, with all the revisions and education, the contest continues to only work for a group of members and not all members, the Board will need to reassess the ongoing viability of the RITA and, possibly, change to an entirely different, nomination-based contest. We hope that is not the case, but we want to be honest about how important this issue is to RWA and its values. 

The Interim Proposal


In making the RITA a test contest next year, we also believe we need to make it smaller and easier to manage. Some of the parameters the board discussed include: 

  • Limiting the total number of entries in the contest as well as the total number of entries each person may submit; 
  • Eliminating the judging requirement for entrants and opening the judging pool to a wider range of people, including all RWA members and individuals outside of RWA;
  • Introducing a Judging Questionnaire from which preliminary round judges will be chosen; 
  • Providing training for judges that addresses inherent bias and guidance on how to use the scoring system;
  • Instituting a new judging rubric to give judges more guidance in the preliminary rounds; 
  • Making other small adjustments to categories (e.g., word counts, etc.);
  • Earmarking profits for programs related to DEI matters. 
Again, these are potential changes under discussion, and nothing is final until moved and voted on at the July meeting.  

Outside Assistance


The Board determined that it did not have the expertise to address the inherent bias issue on our own. While the Board is diverse, more input was needed. We heard from you, our members, and truly appreciate all the options and alternatives you provided. Additionally, the board hired Sunny Lee-Goodman of Lapin International to assist with the judge application process, judge selection panel, and judge training. She will be at the national conference and has been working with the Board on an ongoing basis. 

While we continue to work through these change and revise policy language and contest rules, we invite members to contact us with any comments or concerns. You can contact any Board member directly or email me at [email protected] and I will share your email with the Board. 

Sincerely, 

HelenKay Dimon
RWA President