RAMP up your career with RWA's Romance Author Mentorship Program!
November 9, 2020
RWA is thrilled to reintroduce our Romance Author Mentorship Program, or RAMP!
RAMP connects experienced self-published and traditional author mentors with mentees who are unpublished as well as self-published or traditional authors whose careers need a boost. Mentors and mentees will work closely together to revise the mentee's full manuscript over a five-month period.
RAMP was designed specifically with romance authors and the romance market in mind. The program is open only for RWA members with completed romance manuscripts and focuses on both traditional and indie publishing.
Culminating in two events, a Traditional Showcase that features both agents and editors and an Indie Master Class, RAMP is here to help you achieve your writing goals no matter the publishing path you decide to pursue!
Mentors and mentees don't get to have all the fun! RWA will also host educational programming open on topics related to careers in both indie and traditional publishing, which will be open to all members.
Read on to find out more about this new program or visit the RAMP home page. Have questions? Visit our FAQ page or contact [email protected].
How RAMP Works
The program officially kicks off November 18, 2020, when mentor applications open. Once
mentors are selected by RWA Staff,
mentee applicants will be able to view the mentor bios and wish lists and submit a complete manuscript to up to four mentors, who will then choose the mentees with whom they’d like to work!
The goal at the end of the program is for the mentee to have a manuscript and a synopsis, pitch, and/or back cover blurb that are ready to submit to an editor or agent, or ready to go to a copy editor before self-publication.
Click to learn more about the process
for mentors and
for mentees.
Building Community
One of our biggest aims with RAMP is to create a robust
community for writers to learn from and support each other as they work to achieve their publishing dreams. Once selected, mentees will be eligible to join RWA’s The Golden Network chapter, and each mentee class will have their own forum to share advice and encouragement.
But mentees don’t get to have all the fun! The RWA Discussions forum, accessible to RWA members, will play host to related educational programming and discussions during the months the program is live.
2021 Schedule
November 18, 2020 : Mentor apps open
December 9, 2020: Mentor apps close
December 16, 2020 Mentors announced and their wish lists posted
January 5, 2021: Mentee submissions open
January 19, 2021: Mentee submissions close
February 9: Mentees announced
June 28-July 5: Online showcase for editors/agents
July 14-17: RWA2021 in Nashville, Indie Master Class
And Coming Soon...
The Board and the Unpublished Member Benefits Task Force are currently working on a Push to Publish program that will be open to our unpublished members!
As proposed, Push to Publish will be a four month program for unpublished writers to help them go from idea to first draft of their romance novel. It will educate participants with workshops and interactive activities, pitch sessions and exclusive AMAs with successful indie authors! Designed to create a sense of community with small writing groups headed by a published author guide, Push to Publish will help unpublished authors meet their goals by providing resources, encouragement, and support to get that first draft (at least!) finished!