The award is given annually to the author of the best woman's memoir published in the United States and Canada and selected from works submitted. The award is limited to submissions from small/independent publishers, university presses, and author-publishers (self-publishing authors). Professional librarians not affiliated with SCN will select the winner. The winner of the 2013 award will be announced on the Story Circle Network websites and to its extensive email list in April, 2014 (in April of even-numbered years, our current & previous years' winners will be invited to attend and be honored at Stories from the Heart, the biannual SCN National Memoir Conference, Austin TX).

• Memoirs by women authors published during September 1, 2012 - December 1, 2013 in the United States and Canada are eligible.
  • A book originally published as a hardcover and released later as a trade, mass-market paperback, or e-book is eligible only if the original copyright date is within the eligibility timeframe.
  • Books released/published in North America outside of the eligibility timeframe (September 1, 2012 - December 1, 2013), in any format (hardcover, softcover, e-book, POD) are not eligible.
  • The memoir must have an ISBN; go here to read more or obtain an ISBN.

• Memoirs by women authors written in collaboration are acceptable if both authors must have experienced the events described in the narrative (for example, a mother/daughter collaboration about their lives together).

• Memoirs published by major publishing houses are not eligible.

• Ghostwritten or collaborative works (memoirs written by or with anyone other than the person who experienced the events therein) are NOT eligible.

• Novels, including fictionalized memoirs, are NOT eligible.

• Anyone (author, publisher, SCN member, non-SCN member, other) may submit one or more eligible memoirs.

• The memoir must be submitted in its final, reader-ready form. Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) are not acceptable.

• E-book entries must be submitted in printed and bound form; spiral binding is acceptable.

• Loose manuscript pages or three-ring binders are NOT acceptable and will neither be acknowledged nor returned.

• The entry submission package consists of the application form, the entry fee, and three bound copies of the memoir.

• Entries received with incomplete submission packages will not be acknowledged or returned. The entry fee for an incomplete submission will not be returned.

• If you would like to check out our rubric (the scoring guide our jurors and judges will use to determine the winner), go here.

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