Romantic Novelists' Association

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The Romantic Novel of the Year Awards

The RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year Awards are presented annually, recognising and celebrating the very best in romantic fiction.

Find out more about the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards 2026

Submissions are closed

Entry for the 2026 RoNAs are now closed and we can no longer accept new entries. If you have already purchased an entry but haven’t yet submitted your manuscript, please log in here and submit your book before the deadline of 31st December 2025.

Terms & conditions and eligibility criteria

The Romantic Novel Awards 2026

The RNA Romantic Novelist of the Year Awards celebrates writers and their original work (without reference to their publishers, editors, or brands)

  • Entries must have been written or co-written by the author(/s) named on the entry. 
  • Ghost-written books are NOT accepted.
  • Any work that is found to have been written/generated/produced by any AI model will be instantly disqualified and no refund will be given.
  • All entries must have been first published in the English language.
  • All entries must be available for purchase within the UK
  • Entries are eligible only if first publication in English in any market takes place within the twelve-month period between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025 inclusive. If an entry is found to have been published outside these dates, it will be disqualified and no refunds will be given. 
  • Re-publications of earlier editions (even if alterations have been made to the text or cover, or the work has been re-published by new publishers) are NOT eligible. 
  • Entries may be submitted as PDF/EPUB files ONLY (no hard copies). The text of the entry must not be watermarked. 
  • All entries can be published as print, ePub or/and audio but must be submitted by the formats stated above.
  • If the PDF/EPUB of the completed manuscript or book cover are not available when making an entry, these may be uploaded later (by the 31st of December 2025) provided an entry has been made before midnight on 30th November 2025.
  • Duplicated entries (where authors and publishers have both entered the same book) will not be refunded. 
  • Each title may be submitted to a maximum of 2 categories. 
  • Entrants may submit any number of qualifying books. 
  • The total number of entries over the 12 award categories is capped at 500.
  • For a work of fiction to qualify for the Debut category, the author must not have previously published any other fictional books, in any genre and under any pen names.**This rule does not apply to non-fiction works, including academic papers written by the author.

On all questions of eligibility of entries the organisers’ decision shall be final. No refunds will be given to any author or publisher who is disqualified for any reason from the Awards.

  • The organisers’ decision on all matters of entry eligibility shall be final. No refunds will be issued to any author, publisher or agent disqualified from the Awards for any reason.

About the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards 2026

The Romantic Novel of the Year Awards are administered and awarded by the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Decisions made by the RNA board regarding these awards are final.

All books entered must meet the RNA’s definition of romantic fiction, which can be found here.

Books entered that do not meet the definition will be disqualified and no refund will be given.

The awards are open to members and to non-members of the RNA. 

They are given for the 12 categories here. 

Each entry will be judged by reader judges. 

A shortlist will be drawn of the 5 top scores (or more if there is a tie for fifth place). 

The shortlists for each category will be announced early in 2026, with the winner of each category being announced at the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards (RoNAs) event to be held in May 2026.

Entries may be submitted by a publisher, agent, editor, or author.

Key Dates

The awards are open for entry from Monday 28th July 2025 exclusively for RNA members (including associate members), and from Monday 15th August for all other entrants. 

Award entries close on 30th November 2025 for all entrants. (Unless the limit of 500 entrants is reached before then, in which case the Awards will close before this date.)

The winners of each category will be announced at an awards event in May 2026.

If you are not a member of the RNA  and wish to join, please click here for more information.

Entry Fees 2026

Member/Publisher/Agent – £30 per book (Publishers and agents pay £30 per entry even if their entrants are non-members).

Non-member, entering independently – £90 per book.

Authors, please avoid duplicate entries to the same category by you & your agent/ publisher as no refunds will be given. Please note; shortlisted authors are requested to be available for publicity purposes and to attend the awards event if possible. The RNA does not pay attendees to the awards event. It is the responsibility of the shortlisted authors and their agents/ publishers to ensure they book tickets to the awards event.

Email awardsadmin@romanticwriters.co.uk with any queries.

What is romance?

The Romantic Novelists Association exists to connect, support and champion writers to create their best romantic fiction, as well as championing the genre.

Our definition of romantic fiction is:

A love story with a healthy relationship dynamic between the main characters that results in an uplifting, positive resolution. 

Further clarification is provided below:

Essential elements

Relationship elements that mean the work is NOT a romance