Doyenne of all romance publishers Mills & Boon has teamed with WHSmith and Kobo for Romance Writing Life, a competition that aims to find new romance authors (have I used the word ‘romance’ enough yet? Romance romance romance). Interested authors should submit a synopsis of no more than 500 words of their unpublished or self-published novel, in any genre of romantic novel (supernatural, historical, comedy etc.), alongside a first chapter of no more than 5,000 words. The winner will receive a print and digital contract with Mills & Boon. Second and third prize will each receive a Kobo Glo HD on which they’ll be able to read the winner’s much better book.

Some further guidelines for submission (don’t steal that as a title for your Fifty Shades knock-off by the way, that one’s mine): the deadline for synopses and first chapters is 14 July, with the winners announced on 24 August, but the winning author should be prepared to submit a manuscript of at least 70,000 words to Mills & Boon by around 30 September. Entrants must reside in the UK, USA or Canada, and should have an active Kobo Writing Life account. Submissions should be written in English and take the form of a single Word document in a 12 point double spaced font. Pages should be numbered, with each page also containing the title and author’s name, and the first page containing title, author’s name, e-mail address, phone number and word count of the first chapter.

Entries will be judged by a panel of three: Isobel Akenhead, store merchandiser for Kobo in the UK, Ireland and South Africa, and formerly of Hachette and Hodder & Staughton; Anna Baggaley, commissioning editor on the Mills & Boon single title list; and Simon Mackay, digital books manager for WH Smith.