Tag Archives: Manuscripts

New Vision Award via Lee & Low Books

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Lee & Low Books

TU BOOKS, the middle grade and young adult imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children’s books, announced the fourth New Visions Award a few months ago. The award will be given for a middle grade or young adult novel by a writer of color. Established in 2012, the NEW VISIONS AWARD encourages writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. Winning submissions include Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani, published in 2015 and the recipient of an honor citation from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Award for Literature, and The Amaterasu Project by Axie Oh, due for publication in 2017.

Eligibility:

  1. The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States, 18 years of age or older at the time of entry, and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published.
  2. Writers who have published work in other venues such as children’s magazines or picture books, or adult fiction or nonfiction, are eligible. Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted.
  3. Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible.
  4.  Manuscripts previously submitted for this award or to TU BOOKS will not be considered.

Submissions will be accepted through October 31, 2016. Since the window is closing, y’all better scoot on over here for complete guidelines!

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

#PitchCB In October

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , ,

 curtis-brown-literary-and-talent-agencyc_w_square

#PitchCB is Curtis Brown and Conville & Walsh’s own monthly Twitter novel pitching party, hosted by Rebecca Ritchie and Richard Pike of Curtis Brown. And it’s tomorrow!

On each #PitchCB day, writers searching for an agent can tweet a one-line pitch for their work. The pitch must be 140 characters or less, using the hashtag #PitchCB. Their book agents will be online for each event to read each pitch and will be inviting successful authors to submit directly to them.

This months interest is historical fiction on October 28, 2016. The window will be open for 24 hours, but only pitch once during that time! For complete rules, go here.

As  always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

YA Discovery Contest

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Serendipity Literary Agency in conjunction with Sourcebooks Inc. is hosting their seventh annual Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition. If you’ve had trouble pitching your ideas in the past, no worries with this contest. You won’t even need a query!

YA literary agent Regina Brooks and her team will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions.  (There are supposed to be great prizes for the top winners!) These submissions will then be read by editors from many of the major publishing houses. Past judges include editors from Scholastic, Random House/Penguin, Little, Brown, Candlewick, Bloomsbury, Simon and Schuster, and Abram Books.  Judges will whittle the top 20 down to five winners, including a Grand Prize Winner.

Submissions open on November 1, 2016 at 12:01am (ET) and close on November 30, 2016 at 12:59pm (ET). Only one entry per person with a $15 entry fee. The contest is open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

For complete guidelines and submission rules, or to watch for their upcoming post about prizes, go here.

As always, good luck!

The Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award

Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

the-iceland-writers-retreat-alumni-award-scenic-pic

A writer’s retreat in Iceland? Can I get a woot-woot? The Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award offers talented writers in need of financial support an opportunity to attend the Iceland Writers Retreat in Reykjavík, Iceland in April, 2017. Per their website, entrants can apply for either full or partial funding. Full funding covers all participation in the Iceland Writers Retreat. The scholarship includes round-trip flights to Iceland and accommodations. Partial funding covers the participant fee only, and neither accommodation nor round trip flights.

Deadline for applications: Monday, 31 October, 2016. Midnight, PST. For complete details on how to submit, go here.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Pitch To Publication Is Coming

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Pitch to Publication

Hard to believe it’s almost time for another Pitch To Publication, aka #P2P16, created by agency intern Samantha Fountain. Writers can follow along on twitter for announcements at the above hashtag (or Samantha’s account), but submissions for the contest will be on the P2P website via a form on October 22, 2016.

This contest is for finished and polished manuscripts only. Writers need to submit a query letter and five pages of their manuscript. The submission window will open at noon EST and last for 24 hours. Authors should peruse the participating freelance editors to know which one to submit their story to because only 3 can be chosen (plus a 4th as backup incase their selections “cap out”). Editors can only receive 100 queries. So authors, do the research necessary to prevent getting deleted because an editor isn’t interested in the genre or age category you submitted.

If chosen, the editor will work with the author for five weeks to hone the story before the agent round begins on December 5, 2016. Requests for fulls will be announced on twitter on December 9, 2016.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

The Bent Agency Internship

Internship, Literary, , , , , , , , ,

molly_ker_hawn

Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency is looking for an intern to read young adult and middle grade fiction for her. This is a remote and unpaid internship. Her expectations are that the intern reads and reports on an manuscript every two weeks. Applicants should be familiar with all sorts of YA & MG, especially literary-commercial. Molly would like someone with knowledge of New York Time Best Sellers and has interests in authors like Katherine Rundell, John Corey Whaley, Stephanie Kuehn, Margo Lanagan, Jack Gantos, Marie Rutkoski, Naomi Novik, Jacqueline Woodson, E Lockhart, Gene Luen Yang, Libba Bray…and, of course, her own clients.

For guidelines and how to apply, go here. As always, good luck!

P. D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

#PitDark Is Coming!

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

pitdark-october-20-262x300

Another twitter pitch party is around the corner and I’m excited! Author Jason Huebinger is the host of #PitDark. This is one of my favorite contests because it’s strictly for manuscripts with darker elements, which is soooo appropriate for the month of Halloween. The event begins on October 20, 2016 from 8am-8pm EST. Authors may pitch once an hour per manuscript. Please do not clog the feed by over pitching so agents don’t get frustrated and quit reading.

For complete rules and appropriate hashtags to use, go here. (Note: If your curious, there is a link on this page to see what agents participated in the last #PitDark.)

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Nightmare On Query Street 2016

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , , ,

noqs-2016

It’s getting close to Halloween, which means Nightmare On Query Street is soon! But don’t let the title fool you into thinking you’re manuscript won’t qualify. The title is more about when the contest takes place. You can enter any age category or genre, excluding picture books and erotica.

The submission window opens at 4:00 pm (EST) on October 14th. All entries sent before this time will be deleted. For this years contest, there are 25 agents lined up! TWENTY FIVE! How awesome is that? But you’d better be on your toes if you want to submit. They will close submissions when they reach 250 entries or in two hours, whichever is first.

Michelle, Mike, and Laura will make 13 picks each. Then a few mentors they’ve selected will help the authors hone their entries before the agent round. On October 29 through October 30, the entries will go live for the agents to select.

Some rules to take note of:

  • You are not eligible if you’ve been in an agent round in the last six months. (This does not include open twitter pitches.)
  • You can enter if you have a different manuscript to enter than previous agent round you were in.
  •  Only ONE entry per person. (No using multiple emails or pen names!)

You’ll need to send you query and first 250 words, along with a short paragraph (no more than 100 words) answering this question: What is your main character’s most stressful relationship? Who really makes them sweat?

For complete details and submission formatting, go here. Also, be on the look out on each of their blogs for FREE PASSES!

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Donaghy Literary Group Seeking Agent

Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

donaghy-literary-group

If you’ve experience in publishing and want to transition to being an agent, this is the post for you! Donaghy Literary Group is looking for an agent. It is a commission based position and can be done from your home. I suppose this means you could work in your pajamas most days if you want. Can I get a woot-woot?

Job Requirements:

  • A College or University degree preferred but will consider equivalent experience
  • 2+ years in an agenting role or editorial experience working with a Publisher
  • Strong editing skills
  • Established relationships with editors and other publishing professionals
  • A solid understanding of market trends
  • Passionate about commercial fiction
  • Excellent communication skills
  • A high level of professionalism
  • A clear understanding of what an agent’s job entails
  • The desire to have fun and work with an awesome team

They are seeking an agent based out of NY at this time, however, will consider other locations for the right applicant. If interested, contact Stacey Donaghy by sending your resume and cover letter to info@donaghyliterary.com by October 14th  use email subject line: Agent Application.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

New Voices Award Ending Soon

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lee & Low Books

LEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children’s books, has been sponsoring the seventeenth annual NEW VOICES AWARD. The Award will be given for a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color. Woo-hoo! Another contest just for PB’s!

Eligibility:

  1. The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States, 18 years or older at the time of entry, and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published.
  2. Writers who have published work in other venues and genres, including children’s magazines, young adult, and adult fiction or nonfiction, are eligible.
  3. Only unagented submissions will be accepted.
  4. Work that has been published in any format, including online and self published, is not eligible.
  5. Manuscripts previously submitted for this award or to LEE & LOW BOOKS will not be considered.

Submissions may be Fiction, NonFiction, or Poetry for children ages 5 to 12. (Note: Stories with Anthropomorphic animal characters will not be considered.) Manuscripts shouldn’t be any more than 1500 words.The Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500. But you need to hurry because submissions have to be postmarked by September 30, 2016. (That’s right, no digital entries!) For complete submission guidelines, go here.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.