Tag Archives: Publishing

Beaming Books PB Writing Contest

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Beaming Books is hosting a contest for picture books written to help kids thrive emotionally, socially and spiritually. The stories should cover topics on self-esteem, kindness, ethics, or faith. If you have an unpublished picture book of 1,000 words or less that meet the publishers mission, then The Beaming Books Children’s Picture Book Writing Contest might be for you!

The story doesn’t have to be illustrated, but it’s okay if it is. The winner will win $3000 and the chance to be published. Make sure you read the complete guidelines before submitting. But hurry, the entry deadline is November 14, 2018. And as always, good luck!

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

Still a few hours left for #KitPit today!

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Heidi Norrod is hosting another fabulous twitter pitch event for writers called KidPit! In order to participate, authors need to have a finished manuscript and tweet their 280 character pitch using the hashtag #KidPit on twitter. The contest will be between 9am-3pm CST (Chicago time) on November 7, 2018. You will allowed to pitch six times over the course of the event. (That’s once every hour, as the event is six hours long.)

This event is open to BOARD BOOKS, PICTURE BOOKS, EASY READER/CHAPTER BOOKS, MIDDLE GRADE, and/or YOUNG ADULT COMPLETED novel, fiction and non-fiction books. When typing your pitch, be sure to include either #BB (Board Book), #PB (Picture Books), #CB (Chapter Books and Early Readers), #MG (Middle Grade), or #YA (Young Adult) and tag with the genre. And don’t forget to add the hashtag #KidPit so it will show up in the feed.

Also, I’d like to remind everyone that twitter pitch parties are open to everyone, meaning anyone can trawl the feed! Be sure to research before you send any submissions from a favored pitch. As always, good luck!

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

@WriteOnCon Campaign for 2019 Conference (Critiques, Agent Calls, Sensitivity Reads, Publishing Chats and more!)

 

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WriteOnCon is an online conference for kidlit writers and illustrators to teach, learn, and mingle. You do not have to be published to attend, nor do you have to leave your house! And if you think I’ve been sitting on my laptop waiting for the campaign to start, YOU ARE RIGHT! The campaign often has very affordable critiques and I WANT IN!

During the campaign, writers can purchase critiques of their queries, partial pages, or full manuscripts from NYT Best Selling Authors, publishing editors, or literary agents. Authors can also opt to purchase a sensitivity read of their manuscript. Writers can even purchase calls from a couple of literary agents to discuss the publishing industry. Some of the participants of the crits or chats include:

All purchases appear to include conference registration and entry into a raffle to win a critique, book ARC, or a phone call from an agent! (There will be multiple winners.) And of course, you can purchase only the conference if not interested in any of the critiques. The prices are:

  • General Admission: $1
  • Full Conference Admission: $5
  • Extended Admission: $10
  • Time Traveler Admission $15

No, you’re not reading those numbers wrong! This will be the cheapest conference you will ever attend that will be packed with hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of information from the comforts of your home! What else could you ask for? For complete information of what the tiered admissions cover and to search through critiques you might want to purchase, go to the campaign page. The crowdfunding will end on December 6, 2018. so hurry if you want to purchase a critique. They’re going fast.

As for the conference, it’ll be February 8th – 10th, 2019. Mark your calendars and I hope to see you there, uh, virtually of course!

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

Adult Fiction Interns Needed for The Bent Agency

The Bent Agency

The Bent Agency is looking for adult fiction interns. This is a great way to learn more about an agent’s work and decision-making process. Past interns have been writers for adults, adult librarians, elementary school teachers, MFA students, and passionate readers. This is an unpaid internship which will require a ten hour per week commitment and you do NOT have to live in New York.

They’re looking for someone who enjoys books by authors such as:

– Megan Miranda
– Tana French
– Eleanor Brown
– Jacqueline Sheehan
– Maria Semple
– Gillian Flynn
– Lori Roy
– Lori Nelson Spielman
– Anne Taylor
– Jane Austen
– Kristin Hannah
– Rosamund Lupton
– Kate Atkinson
– Jade Chang

They’ve had this posted for two days, so don’t delay if you’re interested. The candidates pile up super fast and the submission window could close soon. For complete details, go here. As always, good luck!

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

Submit To Dial Books For Young Readers

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Did you know that Dial Books For Young Readers (an imprint of Penguin/Random House) allows authors to submit to them without having an agent? Yes, you heard that right! They publish picture book, middle grade, and young adult books. Several of their authors have been on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Other authors have won Newberry Honor, Caldecott Honor, Printz Medal, and many other awards. So, they are a very notable imprint!

If you go this route, make sure your manuscript is polished before submitting! You want to show your best work! Go here for submissions guidelines. And as always, good luck!

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

#DVpit Hosted by Literary Agent Beth Phelan

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The search for diversity within books has increased, not just with secondary characters but main characters. The world wants to see a fabulous palette of colors and cultures among the stories they read and the publishing industry is responding! This prompted literary agent Beth Phelan of Galt & Zacker Literary Agency to create DVpit.

According to the site, #DVpit is a twitter event created to showcase pitches about and by marginalized voices. This includes (but is not limited to): Native peoples and people of color; people living and/or born/raised in underrepresented cultures and countries; disabled persons; people with illness; people on marginalized ends of the socioeconomic, cultural and/or religious spectrum; people identifying as LGBTQIA+; and more.

The next event will spread over two days

  • October 16 will be for Children’s & Teen Fiction/Nonfiction (picture books, chapter books, graphic novel, middle grade, young adult).
  • October 17 will be for Adult Fiction/Nonfiction (all genres, commercial and literary).

Each day the event will run from 8am-8pm ET using the hashtag #DVpit. Be sure and pitch your manuscript on the correct day because agents/editors will search the feed on the specific day of the category and genres they represent/acquire. And finally, make sure you follow the guidelines for pitching.

As always, good luck!

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

Skylark Literary Middle Grade Competition

 

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Great news! Skylark Literary Agency has put together a competition for fiction manuscripts geared toward young readers of ages 8-12. (Non-fiction is not accepted.) They are looking for outstanding new stories with strong characters. Submissions must be from unagented and unpublished writers.

The Guest Judges

Kirsty Stansfield, Head of Fiction, Nosy Crow

Lucy Pearse, Senior Editor, Macmillan Children’s Books

Charlotte Eyre, Children’s Editor, The Bookseller

The Prize

The prize will be a one-to-one editorial critique of your finished manuscript by phone, or in person (locations allowing), with Joanna and/or Amber. They will suggest ways in which you could polish and perfect your novel to improve its chances of representation and publication, and seek to answer any queries you may have about the children’s publishing industry in general.

The Deadline!

The deadline for competition entries is December 24, 2018. So CLICK HERE for how to enter together with the full terms and conditions.

As always, good luck!

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

Author Mentor Match #AMM Round 5

Author Mentor Match was created by Heather Kaczynski and Alexa Donne. The object is to match new writers with authors further along in the publishing process and gain invaluable mentoring! That’s right, this is an opportunity to get your manuscript critiqued (for free) before submitting to agents!

Authors can select up to four mentors during the submission window between October 15, 2018 through October 21, 2018. Watch for the mentor BIOS to be posted to learn what age groups and genres they wish to see in their inbox!

Please note there is a two-step process for entering:

  1. Fill out the submission form. (I believe the form will appear during the sub window period.)
  2. Email the proper information to authormentormatch@gmail.com:
  • A query (pasted in the body of the email!)
  • The first 50 pages/3 chapters of your novel (whichever is longer & can be attached)
  • A synopsis

Be sure to include in the subject line the manuscripts Age Category +Genre + Title. (ie: YA Sci-Fi – Mars Plants are the Bomb) on the email submission. And check out the site in order to know how to select the mentors you wish to submit because it isn’t clear quite yet. (I’m guessing this might be part of the submission form.) As always, good luck!

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

Philadelphia Writing Workshop 2018

Chicago Writing Workshop

Per the Philadelphia Writing Workshop website, this writing event (November 17, 2018) is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the event (200 total). They will inform everyone directly on the website when seats are closed.

Here are a few of this years faculty that will be in attendance:

Since the seats are limited, don’t delay in registering. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!

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

Yes! It’s #MSWL Day!

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That’s right folks, today agents and editors tweet about their manuscript wish lists on twitter using the hashtag #MSWL. So, if you’re looking for an agent, read their wishes because you just might’ve written exactly what they’re looking for. As for the editors, be sure and check their guidelines because not all of them accept unagented manuscripts. Then, why are they tweeting you ask? Because agents need to submit their clients just the same as when an author subs to an agent.

Don’t worry if you miss the live event, you can always scroll through the feed afterwards. And if you want to get more details regarding what agents/editors want, go to the website Manuscript Wish List. Now, quit dawdling and get to perusing the hashtag!

Good luck finding the perfect match!

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