Tag Archives: Unagented

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition

Chicken House Books

While they no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts, they do offer unpublished and unagented writers of children’s fiction the chance to submit their work to the annual Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. They’re looking for original ideas, a fresh voice and a story that children will love!

First prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000 (approximately $12,500 US), plus representation from a top children’s literary agent.

To enter, you must have written a completed full-length novel suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. The full-length , manuscript should be minimum of 30,000 words and do not exceed 80,000 words in length.

The competition closes February 1, 2021. Also, there is an entry fee of £15 (approximately $18.76 US). For complete guidelines and entry form, go here.

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

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Sourcebooks: Romance Submissions

Sourcebooks

While Sourcebooks only accepts virtually all agented submissions, they’re doors are wide open for romance fiction subs—even from unagented writers! They are acquiring single-title romance fiction for their Casablanca imprint. Some of the subgenres they’ll accept are:

  • paranormal romance
  • romantic suspense
  • contemporary romance
  • erotic romance
  • historical romance (prior to 1900 only)

Please note, this is not an exclusive list as they state they’ll consider all subgenres. The manuscripts they’re looking for should be between 85,000-100,000 words. To get an idea of some things they like, check out a few of their recent authors’ books.

For complete criteria and to learn how to submit, go here. As always, good luck!

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

Forever Yours Submissions (Hachette Books Romance Imprint)

See the source image

Forever Yours is a romance imprint of Hachette Books that not only accepts agented manuscripts, they also accept unagented submissions. (Yep, you heard that right!) The imprint is looking for adult contemporary, diverse reads, romantic suspense, cowboys, historicals, and paranormal romance styles. (Please note that they do not want YA, fantasy, mystery, general fiction, or nonfiction.) And further great news, they also accept novellas!

Be sure to read the complete guidelines for submissions before sending your manuscript. And as always, good luck!

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

Tor/Forge Submissions (Macmillan Imprint)

Tor Forge

Did you know that Tor/Forge takes unagented submissions for science fiction and fantasy manuscripts! But it doesn’t end there. They’ll also take fiction of all other types including but not limited to general fiction, historical fiction, horror, mystery, paranormal, suspense/thriller, urban fantasy, and woman’s fiction. Among the age groups they accept are middle grade, young adult, and adult. But they do it the “old school” way. So, no sending emails with attached documents. This publisher wants paper submissions. Whoa!

If you have a manuscript that fits one of these genres and age categories, then be sure and check out their submission guidelines. And as always, good luck!

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

Entangled Publishing Submissions

Entangled

Have you just finished writing a steamy romance novel, or maybe a teen novel sprinkled with some love? Entangled Publishing doesn’t require writers to have agents to submit to them. That’s right! Polish that manuscript and send it to one of their imprints that best fits your story.

  • Amara – 70k-120k word single title adult romance novels.
  • August – 20k-70k word category romance featuring Gen-X characters.
  • Bliss – 20k-60k sweet category romance.
  • Brazen – 20k-60k erotic category romance.
  • Embrace – New Adult romance novels or novels with romantic elements.
  • Entangled Teen – 70k-120k word romance novels or novels with romantic elements.
  • Indulgence – 45k-60k contemporary category romance.
  • Lovestruck – 20k-60k contemporary, romantic comedy category romance.
  • Scandalous – 20k-65k historical category romance.
  • Scorched – 15k-65k novellas, serialized novellas, and full-length novels, all with erotic romance elements.
  • Teen Crave – 20k-60k paranormal/scifi/fantasy YA category romance.
  • Teen Crush – 20k-60k contemporary YA category romance.

They even blog about special submission requests. Check them out here! So, if you haven’t written the novel that’s been nagging to leave your brain, get going! After all, it is NaNoWriMo!

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

Skylark Literary Middle Grade Competition

 

Skylark-Logo-CMYK

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

Sourcebooks: Romance Submissions

Sourcebooks

While Sourcebooks only accepts virtually all agented submissions, they’re doors are wide open for romance fiction subs—even from unagented writers! They are acquiring single-title romance fiction for their Casablanca imprint. Some of the subgenres they’ll accept are:

  • paranormal romance
  • romantic suspense
  • contemporary romance
  • erotic romance
  • historical romance (prior to 1900 only)

Please note, this is not an exclusive list as they state they’ll consider all subgenres. The manuscripts they’re looking for should be between 85,000-100,000 words. To get an idea of some things they like, check out a few of their recent authors’ books.

For complete criteria and to learn how to submit, go here. As always, good luck!

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

Hachette Imprint Open for Submissions!

Hodder & Stoughton

Hodder & Stoughton, John Murray Press (Hachette Imprint) will be opening for unagented submissions on December 1, 2017 (12am GMT) and close on December 7, 2017 (11:59pm GMT) for THE FUTURE BOOKSHELF! Although this is an United Kingdom publisher, they will be taking international submissions for fiction and non-fiction. This is an exciting opportunity because big houses don’t often open their doors to unagented writers.

Some of the authors Hodder & Stoughton publishes is Stephen King, Martina Cole, Jodi Picoult, The Sidemen, Stieg Larsson, Trevor Noah, David Mitchell, Andrea Levy, Katie Piper, Mo Farrah, Graham Norton, and many more. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be one of the great writers added to this list?

If chosen, you will get paid an advance and royalties. They’ll set you up with an editor and publicist, as well as have a marketing campaign. So, you’ll get all the perks of a bestselling author! A few of the rules are:

  • Must be over 18.
  • An underrepresented writerly category (see their guidelines for descriptions).
  • Fiction (any genre) and non-fiction works must be over 50,000 words.
  • Must be written in English.

But they have more requirements than this. For complete rules and how to submit, go here. As always, good luck!

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

Sparkhouse Family Picture Book Writing Contest 2017

spark-house-family

Sparkhouse Family is a faith based publisher. They aim to publish creative, winsome, charming stories that help parents instill an open-hearted, transformational, life-long Christian faith in children ages 0-12.

The Sparkhouse Family Children’s Picture Book Contest is an open call for picture books that support this mission. They’ll choose one manuscript to develop into a picture book. The winning author will get a prize of $5,000 and a chance to have their book published by Sparkhouse Family.

To enter, submit a brief synopsis of your book, your author bio, your contact information, and complete manuscript. All submitted works must be finished, previously unpublished manuscripts of 1,000 words or less. The contest is open to new, upcoming, and established writers alike, but only unagented submissions are eligible.

They’ll accept submissions through November 17, 2017. As always, good luck!

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

#PitchCB for October!

#PitchCB is Curtis Brown and Conville & Walsh’s own monthly Twitter novel pitching party, hosted by Richard Pike of C + W. 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. Book agents will be online for each event to read each pitch and will be inviting successful authors to submit directly to them.

This month the event will occur on October 27, 2017. 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.