Tag Archives: Writers

Skylark Literary Agency: The Tales For Teens Competition

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

Skylark-Logo-CMYK

Great news! Skylark Literary Agency has put together a competition for fiction manuscripts geared toward young readers of ages 13-15. (Non-fiction is not accepted.) They are looking for uplifting stories with a compelling story and strong characters. They are asking that there be no sex in your completed manuscript.

The Guest Judges

Lauren Fortune, Senior Commissioning Editor, Fiction, Scholastic Children’s Books

Ellen Holgate, Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Florentyna Martin, Children’s New Titles Buyer, Waterstones

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. We 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 March 27, 2016. 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

HarperCollins Publishers Submissions

Literary, , , , , , , , ,

1

Let me state for the record that I’m a firm believer in agents first and let them submit to publishers. But, there are some who want to take charge of their own careers. And kudos to you for having the guts! You’ve written a manuscript and polished it over and over and over again. (And I hope this includes several critique partners feedback and/or hiring a professional editor.) But now that you’re ready to send it out, I’ve got news for you. Did you know that HarperCollins Publishers Australia takes open submissions on Wednesdays?

WednesdayPost_Logo

Oh YES, you read that right! It’s part of their The Wednesday Post program. Click the link to go to the webpage for descriptions of what they’re looking for and a submission form (note the form will not be active if it is not Wednesday). Keep in mind they are ahead of us by several hours, so know the time zone! What you need to submit:

  •  A synopsis of your work.
  •  The first 50 pages or first three chapters of your manuscript.
  •  A short note about yourself.

As always, good luck!

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

The Philadelphia Writing Workshop

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

Philadephia Writing Workshop

Writing workshops are great to get professional advise on writing, marketing, and how to land an agent. The Philadelphia Writing Workshop will be held on April 9, 2016.  This year’s faculty so far includes literary agent Alyssa Eisner Henkin (Trident Media Group); literary agent Maria Lamba (Jennifer De Chiara Literary); literary agent Mackenzie Brady (New Leaf Literary); Adriana Dominguez (Full Circle Literary); literary agent Jordy Albert (Booker Albert Literary Agency); literary agent Eric Smith (P.S. Literary); and hopefully more editors & agents to be announced soon. Also, the presenter will be author/editor Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest.

As always, book your seat right away because seats are limited.

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

Pitch Madness – Mario Kart Edition

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

Pitch Madness-Mario Kart Edition

It’s time for another Pitch Madness event brought to you by author Brenda Drake. The contest is for completed manuscripts only, so please don’t submit your current WIP. Since this is a blog contest, here is how it works. You’ll submit a 35 word pitch and the first 250 words of you manuscript via email. Hosts and co-hosts will select the 60 finalists to move into the agent round. They’ll accept MG, YA, NA, and adult fiction. (Sorry, no non-fiction allowed.)

The submission window will open at 12:01 AM EST on February 26, 2016 and close at 11:59 PM EST. Participating agents will be announced on Brenda’s blog on February 17th, so watch her site for updates and submission guidelines.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference

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

Pikes Peak Writers Conference

Pikes Peak Writers Conference is an opportunity to get literary advise from a professional in the business or get invaluable feedback on your manuscript. The conference will be held April 15-17, 2016 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Keynote speakers will be Kevin J. Anderson, Rachel Caine, Joe R. Lansdale, Jeff Lindsay, and Wendy Corsi Staub. Acquiring agents and editors will be Annie Berger (Harper Collins), Caitlin Dareff (St. Martin’s Press), Melissa L. Edwards (The Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency), Linda Epstein (The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency), Angie Hodapp (Nelson Literary Agency), Jennifer Letwack (Thomas Dunne Books), Renee Nyen (KT Literary Agency), Steve Saffel (Titan Books), Alec Shane (Writers House), Elaine Spencer (The Knight Agency),  Suzie Townsend (New Leaf Literary).

As always, don’t wait to register because seats fill up fast!

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

The Atlanta Writing Workshop

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

Houston Writing Workshop

Lately, you may have noticed that I try to keep you posted on conferences as well as contests. As I learn about events, I will post them for you to decide if you want to participate. Today I bring you information about The Atlanta Writing Workshop in Georgia on February 20, 2016. If you are in the area, you could get feedback from a literary agent or gain writing advise through one of the workshops. This year’s faculty so far includes literary agent Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Literary); literary agent Stephanie Fretwell-Hill (Red Fox Literary); literary agent Penny Moore (FinePrint Literary Management); literary agent Julie Gwinn (The Seymour Agency); literary agent Kurestin Armada (P.S. Literary); literary agent Pamela Harty (The Knight Agency); literary agent Veronica Park (Corvisiero Literary); and literary agent Sally Apokedak (Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency).

As always, the seats are limited and fill up fast, especially since it’s so close to the workshop date. They will post directly on the website when seats are filled.

Happy writing!

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

Writers Fest & Conferences

Literary, , , , , , , , ,

SOKYBookFest_logo-300x164

The Southern Kentucky Book Fest will be held April 23, 2016. Southern Kentucky Book Fest is one of the state’s largest literary events and is presented by Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Warren County Public Library, and WKU Libraries.

The Kentucky Writers Conference and Teen Writers Conference will occur on April 22, 2016. Information on registration and schedule of events will post sometime this month. Keep a watch for the important information as I’m sure they’ll fill up fast.

Have a great day writing.

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

Curtis Brown and Conville & Walsh’s Literary Pitch Event

Literary, , , , , , , , ,

images (1)

This Friday (January 29th) will be the first pitch event of 2016 for Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency and Conville & Walsh. These events are held on the fourth Friday of every month, so you can catch the next event if you miss this one.

In order to submit, prepare a 140 character pitch including #pitchCB hashtag for your completed manuscript. The window will be open for 24 hours and remember to only pitch once! If your pitch is “liked”, submit directly to that agent following that agencies’ submission guidelines.

As always, good luck!

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

 

Bookfish Books Crit & Pub Opportunity

Contests, Literary, , , , , , ,

Bookfish Books Logo

Bookfish Books is hosting a twitter pitch party for an opportunity to be published through the company on January 13th, 2016. What’s even greater is that all favorited pitches will get personal feedback! This is golden in the writing industry. The editors also promise to give a few individuals critiques on their manuscripts first three chapters.

ShamWow guy

But wait, that’s not all!

One lucky writer will win a critique of his/her full manuscript. Whoa! Now that’s a golden ticket filled with scrumptious chocolate. And to top things off with ooze worthy icing, writer’s have an opportunity to be published if an editor loves their manuscript. (Obviously, I’ve an obsession with sweets today.)

Be sure and visit Bookfish Books to learn the rules and follow on twitter at #pitchBFB.

As always, goodluck.

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

#PitMad Is Tomorrow!

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

images (1)

Just a quick post from my mobile (so excuse any typos or wonky layouts). I want to make sure all my readers know Brenda Drake’s #PitMad is tomorrow! So get your 140 character pitch ready. If you won’t be home, you can always use TweetDeck to schedule your tweets.

And most importantly, be aware of the new rules! You are only allowed THREE pitches per manuscript. This is because #PitMad has become so popular that agents are having issues keeping up with the feed and many pitches are getting lost in the flow of abundance.

Also make a note NOT to RT to show support for a friend. (Tag them without RT to let them know.) And always-always remember to NOT favorite another pitch you like. This is for agents and publishers to request material.

For complete rules, go to the #PitMad page on Brenda’s site.