Tag Archives: Writing Contest

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 If you have an unpublished picture book of 1,000 words or less that meet the publishers mission, then The Beaming Books Children’s Picture Book Writing Contest might be for you!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

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2018 Nelson Algren Literary Awards Submissions Ending Soon!

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chicago-tribune

Submissions for the 2018 Nelson Algren Literary Awards (sponsored by the Chicago Tribune) is ending on February 7, 2018 at 11:59pm CST. Entrants must be 18 years of age and submit their original short fiction of up to 8000 words.

Prizes

  • One Grand Prize: $3,500.
  • Four Finalist Prizes: $1,000.
  • Five Runner-up Prizes: $500.

So, if you want an opportunity to see your words in print and win some cash, go here for the official rules. As always, good luck!

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

Who Can You Trust…A Charles Cumming Contest

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St. Martin’s Press is giving 5 lucky winners the opportunity to be published in A DIVIDED SPY by New York Times Bestselling author Charles Cumming. Each winner will also receive $250.

A Divided Spy

The theme of trust looms large in A Divided Spy. Throughout the book, new and old confidants surround ex-spy Thomas Kell, providing him with sensitive information, and he (and the reader) don’t know whom he can trust until the very end of the book.

  • How has trusting a family member, friend, or stranger affected your life? To enter Who Can You Trust, write up to 1,000 words on how trust (or distrust) has changed your outlook.
  • Entries will be judged on originality, creativity, style, and integrity.
  • The deadline is January 17, 2017 at 11:59 ET.

Be sure to check the official rules in the small box at the bottom of the contest page! As always, good luck!

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

Pitch To Publication

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Pitch to Publication

It’s almost time for Pitch To Publication hosted by Samantha Fountain. This contest is a golden ticket for the winners because not only do editors select manuscripts to edit, but there will be an agent round followed by a publisher round. It’s stretched over a few months for the winners, but when the contest comes to a close, a few might have agents as well as publishing deals!

The submission window will be on Saturday, March 5th 12:00pm EST to Sunday, March 6th 12:00pm EST. If you have questions, you can ask Samantha using the hashtag #P2P16 on twitter. The editors are listed on the website, along with what they are looking for. Samantha will also list the participating agents and publishers on the site, so stay tuned to her page!

As always, good luck!

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

Nightmare On Query Street is Coming! #NoQS

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Oh yes, another wonderful contest to connect writers with literary agents! SUH-WEET! Please get familiar with these important dates:

Submission Window Opens: October 15th 4:00 pm EST
Final Picks are Announced: October 20th undecided time
Mentors Go to Work: October 21th – 26th
Revised Entries Due Back: October 26th at 8 pm
Agent round: October 29th – 30th

NoQS2015

The contest is hosted by Michelle Hauck and Michael Anthony. So far there are twenty agents signed up, but Michelle hasn’t posted them yet. However, she has revealed the mentors that will help winners perfect their query and first 250 words. They are:

  1. Colleen McCoy
  2. Kathleen Allen
  3. Jamie Zakian
  4. Rena Olsen
  5. Amy Trueblood
  6. Tracy Townsend
  7. Wade Albert White
  8. Ashley Hearn
  9. Jessica Kapp
  10. Melissa Caruso
  11. Judi Lauren
  12. Amanda Heger
  13.  Marty Mayberry
  14. Michelle Hazen
  15. Christina Dalcher
  16. Heather Van Fleet
  17. Richard Pearson
  18. Kim Long
  19. Judy Clemens
  20. Betsy Aldredge
  21. LS Hawker
  22. Wendy Nikel
  23. Erika David
  24. Nicole Tone

To learn brief bios on all the mentors you can visit half of them on Michelle’s site and the other half on Mike’s site. There is also a FREE PASS contest on Michelle’s site to go straight to the agent round! And don’t forget to watch for the list of participating agents, as well as pay attention to rules and formatting.

As always, good luck!

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

Pitch to Publication

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Whoa! Did I read that right? This appears to be the Holy Grail of writerly competitions hosted by Samantha Fountain! Okay-okay. So, this won’t provide youth or food in abundance, but it sure as heck is gonna make winners feel extremely happy as it might have the special power to see them get a publishing deal by the end of the year.

Much like Brenda Drake’s PitchWars, Pitch to Publication has mentors that will edit the entire manuscript of the winning entrants. They will go through everything with a fine-tooth comb to make the manuscripts shine before the agent round. However, these mentors are ALL freelance editors, where PW mentors are a mix of agented authors and editors (which is still awesome BTW).

But the difference doesn’t stop there. After the agent round, there will be a publishing house round. (I may have squealed after reading that. Go ahead, you can too.) So basically, if an agent decides to represent one of the entrants, s/he will have time to further edit before the publishing round, but the team can also decide to sit the pub round out. Why on earth would they do that? Perhaps they’ll want longer to work the MS, or any other varied reason.

Here are some important dates:

June 29-July 3: Submissions window for entrants. You can choose up to FIVE mentors. Window closes at midnight on July third.

July 6-16: Editors will make requests for first 50 pages. If a mentor requests pages, they’ll want to see them within 24 hours.

July 17: Noon CST, editors must have sent in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices to Samantha Fountain.

July 20: Editor/Author teams will be announced.

July 27- August 28: This will be the time chosen writers will work on their manuscripts with the editors.

August 31- September 1: The agent round.

September 21: The agent needs to have replied to the writer/writers with a rejection or offer of representation. If offer, they’ll have a few more weeks to tweak things.

October 12-13: The Publishing house round.

Unfortunately, if Samantha has listed the agents and publishing houses that are participating, I couldn’t find the links. But, Samantha is responsible for Agent Match, which had agents from Writers House, The Bent Agency, Corvisiero Literary Agency, McIntosh and Otis, TriadaUS Literary Agency, and more! So as you see, she has fabulous connections! I expect she will have many great agents and publishers for this contest too.

Be sure to check out Samantha’s blog for links to the mentors. After reading what they’re looking for, select only five to submit to. There is also more information to know regarding the dates she’s listed. READ THIS SECTION on her blog!  If writers scroll further down the page, they’ll see complete instructions on how to format entries. Read the instructions carefully so your entry doesn’t get deleted. Now, go get those subs ready!

As always, good luck!

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