Tag Archives: Young Adult

#DVpit Twitter Pitch Party Is Soon

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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 The Bent 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 5th will be for Children’s & Teen Fiction/Nonfiction (picture books, chapter books, graphic novel, middle grade, young adult). October 6th 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 categories they represent/acquire.

As always, good luck!

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

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000)

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Pen America

The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship of $5,000 is offered annually to an author of children’s or young-adult fiction. It has been developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length work-in-progress.

Who Is Eligible

  • A candidate is a writer of children’s or young adult fiction in financial need.
  • Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated sufficient income to support the author.
  • The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. publisher (not self-published).
  • The submitted work must be fiction and a work-in-progress. Graphic novels and picture books are not accepted.
  • Judges will be looking for candidates whose work has not yet attracted a broad readership.

For submissions guidelines, go here. But if you want to participate, you need to hurry because the deadline is September 19, 2016.

As always, good luck!

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

ON THE BLOCK CONTEST

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Authoress

Oh I just love literary contests that help writers sign with agents. Don’t you? Here is another great one hosted by Authoress on her blog Miss Snark’s First Victim. The contest is called ON THE BLOCK and submissions open September 8, 2016 from 8am-10pm (EDT). That’s next week peeps!

This is for polished and completed manuscripts only. Please know there is an entry fee of $21 (US) payable via Paypal. (A lot of work goes into these contests!) The contest will cap at 250 submissions, so don’t delay when the window opens. Out of those subs, only 20 entries will be chosen for the agent round. Authoress is accepting middle grade, young adult, new adult and adult fiction manuscripts only. (Sorry, no picture books, poetry, and narrative non-fiction.) Be sure to go to Miss Snark’s First Victim to find the participating agents and submission guidelines.

As always, good luck!

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

Pitch Wars Submissions are Open

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PitchWars-Logo

This is a quick reminder that Brenda Drake’s Pitch Wars submissions opened yesterday and will close August 6 at 10pm EDT (New York time). Go here for the guidelines and here  to submit. There are two extras this year also, a scavenger hunt  (scroll to find the info) to get a free pass into Pitch Wars and if you donate at least $20 you can pick two extra mentors. Woot! Lastly, be sure and stop by twitter to watch the #PitchWars feed because they are giving extra mentor prizes away.

As always, good luck!
P.D. Pabst

Manuscript Wish List

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MSWL Logo

Today I learned someone didn’t know Manuscript Wish List existed. I’ve blogged about it before but decided to readdress since agents updated their requests June 30th, as well as tweeting their wants on the twitter hashtag #MSWL. For those who don’t already know, Manuscript Wish List was created by agent Jessica Sinsheimer for agents (and some editors) to let writer’s know what they’d like to see in their inbox. Yes, it’s that simple! So, before you decide to query that shiny new manuscript, check out the website to see if any agents would be a perfect fit. Even more exciting, they’ve created a sign-up for upcoming newsletters!

We all should thank Jessica promptly! Just sayin’.

As always, good luck!

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

Twitter Contest for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

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sffpit-contest

It’s that time of year again for science fiction and fantasy writers to polish their pitches for Dan Koboldt’s #SFFpit writing contest on twitter! It starts tomorrow June 23, 2016 between 8am-6pm EST. This contest allows 10 pitches total and Dan asks that you use them wisely! As usual, it needs to be a 140 character pitch for twitter and includes the hashtag #SFFpit. For all the rules, including how to properly insert the age group and category, go here. And remember to research any agents or editors that favorite your tweet because ANY ONE can trawl the feed!

As always, good luck!

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

FicFest Writing Contest

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FicFest

Today the guidelines and theme should be revealed for the FicFest contest on Tiffany Hoffman’s blog. This is another contest where the winners will get help revising their manuscripts for 8 weeks before the agent round.

Update: Go here for guidelines and theme!

Here is a schedule for the event:

March 27, 2016 @ 7:00 PM EST
Meet the Team Leads & Their Members!

April 3, 2016 @ 6:00 PM EST
Agent List Announced

April 17, 2016 @ 7:00 PM EST – 10:00 PM EST
Q & A with Team Leads & Host
(Twitter – Using #FicFest)

April 24, 2016 @ 12:00 AM EST – April 25, 2016 @ 11:59 PM EST
SUBMISSION

April 26, 2016 – May 3, 2016
Teams will chose their finalists/alternate

May 4, 2016 @ 10:00 AM EST
Finalists/Alternate Reveal

May 5, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Revisions

July 8, 2016 @ 12:00 AM EST – July 14, 2014 @ 11:59 PM EST
Agent Round

As always, good luck!

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

An Agent’s Inbox with @NaughtyBrent

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Krista Van Dolzer is hosting An Agent’s Inbox with Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency. Submissions for this contest will open on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 1pm (EDT). Krista will only take the first 25 entries, so have everything ready to submit. To enter you’ll need to submit the first 250 words of your manuscript and your query letter. Please do not enter if your manuscript is not complete and polished! Be sure and check Krista’s website for all the rules and how to submit.

Oh, and Mr. Taylor was my editor before he became an agent. He’s totally awesome peeps! As always, good luck!

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

Caitlen Rubino-Bradway Interview

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caitlen1

There is a fantastic interview with Caitlen Rubino-Bradway of LKG Agency on Brenda Drake‘s blog. I decided I should share it for those who might have missed it because Caitlen shares what she is looking for in an author, which I think can be universal for agents. So please, read and share this for all your writing pals. It’s simply good advise.

Have a great day writing!

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

Pass or Pages Contest

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Operation Awesome is hosting a contest where agents give feedback on whether they’d pass or request pages from the writers first 250 words. And of course, they might ask for your manuscript! Submissions are for young adult completed contemporary only. The window to sub opens March 14 at 6am EST. They will list this months participating agents tomorrow. For now, you can go here to see the previous agents and winning submissions. Don’t forget to check out the official rules while you are there.

PASSORPAGES

Here is some important information:

Starts: Monday, March 14, 2016, at 6 a.m. Eastern
Ends: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 6 p.m. Eastern
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary
How To Enter: Fill out the entry form on the contest post when it goes live
What Is Required: Your query (no bio or customization), your first 250 words, a complete and polished MS

As always, good luck!

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