April Contest Roundup

Pitching is in the air! We’re fresh off the excitement of #Pitmad and moving on into some more great pitch contests. Don’t like pitch contests? That’s okay! There are plenty of other opportunities too. And you can always submit your work the old fashioned way… do your research (Writers Market is a good place to start), make a list, read the agent/publisher guidelines, write a cover letter, and send it in! But yeah, contests are exciting!

There’s a lot to consider when entering contests so check out our About Contests post if you have any doubts or questions. And please, read those contest rules carefully! Contests are generally in order by deadline date. Scroll down to see the entire list. Here’s the Roundup:

March: 

3/31: Chronicle Books, Great Tumblr Book Search – “Use Tumblr to explain your humor book idea. Then our editors will judge the entries and choose a grand-prize winner whose idea will be considered for publication. You may use an existing Tumblr or create a new Tumblr to illustrate your book idea. Just make us laugh!”  Tag your post  “TumblrBookSearch” and include your title, concept, and synopsis. One winner will have their book idea considered for publication, get a feedback session with a Chronicle Books editor, and receive $300 of Chronicle books. Three Runners-Up will receive a written critique from Chronicle Books editors and $100 of Chronicle Books. Be sure to read the official rules and enter via their entry form.

3/31: SCBWI Work-In-Progress Grants – Seven Grants of $2,000 will be awarded annually, one in each category. Seven Runner-Up Grants of $500 will also be awarded, one in each category. Authors of other projects cited by the judges as noteworthy will receive a Letter of Merit. Categories include: Picture Book Text (Barbara Karlin Grant), General Fiction, Contemporary young adult novel, Multi-cultural fiction, and Nonfiction research . You must be a member of SCBWI to apply.

April:

4/1: Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest  – Seeking submissions of humor poems. Published or unpublished work is permitted. Poems may be of any length. $1000 first prize, 10 honorable mention prizes of $100. You can read the full guidelines by clicking on the link in the sidebar. Taking submissions now -April 1st.

4/1: NestPitch – Top 100-120 pitches will be chosen to move on to the agent round. 9 bloggers will pick their 8 favorites to post. Secret agents will then jump in. You can look to the blog nestpitch.wordpress.com  and @nestpitch on Twitter for the lastest information.

4/4: Like A Virgin Pitch Contest – This contest is open to Young Adult and New Adult manuscripts that have not been entered into any other online pitch contests. See the eligibility guidelines for details. Finalists will have their pitches reviewed by agents and editors. Here’s how to enter.

4/4: Australian & New Zealand Residents Only!  THE TEXT PRIZE FOR YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S WRITING – “Awarded annually to the best manuscript written for young adults and children, the Text Prize has unearthed extraordinary, multi-award-winning novels and launched international publishing careers. The winner receives $10,000 and a publishing contract with Text Publishing.” Fill out an entry form. $25 entry fee.

4/7: Middle Grade Idol – A contest with Melissa Jeglinski of The Knight Agency. Submit a query letter and the first chapter (not to exceed 25 pages) all within the body of an email. Submission window is from 11:00 AM EDT – 3:00 PM EDT. The first 100 entries will be eligible. Top 20 will be invited to send their full manuscript. Top 3 will win a phone call to discuss their manuscript. You can read about the contest in The Knight Agency newsletter and follow Melissa at @Mjeglinski and#MGIdol for additional info.

4/9: Dear Lucky Agent Contest – Open to YA. Agent Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger Inc. will give a first 10 pages critique to 3 winners. Submit your title and logline along with the first 150-200 words of your YA manuscript. Must be complete and unpublished.

4/12: Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize – For 1st novel by a female UK resident over 21. They’re looking for a novel that marries literary merit with unputdownability. Open to MG, YA, NA and Adult manuscripts. There is a fee of £10 per entry for this contest!

4/10 & 4/11: The Writer’s Tank – All genres welcome. The first 75 submissions of a query, the first 250, and a 35-word pitch will be taken during two submission periods, the first one opening on Thursday, April 10th, 3 pm EST, and the other on Friday, April 11th, 8 pm EST. Those going on to the next round will be chosen by host SC Write. Chosen pitches will be posted for agent participation Friday, April 18th with bidding ending April 21st.

4/15 – 8/15: Pockets Magazine Fiction Contest – Stories should be 750–1,000 words. (Stories shorter than 750 words or longer than 1,000 words will be disqualified.) From the Pockets website: “Our primary interest is in stories that can help children deal with real-life situations. We do not accept stories about talking animals or inanimate objects. Fictional characters and some elaboration may be included in scripture stories, but the writer must remain faithful to the story.”

4/20: Pitch Slam! Battle of the Bands – Send your 35 word pitch, the first 250 words of your manuscript, and the song you associate with your story between 12:00 AM and 11:59 PM EST April 20th. Open to Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. This slam includes requests and revisions. More info to come.

May:

5/5: A Very Short Story Contest – Just for fun! Submit an original, unpublished 10-word short story at Gotham Writers. Winner will be posted at GothamWriters.com

5/5: Criminal Lines – Open to unagented, debut authors born or residing in the UK or Ireland. Send your send the first 15,000 words and an 800 word max. synopsis of your crime, suspense or thriller novel. First prize: £1,000. Second Prize: entry to the Festival of Writing 2014

5/15: Remixing the World’s Problems Challenge – Using the poems from Solving the World’s Problems by Robert Lee Brewer as inspiration, write your own remix poem. Winning remix will receive $500 from the author.

Adventures in YA Publishing, First Lines Contest – I couldn’t find a specific date as of yet but the blog says: “We will accept the first 50 entries. The first line of each entry will be posted on the blog, and our judges will determine which lines they want to see more of. The 2nd line of each entry that is moving on will be posted, and so forth and so on, through line 5 of the manuscript. At that point, the judges will choose the top 10 entries, and we will post their pitches and 1st pages. The winners will be chosen from those entries.” Open to completed MG, YA, and NA manuscripts.

Upcoming:

Know of a contest we missed? Contact us at subitclub (at) gmail (dot) com!