Hooray for opportunities! You’ll find lots coming up in this month’s Roundup. And since here at Sub It Club we’re celebrating our two year anniversary we’re putting together some opportunities to help you with submissions as well so I’m announcing them here in the Roundup. We have a pitch event on the 3rd, a critique giveaways from agents on the 10th & 24th, and the entire week of February 16th set aside as Kidlit Week. We’re excited! This Contest Roundup is a long one, so let’s hop to it!
Closing Anytime: Writers Seeking Agent – Send in your hook, tagline, and synopsis to be added to profiles that agents will be perusing. Open to the first 150 entries only. PB, MG, YA, & Adult.
1/30: Debut Novel Competition – Janklow & Nesbit Agency have teamed up with Mumsnet and Gransnet online communities to host a debut novel competition. Submit the first 8,000 words of a novel along with a 500-word outline of the remaining chapters. You can read more about how to enter on the first page of the Mumsnet site but you must become a member to enter.
1/31: SlushPile Challenge – Must be a current SCBWI member and a UK or European resident to enter. Open to Middle Grade novels aimed at ages 8-12 only. Submit an opening or scene where your main character is doing something new or tackling a new challenge. Winner will a 30 minute meeting by phone or in person with agent Gemma Cooper of The Bent Agency.
1/31: Highlights Fiction Contest – This year’s category is mystery stories for children. Stories may be up to 750 words. Three prizes of $1000 will be awarded. Enter by mail.
1/31: Reader’s Digest Poetry Contest – Open to poems with 15 or fewer lines. Grand prize winner receives $500.00. 3 runners up will receive a $100.00 prize. See submission form to enter.
1/31: Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Book Illustrations – Illustrators only!Submit at least 3 original pieces of art belonging to a single book along with your biography. Winners will be chosen to receive 1st USD 8000, 2nd USD 6000, 3rd USD 4000. There will also be three winners of USD 1000 as well as certificates of outstanding work. Forms and ID are due by the 31st. Participating work is due 2/15/2015. See regulations for details.
February:
2/3: Sub It Club Anniversary Celebration Pitch! – From 9am to 5pm EST post your 100-word pitch and first 100 words of your manuscript right here on the Sub It Club blog. Talcott Notch agent Saba Sulaiman will be requesting or offering feedback on those pitches that pique her interest. Open to completed works of Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Nonfiction. Pitches will be taken on a new post that will go up on the 3rd. Check out our interview with Saba for pitch details.
2/8: AdPit – Adult Twitter Pitch open to Adult Fiction & Nonfiction, and New Adult. Submission window opens on the 8th. Will close when 150 entries have been received. The top 5 will receive a critique from an agent or editor (it’s a secret so far). More details to come. Check event organizer Heidi Norrod’s Blog.
2/10: Sub It Club Anniversary Celebration! – Enter to win a five page critique from agent Patricia Nelson of Marsal Lyon Literary. Open to YA, NA, and Adult fiction. Watch for the contest post to enter.
2/13: #AdPit Twitter Pitch Party – Pitch your Adult Fiction, Adult Non-fiction, and New Adult manuscripts using the #Adpit hashtag. Follow organizer @HRNorrod on Twitter to keep in the loop.
2/13: BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines – The BBC invites writers who are new to radio to submit their 1,900 – 2,000 word short story between January 5th and February 13th. The three strongest stories will be broadcast on BBC radio in the summer of 2015. See the guidelines and submission form.
2/14: Promoted! So….Contest! – Enter to win a first page critique from newly promoted Junior Agent Lane Heymont of the Seymour Agency. Entry is open now and ends on the 14th, assuming my math is correct. 5 winners will be chosen.
2/16 – 20: Sub It Club Anniversary Celebration – Kidlit Week! – We’re lining up some giveaways especially for you picture bookers right here on the Sub It Club blog. You won’t want to miss it!
2/18: March Madness Poetry Competition – Compete to be the top poetry writer of the year in this fun competition. Fill out the authlete application form to participate.
2/20: Pitch Madness (Sorry! Edition) – Submit your 35-word pitch and the first 250 words of your completed manuscript. Readers choose the top 60 entries to go on to the agent rounds where “agents play a game against the other agents to win requests for more pages of their favorite entries. The best played agent request wins either a partial or full manuscript read of the entry.”
2/27: Sub It Club Anniversary Celebration! – Enter to win a query letter critique from Folio Literary agent Molly Jaffa. Entry will open on our interview/contest post.
March:
3/11: #PitMad – Twitter Pitch Party open to all genres. 8am-8pm EDT.
3/31: SCBWI Work in Progress Awards – Six categories: Picture Books, Chapter Books/Early Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, Multi-Cultural Fiction or Nonfiction. One winner and up to five honorable mentions will be chosen in each category. Must be a member of the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators to enter. Winning entries and honorable mentions will be “presented to a hand-selected group of editors for their consideration.” Submission window opens 3/1.
3/31: Don Freeman Illustrator Grants – Must be a member of the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators to enter. Two grants of $1000.00 will be awarded. One to a published illustrator and one to a pre-published illustrator. See website for specific entry requirements.
April:
4/27 – 5/8: We Need Diverse Books Short Story Contest – Enter your short story for Middle Grade readers ages 8-12. Manuscript must be less than 5,000 words, and can be in an illustrated graphic novel format no longer than 10 pages. Entries must include a bio and headshot. Open to writers of all diverse backgrounds. Writers must not already be published in a “traditional fiction book format.” Winner will receive $1000.00 and have their piece published in the WNDB anthology to be released by Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books in January of 2017. Two Runners Up with receive $250.00 each.
If you know of a great contest coming up or one we missed, please email us at SubItClub@gmail.com
That’s this month’s Roundup. We hope to see you here at Sub it Club while we celebrate 2 years of supporting each other to submit work well. Yeehaw!
Sub It Club 
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