July 2016 Contest Roundup

I’m late! I’m late! But hey, it’s summer and that means fun in the sun. For me it also means garlic since my family runs a garlic farm. Mostly I’ve been weeding and cutting scapes until today– harvest started! There are many more days of that so I knew I’d better get on the Contest Roundup before time passed me by even more.

As always, listings are in order by closing date. I found some new short story contests coming up as well as a PB Party, a women’s fiction opportunity, and more. Needless to say, I haven’t been online as much as usual so if there’s a contest you know of that I missed, please do link us up in the comments!

July:

7/10: PB Party – Open to picture & chapter book manuscripts . First 250 entries will be taken. Entry opens at noon EST. 20 will be chosen to move onto the agent round. Submit your query and first 50 words via email. Writer/illustrators can attach one illustration.

7/13:  July Pass or Pages – Open to Women’s Fiction. Enter your query (no bio or personalization) and the first 250 words of your complete and polished manuscript. 5 entries will be randomly chose to be posted anonymously on the Operation Awesome blog where participating agents will give feedback as to why they are passing or requesting.

7/13: #Pit2Pub – Open to Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult manuscripts. Pitch your completed manuscript via Twitter between 8am and 8 pm CST using the #Pit2Pub hashtag. See list of additional genre hashtags.

7/15: Future Scapes – Open to short fiction of up to 8,000 words written to the contest’s prompt regarding the future.  1st places receives $2,000, 2nd – $1,000, and 4 runners-up $500 each. See rules.

7/18: WNDB YA Short Story Contest – Open to diverse writers who have not published a short story or novel length work previously in any format. Enter your short story for ages 13-18. 4,000 words or less. Entries can be about a diverse experience inspired by this quote from Walter Dean Myers: “We need to bring our young people into the fullness of America’s promise and to do that we must rediscover who they are and who we are and be prepared to make the journey with them whatever it takes. My conceit is that literature can be a small path along that journey.” Winner to receive $1,000.00 and publication in the WNDB Anthology to be released by Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books, Summer 2018.

7/31: Louise Meriwether First Book Prize – Open to women and nonbinary writers of color who have not had a book published or have a book under contract at the time of submission.  Winner to receive $5,000 publishing contract with the Feminist Press. See official press release for more details.

August:

8/3: Pitch Wars – “Published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions to shine it up for agents. The mentors also critique the writer’s pitch to get it ready for the agent round. Writers send applications (query and first chapter of manuscript) to the four mentors that best fit their work. The mentors then read all their applications and choose the writer they want to mentor for the next two months. Then we hold an agent round with over a dozen agents making requests.”

8/5: Costa Short Story Awards – Open to residents of the United Kingdom or Ireland. Story not to exceed 4,000 words. Submit via entry form. Winner to receive £3,500, second place £1,500, third place £500.

8/15: Pockets Fiction Contest – Open to fiction for ages 6-12. 750–1,000 words. Winner to receive $500 and publication in Pockets magazine. General submission guidelines state that submissions should support the purpose of the magazine to help children grow in their faith, though all submissions do not need to be overtly religious.

8/16: Pitch America – Open to fiction, all genres and age groups, written by Latinx. Enter your 35 word pitch and the first 500 words of your manuscript via email. A list of participating agents to come.

September:

9/1: Madeline Milburn Agency Summer Writing Competition – Open to adult novels.  Unagented writers only. ‘Make Us Scared’ is the theme of this competition. Entries can be “anything from gritty crime and suspenseful thrillers to dark narratives, it’s completely open to your interpretation and can even cross genres”. Enter a cover letter, one-page synopsis, and full manuscript (or a minimum of 30,000 words if the novel is nearing completion). The top five entries will receive “comprehensive written feedback” from the agency.  One winner will receive a cash prize and an offer of representation.

9/8: #Pitmad – Open to any genre and category. Pitch your completed manuscript on Twitter using the #PitMad hashtag from 8am – 8pm EDT. Tweet 3 pitches per project for the day.

9/29: The Sunday Times Short Story Award – Open to published authors who reside in the UK or Ireland. Enter your short story of 6,000 words or less. Any genre. Winner to receive a prize of £30,000. Five runners up to receive £1,000.

Upcoming:

10/31: Tu Books New Visions Award – Open to Middle Grade and Young Adult manuscripts by writers of color. “Manuscripts should address the needs of children and teens of color by providing stories with which they can identify and relate, and which promote a greater understanding of one another.” Submit a cover letter, synopsis, plus the first 10,000 words. Graphic novels, include the equivalent of 24-30 scripted pages.Please note: “Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers, mentorship contests, writing contests, or to TU BOOKS general submissions while under consideration for this award.” Winner receives $1,000 and a standard publication contract. Honor Award winner to receive $500.

11/1: My Real-Life Story Essay Contest – Enter your essay of 2,500 – 3,500 words. Every woman has a moment in life that changes everything. What’s that moment for you? We’d love to find out. Winner to receive $5,000, possible publication in Glamour magazine, and the opportunity to speak with a top New York literary agent. Do be sure to read the contest rules, especially #7.

Best of luck on your entries!