January 2017 Contest Roundup!

With a new year upon us comes the opportunity to start submitting with a renewed feeling of hope and optimism. You haven’t gotten any rejections in 2017! (Ahem. I know because I’m still posting this in 2016.) Entering some contests could be a great way to kick things off. It seems there’s a listing in this month’s Roundup for just about everyone. Not ready to submit a full novel? Try an essay contest. Looking to connect with agents? There are some great pitch days coming up. Need new ideas? There’s a contest for that this month too!

No matter where you’re at with your writing, illustrating, and submitting there’s a whole new year full of 365 days for us to get to work. Here’s to pursuing our dreams of publication! As always we here at Sub It Club have our fingers crossed for you. All the best in 2017!

2016 Contests:

12/31: 28th Dear Lucky Agent Contest – Open to memoir. Submit the title, logline, and first 150-300 words of your completed manuscript. Three winners receive a critique of the first 10 double-spaced pages of their work by your agent judge Jennifer Wills of The Seymour Agency.

12/31: 29th Dear Lucky Agent Contest – Open to Historical Fiction. Submit the title, logline, and first 150-300 words of your completed manuscript. Three winners receive a critique of the first 10 double-spaced pages of their work by your agent judge Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates.

12/31: Society of Classical Poets Poetry Competition – Enter 3-5 poems of no more than 50 lines that fit the contest themes along with a short bio. Top prize of $500.

January 2017:

1/1: L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest – Open to unpublished writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Enter your prose, up to 17,000 words. This is a quarterly contest with 3 cash prizes in each quarter: a 1st of $1,000, a 2nd of $750, and a 3rd of $500. At the end of the year a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000.

1/7: Storystorm – Open to writers of all genres. If you’re looking for some writing motivation Storystorm invites writers of all genres to come up with 30 ideas in 30 days. There are daily posts and prizes to keep you going.

1/15: Little Brown Emerging Artist Award – Open to illustrators. Contest mission is “to encourage the development of high-quality children’s picture books that resonate with readers of diverse backgrounds and experiences, that in some manner draw from the rich cultural experiences of this country—whether they manifest in character, theme, setting, plot, or are derived simply from the artist’s own experience of identity. Diversity includes literal or metaphorical inclusion of characters of underrepresented ethnicity, religious background, gender identity, class, mental or physical disability, or any other nondominant populations.” See official contest rules. Winner to receive $2500 inAmerican Express® gift cards, round-trip travel to New York City, aday at LBYR’s offices including lunch with an editor, an art director, and the Artist Mentor, an in-person portfolio review by the Artist Mentor and the LBYR publishing staff, and a tour of the office, and the opportunity for the winning submission to be reviewed by LBYR’s editorial team.

1/15: Short Story Award for New Writers – There is a $20 fee for this contest. Open to emerging writers only. Enter your story, up to 7,000 words. Winner to receive $2000 and online publication. 2nd and 3rd place to be awarded publication and $200 and $100 respectively. All winners and honorable mentions will receive agency review by Amy Williams of The Williams Agency, Victoria Marini of Irene Goodman Agency, and Laura Biagi from Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

1/16: Writing with the Stars – Open to picture book writers and illustrators. Apply for a 3-month mentorship with a published children’s book author. Download the official application and rules on the listing for details.

1/17: Who Can You Trust Charles Cumming Writing Contest – To enter the contest, Enter your 1,000 word essay on how trust (or distrust) has changed your outlook. Grand Prize winning essay to be published in the paperback and e-book versions of A DIVIDED SPY by Charles Cumming and $250.

1/23: Sun vs. Snow – Open to the first 200 entries at 4pm. MG, YA, NA and Adult only. Send your title, age category, genre, query, first 250 words, and character question. Chosen entrants will work with mentors to prepare for an agent round. There are 15 agents lined up to participate so far.

February:

2/6: Association of Illustrators World Illustration Awards – There is an entry fee for this listing: $33 per Single Entry; $60 per Multiple Entry. The awards are open to many categories of illustration including books, children’s books, and editorial. Winners to receive feature in an exhibition and publication, and special promotion.

2/20: Past-Year Memoir Contest – Enter your 16-word memoir that reflects on 2016. Winner to receive a free class of your choice from Gotham Writers. You must register at Gotham Writers to enter.

2/23: #PBPitch – Open to picture books. Pitch your picture book via Twitter using the #PBPitch hashtag between 8am and 8pm EST.

2/24: Pitch Madness – Submit a 35-word pitch and the first 250 words of your completed manuscript. A team of readers choose the top 60 entries to move onto coaching and an agent round.

Upcoming:

3/23: #Pitmad – Open to all genres. Pitch your manuscript via Twitter using the #Pitmad hashtag between 8am & 8pm EDT. Only pitch 3 times per project.

4/1: Scholastic Graphix Contest – Open to Graphic Novels for kids. U.S. Residents only. Up to 5 winners will receive an offer to publish their work with Scholastic and a $15,000 advance.

6/8: #Pitmad – Open to all genres. Pitch your manuscript via Twitter using the #Pitmad hashtag between 8am & 8pm EDT. Only pitch 3 times per project.

Know of a great, no fee contest that I missed? Please link us up in the comments!