Spring is on its way! Isn’t it? I this it is. I’m shivering while I write this even though the heat is blasting. I skied out to my car this morning (In case you don’t know, I live on a mountain. This is normal.) But I am certain spring must be on its way. The sun is shining!
The promise of spring makes me think of all the new and glorious growth that is bound to happen when things start growing and showing their green shoots. Which makes me think of growing our writing opportunities and careers. I admit, just about everything makes me think about writing! I’ve been perusing the internet and have found some interesting and helpful contests coming up. Entering contests is a great way to grow your writing experience. I hope you’ll find some that appeal to you. Here’s to growth!
March:
3/6: #SonofaPitch – Pitch your manuscript via Twitter using the #SonofaPitch hashtag. Include your genre/age category in your tweet. You can tweet any number of manuscripts, but only once every hour each.
3/8: National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship – Open to fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Published writers. Grants of $25,000 are awarded.
3/15: Pass or Pages – Open to Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Entries open 3/13. Enter your first 250 words on query via form on website. Winning entries with be posted on the website with agent commentary. For more information see Contest Rules.
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.
3/26: Picture Book Party – Open to the first 250 entries. Enter your title, word count, genre, query and 50 words via email. Illustrators may attach one illustration. Around 20 manuscripts will be chosen to move on to an agent round.
3/31: SCBWI Work In Progress Grants – Open to SCBWI Members. PB, CB, MG, YA fiction or nonfiction. Selected works will be presented to a hand-selected group of acquiring editors.
3/31: Don Freeman Illustrator Grant – Open to SCBWI Members. Submit you Picture Book dummy or portfolio for a chance to win a $1000 grant.
3/31: Karen & Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award – Open to unpublished SCBWI Members over age 50. Submit your work in progress for a chance to win $500 and free tuition to any SCBWI conference.
April:
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.
4/1: Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest – Open to humorous poetry not to exceed 250 lines in length. One entry per person. First prize of $1,000, second prize $250, plus 10 Honorable Mentions receive $100 each and the top 12 entries will be published online. Entry via Submittable.
4/5: #KidPit – Open to Board Books, Picture Books, Easy Readers, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction. Pitch your completed manuscript via Twitter using the #KidPit hashtag between 9am and 3pm CST.
4/5: #AdPit – Open to Adult and New Adult Fiction and Nonfiction. Pitch your completed manuscript via Twitter using the #AdPit hashtag between 9am and 3pm CST.
4/7: #P2P17 – Entrants submit a query and 5 pages of their draft manuscript to freelance editors. Each editor will select an author to work with for 5 weeks of intensive manuscript development to prepare for an agent round.
4/25: #DVPit – Open to Children’s and Teen Fiction and Nonfiction pitches about and especially by marginalized voices. Pitch your completed manuscript via Twitter using the #DVPit hashtag between 8am and 8pm EST.
4/26: #DVPit – Open to Adult Fiction and Nonfiction pitches about and especially by marginalized voices. Pitch your completed manuscript via Twitter using the #DVPit hashtag between 8am and 8pm EST.
Upcoming:
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.
6/22: #PBPitch – Open to picture books. Pitch your manuscript via Twitter using the #PBPitch hashtag between 8am and 8pm EST.
6/28: #FaithPitch – Open to “completed Fiction that falls under the categories of inspirational, faith-based, biblical worldview, or Christian.” Picture book through Adult categories. Pitch your manuscript via Twitter using the #FaithPitch hashtag between 8am and 8pm CST. See the contest page for a list of age category and genre hashtags.
Looking for more contests? Check out this post: 51 Writing Contests in March — No Entry Fees
Don’t forget, if you want help with your pitch for any contest you’re welcome to post it in our Sub It Club Submission Support Group anytime.
Know of any great contests I missed? Please link us up in the comments!
Sub It Club 
Don’t know if you guys get this email. There are some twitter dates below.
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Sorry – I sent you this back instead of forwarding to friends!!
Thanks for putting this together, though. It’s a fantastic resource!
Tracy
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Thank you Tracy, and thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for a great list. What happened to #Justpitchit? do you know or do you know who would know? I am trying to figure it out 🙂
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I haven’t seen that one anywhere lately. These contests are a lot of work to put on so they can tend to come and go.
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Hey! Love referring to this site for contests. There’s a new one happening 4/7 called #RevPit – see reviseresub.com for more info. Also, #ShoreIndie is happening in June. https://shoreindie.blogspot.com/p/schedule.html
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Thanks Katie.
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