July 2017 Contest Roundup

It’s summer, at least in my neck of the woods. Summer is always so busy it seems. My kids are all home (and two of them have full-time summer jobs!) The Summer Reading Program is in full swing at the library where I work and there are tons of programs happening which I get to participate in. It is so fun! Since I live on a garlic farm, summer also means lots of farm work with harvest coming soon, which is exciting. I love pulling the garlic stalks up out of the ground to see what they reveal. You just never know. (Kind of like submitting work.) But you know what is the very best thing about this summer? There are puppies at my house! (Don’t worry, even my kids would agree.) Yes, life can come with lots of cute and fluffy distractions which is, of course, fantastic. Can we find the time to submit our work when there are so many distractions? Certainly. Of course, if you just want to cuddle up and have some fluffy time that is perfectly understandable.

 

And that is what I hope lots of people are doing this July as it seems that I haven’t found one single July contest to put in the Roundup. I found two and added them. Woohoo! There are some good ones coming up in the following months, so if you’re not too busy relaxing you can get a jump on them. Here they are listed in date order…

 

July:

7/12: Pass or Pages – Open to Contemporary Romance. Enter your pages via form which will be open on the blog beginning 7/10. Chosen entries will be posted on the blog for critique by participating agents.

7/15: Query + 5 Page Critique Giveaway – Offered by agent Justin Wells of  Corvisiero Literary Agency. Enter via Rafflecopter.

August:

8/1: Pen Center Emerging Voices Fellowship – “directed toward poets and writers of fiction and creative nonfiction with clear ideas of what they hope to accomplish through their writing.” This is an intensive 7-month mentorship based in Los Angeles.

8/2-6: Pitch Wars – Submit your query letter and 1-3 page synopsis. Chosen winners will work with a mentor to prepare for an agent round in November.

8/15: Pockets Fiction Contest – Open to stories for children of 750-1000 words. Winner to receive $500 and publication in Pockets Magazine.

September:

9/3: PITCH AMÉRICA – Open to Latinx writer’s Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult and Adult work. Submit your title, genre, word count, themes, 35-word pitch, and the first 500 words of your manuscript via email. Chosen entires will be posted for agents to peruse.

9/30: New Voices Award – Open to picture book manuscripts by unpublished writers of color who reside in the U.S. Fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. “Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color by providing stories with which they can identify and relate, and which promote a greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities may also be included.”

9/30: Writers of the Future – Open to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Dark Fantasy up to 17,000 words. 1st prize – $1,000, 2nd prize – $750, 3rd prize of $50 plus an end of the year grand prize of $5,000.

October:

10/13: Futurescapes – Open to short fiction up to 8,000 words on the theme “Blue Sky Cities”. 1st place receives $2000. 5 runners up receive $500 each.

10/26: #PBPitch – Open to picture books. Pitch your picture book via Twitter using the #PBPitch hashtag from 8am – 8pm EST.

10/31: New Visions Award – Open to U.S. writers of color who have not had a middle grade or young adult novel published. Submit via Submittable. Chosen winner to receive $1000. and a publishing contract with advance.

Yup, I may have missed some good contests. I just might be a tad bit distracted. If you know of one please link us up in the comments.