Monday, January 4, 2010

Contests, Contests Everywhere--Too Bad Bob Isn't Ready!

The title says it all, especially since one of these contests is being hosted by an agent who mentioned in her sidebar that she’s looking for a young adult dystopian along the lines of a book that COULD BE BOB’S FIRST COUSIN. Sigh.

In any case, that contest, hosted by agent Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency fame, is over on her Kidlit blog. Submit up to the first 500 words of a finished middle grade or young adult manuscript and win as much as a 15-page critique. There are other prizes available, all of them smaller critiques, which still seems like a pretty good deal. Pop on over there and check it out--you have until the end of the month.
Another agent, the always awesome Nathan Bransford, is hosting another contest, this one with a writing prompt. Come up with your best teenage diary entry or unsent letter and enter it in the comments section of the aforementioned post. Winners will receive copies of Jennifer Hubbard's THE SECRET YEAR and critiques from/consultations with the man himself, but be forewarned: About a million people will probably enter this contest, so, er, don't get your hopes up. Oh, and you only have until this Wednesday, so don't delay.

Also, one of Nathan Bransford’s clients, Renaissance woman Natalie Whipple, is hosting an artsy contest. Interpret her vivid elf-and-faerie drawing in 500 words or less and win a Natalie Whipple original. Or a 30-, 20-, or 10-page critique. Or a query and/or synopsis critique. Submissions close this Thursday, so you’d better scoot.

Authoress will also be hosting another Secret Agent contest next week (that’s the first 250 words of a finished manuscript, for the uninitiated). She’ll be taking entries next Monday, and since this month’s secret agent is looking for anything middle grade or young adult, the slots are sure to fill up fast. So, come Monday morning, you should probably be waiting with your mouse poised over the send button. It may be the only way you get in:)

Finally, the magnanimous Myrna Foster is giving away a hot-off-the-press copy of Shannon and Dean Hale’s graphic novel CALAMITY JACK (with illustrator Nathan Hale). Just mention that title in the comments section of her post and you’re automatically entered to win. She’ll close the comments later this week, so don’t dilly-dally.

Well, there’s the roundup. If there’s anything I’ve missed, feel free to mention it below. And good luck!

7 comments:

Karen Denise said...

Great contests! Wish I could enter the Kidlit one, but my ms isn't complete and I doubt it will be by Jan31st-lol.

Myrna Foster said...

I am kicking myself for not having my manuscript all nice and shiny. I mean, really, what is taking me so long? And why won't my two-year-old stay in bed so I can work on it? You don't really have to answer those questions.

That's the first time anyone has ever called me magnanimous.

You're going to love Shannon Hale. I started with THE GOOSE GIRL.

Myrna Foster said...

Are you entering any of the contests? Well, other than mine. I'm 432 in Nathan Bransford's entries. I turned a day in my NaNo novel into a journal entry, but there are a bunch of great entries. Let me know, if you have something out there, so I can read it please? Thanks.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

I probably won't get around to Nathan Bransford's - the deadline's Wednesday, right? And I can't enter this month's Secret Agent contest because it hasn't been long enough since the other Secret Agent contest I participated in.

I've already entered Natalie Whipple's contest (although she's only posting the winning entries, so no guarantees there). I've thought about recreating that entry here at Mother. Write. (Repeat.) because I liked how it turned out, but we'll have to see. And as for the Kidlit contest, I'm still debating whether or not to enter the manuscript I'm querying. Again, we'll have to see...

Nice entry over on Nathan's blog, by the way. I liked how you incorporated poetry:) Did you run cross country in high school?

Myrna Foster said...

Thanks. I did, but I think I made her time a bit faster than I should have.

I've been trying to find my journal from high school, but I put it somewhere safe about the time my daughter started reading my BYU homework and notebooks. It's so very safe that I haven't been able to find it for years, and it would really help me finish my NaNo. It's not biographical, but knowing when events like dances and important races and games happened would make constructing a high school novel easier.

Good luck on your contests!

Anonymous said...

Good luck! I won't be entering anything this month, I don't think. My WIP is no where near ready for anyone to even look at it, never mind entered in a contest. I was thinking about Nathan Bransford's contest, but there are some really fabulous entries there...I'm having so much fun reading them, I don't think I'd be able to come up with anything better or more original! Good luck to you and all who've entered though! I'm looking forward to reading the Mary Kole winners...

Krista Van Dolzer said...

All right, all right, so I entered Nathan's contest:) I wasn't going to, because I didn't want to invest all the energy into dreaming up an entire person for a 500-word blip. But then Myrna's entry made me realize I could just use a character from Bob. So I did. It's #577.