It’s the last month of 2015. I can hardly believe it! This year went by fast. I hope you’ve had some fun and honed your pitches by entering contests this year. Haven’t entered any yet? Well, there’s lots more opportunities! You always have time to polish and put your best work forward so don’t be in a rush. Amazingly enough, the amount of pitch contests just keeps on growing with agencies and small publishers trying their hand at pitch days in addition to the writer run events. When you’re ready you are sure to find an opportunity that’s right for you. I’ve added new contests to this Roundup in each month, so be sure to look all the way through!
November:
11/26: #PitchCB – Pitch Curtis Brown UK agents via Twitter using the #PitchCB hashtag from 9am – 1pm. This is UK time so pay attention to time zones! Check the Curtis Brown submissions page for the categories they represent (children’s through adult). This month’s #PitchCB is part of an Online Discovery Day that Curtis Brown is putting on so check out the link for other learning opportunities such as #AskCB.
11/30: DearEditor.com Giveaway – Open to completed MG, YA, NA, and Adult manuscripts. Simply enter the Rafflecopter drawing for a chance to win a free manuscript edit of up to 90,000 words!
11/30: Hudson Review Short Fiction Contest – Enter your unpublished fiction piece of 10,000 words or less. First prize to receive $500, 2nd and 3rd places to each receive $250 plus publication in the Hudson Review. Learn more about the Hudson Review on their website.
December:
12/1: SCBWI Exclusive – This is not a contest but I wanted to add it so that Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators members don’t miss the opportunity. Balzer + Bray is open to unsolicited submissions from SCBWI members until December 1, 2015. Be sure to read the interview and check out their Facebook page.
12/4: #PitMad – Pitch your completed manuscript on Twitter using the #PitMad hashtag from 8AM – 8PM EDT. Please read the new rules about pitching before participating. Be sure to read tips and info on the new rules in our guest post from Nilah Magruder and Agent Michelle Witte.
12/10: #SFFPit – Open to Science Fiction and Fantasy. Picture books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult. Pitch your completed, unpublished manuscript via Twitter using the #SFFPit hashtag along with a tag for age category and genre/subgenre (See lengthy list on info link). Participants are asked to keep their #SFFPit tweets to 10 times in total throughout the day in total. 8am to 6pm EST.
12/13-14: Pitchmas – Open to PB, MG, YA, NA, and Adult. Enter your 35-word pitch via email. Sunday 12/13/14 at 9am PST until Monday 12/14/15 at 6pm PST. Any entries submitted during other times will be deleted. The top 50 pitches will be posted on the Pitchmas blog on 12/17 for agents and editors comment. Participating agents and editors are listed here.
12/18: #Pitchmas Twitter Pitch Party – Open to all genres and categories. Pitch your completed and polished manuscript via Twitter using the #PitchMAS hashtag. No more than 2 pitches per hour.
January 2016:
1/8: #WritePit – Open to faith-based works only. Picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, new adult, adult readerships, fiction, and nonfiction are welcome as long as the manuscript contains an element of faith defined as “affiliated with or based on a religious group.” Pitch your manuscript on Twitter using the #WritePit hashtag along with a tag for the readership and genre. Complete manuscripts only with the exception of nonfiction proposals which must also include the hashtag #WritePit-P. There will also be live pitch opportunities from 7-8pm EST via Google Hangouts. Scroll down on the page for info.
1/13: #PITCHBFB – Open to Middle Grade, Young Adult, and New Adult manuscripts only. Pitch your completed manuscript to Book Fish Books on Twitter using the #PITCHBFB hashtag from 8am to 8pm CST. Editors will be making requests via favorites and promise personalized feedback on submissions they have requested. A few submissions will receive critiques on the first three chapters of their work and one participant will receive a critique on their full manuscript.
1/31: Deborah Rogers Foundation Writer’s Award – Open to unpublished writers who are residents within the British Commonwealth and Eire. Enter your 20,000 – 30,000 fiction or nonfiction WORK IN PROGRESS along with a brief synopsis and bio. Winner to receive £10,000.
Upcoming:
2/1: Sun vs. Snow – There is still limited information on this contest. 200 submissions will be accepted. The manuscript cannot have been in an agent round of any other contest. Enter your query, first 250 words, and answer this in 100 words or less: Which would your character find more helpful in fighting through their biggest obstacle–hot or cold. And why? Tell us which weather would be the most helpful to your character. Agent round to take place on 2/22.
2/11 #PBPitch – Open to picture books. Pitch your picture book via Twitter using the #PBPitch hashtag.
2/17: #AdPit – Open to New Adult and Adult manuscripts. Includes an online “mini-conference” and a Twitter pitch day. More info to come.
3/7: #SonofaPitch – A new Twitter pitch party open to all categories of YA, NA, and Adult. Pitch your manuscript via Twitter. There is a variety of pitch help starting on 2/15 with an agent and editor week on 2/29. It is not clear whether you have to participate in all rounds to be eligible for the agent/editor round. Will look for more information to come.
Want to peruse some other contests? Here’s an interesting list at The Writer magazine. You can even search by category!
Know of a great contest we missed? Link us up in the comments!
Sub It Club 