Kidlit Contest

The Kidlit Contest is now CLOSED for entries. Look for winners in the month of February. Prizes are:

Grand Prize Winner: A 15 page critique
First Place: A 10 page critique
Second Place: A 5 page critique
Third Place: A 2 page critique
Honorable Mention(s): A critique of the first page of your novel

  1. Helen’s avatar

    Helen on December 31, 2009 at 10:50 am

    Can someone enter twice if they have two manuscripts ready to go?

  2. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on December 31, 2009 at 11:22 am

    Helen — Sure thing. Send them as separate emails, though. Thanks!

  4. Angelina C. Hansen’s avatar

    Angelina C. Hansen on January 1, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Thanks Mary for the opportunity! My edgy YA is structured in a way that the opening is written in verse and the first line is one sentence. Can I send you the first couple hundred words?

  5. Mary’s avatar

    Mary on January 1, 2010 at 9:35 am

    Angelina — Yes! Per above, I define “beginning” as the first 500 words or less, so use your best judgment.

  6. A. Grey’s avatar

    A. Grey on January 1, 2010 at 10:32 am

    I second Angelina on saying Thank You so much for this opportunity!

    I actually queried you shortly before Christmas (Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, by the way) with my YA. Can I still enter this contest? Or should I not enter until I’ve heard (or not heard) from you on my query?

  7. Laura’s avatar

    Laura on January 1, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Great contest idea! Do you want the title, genre, and word count? Or a small blurb?

  8. Cassandra’s avatar

    Cassandra on January 1, 2010 at 3:30 pm

    Sounds like an interesting contest! I will have to enter…

  9. Natalie Aguirre’s avatar

    Natalie Aguirre on January 1, 2010 at 6:40 pm

    Thanks for offering the contest. If we don’t have a blog but are a follower of your blog, does that satisfy rule #2?

  10. ChristaCarol’s avatar

    ChristaCarol on January 1, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Mary, brilliant contest. I’ll be linking and spreading the news at DFW Writers’ Workshop! Thanks, Happy New Year!

  11. Kristi’s avatar

    Kristi on January 1, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    Wow – I was just thinking it was time to enter a contest. Thanks and hope you had a wonderful New Year!

  13. Brandi’s avatar

    Brandi on January 1, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    Hi Mary!

    Thanks for another great contest. I was wondering if you consider the “beginning” the Prologue (if applicable), or the official first chapter? People seem to have differing views on the topic, so I wanted to be sure.

    Thanks Mary.

    :o )

  14. Bryan Bliss’s avatar

    Bryan Bliss on January 2, 2010 at 1:39 am

    I look forward to reading these.

  15. MaryWitzl’s avatar

    MaryWitzl on January 2, 2010 at 4:15 am

    I’m in! I’ll be sending you my entry shortly and posting a link to this on my sidebar, etc.

  16. Siski Green’s avatar

    Siski Green on January 2, 2010 at 7:09 am

    I’m busy hacking away at my YA so will have to pass up this amazing opportunity, but I’m going to post about it on the SCBWI boards right now. Everyone will be over the moon!

  17. SHRous’s avatar

    SHRous on January 2, 2010 at 10:10 am

    Thanks for these opportunities!

  18. Julia Mozingo’s avatar

    Julia Mozingo on January 2, 2010 at 10:17 am

    Mary,

    Sorry to be so dense. I’m a details person, so this part confused me. Is it the 1st paragraph or the 1st 500 words?

    Thanks!
    Julia

  19. Lacey Boldyrev’s avatar

    Lacey Boldyrev on January 2, 2010 at 10:59 am

    Thanks again for another great opportunity!

    Do you want us to post links to where we’ve blogged about the contest?

  20. MG Higgins’s avatar

    MG Higgins on January 2, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Ooh, a contest. I’m in. Thank you for the opportunity.

  21. Terry Lynn Johnson’s avatar

    Terry Lynn Johnson on January 2, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    This is so exciting! Thank you for holding such a fun contest. One question – “Put a link to this contest in 2 other places.” Two places on my blog?
    Terry

  23. Stina’s avatar

    Stina on January 2, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Two places? I can link you on my blog no problem. Does facebook count for one of the two places? I haven’t even tried to link someone else’s blog on my facebook page, so I’m not even sure it’s possible.

  24. Amber’s avatar

    Amber on January 2, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    I just sent in my submission, thanks for this opportunity Mary!

  26. Marie’s avatar

    Marie on January 3, 2010 at 12:29 am

    Awesome contest, Mary! I will send my entry soon. :)

  28. Bonita Kale’s avatar

    Bonita Kale on January 3, 2010 at 7:55 am

    Question here. I can link on my webpage, but I don’t have a blog, or a Livejournal. I do have a website (two, if you count my personal one), and of course, I can link to kidlit.com on that (or those). Would that be okay?

  30. Amy’s avatar

    Amy on January 3, 2010 at 8:16 am

    Is “MG” flexible at all?? I see you specifically mentioned no PB, which is no problem. But my ms is a bit more for lower grades – for the Magic Tree House Merlin Missions audience. Would that be too young for the contest?

    I’m also interested in seeing your reply to Natalie – I don’t have a blog, either.

    Thanks!

  31. Janice’s avatar

    Janice on January 3, 2010 at 9:18 am

    Great prizes. If I get finished my manuscript by the end of the month I’ll enter, if not there’s always next time. Good luck to everyone who enters.

    xxx

  34. Lynn Rush’s avatar

    Lynn Rush on January 3, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    HI. What a fun contest. Say, I see that St. Martin Press mentioning something about “New Adult”. . . kind of more of the older YA stuff geared more toward the 20-something crowd.

    Are you considering YA more traditionally or are you accepting the older end of YA?

  35. Karen Cioffi’s avatar

    Karen Cioffi on January 3, 2010 at 6:08 pm

    Wow, this is a wonderful opportunity for writers. I don’t have anything to submit, I write pbs, early readers and chapter books, but just wanted to mention how great it is.

  36. Cubby’s avatar

    Cubby on January 3, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    I’d love to submit but don’t have a blog either. Any alternatives?

  37. Martha Martin’s avatar

    Martha Martin on January 3, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    So glad to see the details of this contest, Mary! Thanks for offering it. I’m sure you’ll be deluged…but hopefully that’s a good thing!

  38. Janice’s avatar

    Janice on January 4, 2010 at 7:23 am

    Oh! How awful was my comment???? Lol teaches me to comment while watching TV. It should read – If I get my manuscript finished….great start to my writing year ;)

    Janice

  39. Susan Quinn’s avatar

    Susan Quinn on January 4, 2010 at 11:13 am

    Sounds like an awesome contest! And having until the end of the month gives me time to get my MS back from my beta readers and spruce it up. Thanks!!

  41. Aisling Burke’s avatar

    Aisling Burke on January 4, 2010 at 12:37 pm

    Sounds like a great contest. I’m polishing my middle grade story and am going to email it in.
    Thanks for taking the time to run this competition
    Aisling

  42. JoAnn’s avatar

    JoAnn on January 4, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    This sounds like fun. Thanks for the oppertunity!

  43. Sera Rivers’s avatar

    Sera Rivers on January 4, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    I tutor a 14-year-old YA novelist. Can she enter this contest? Or is it limited to adults only?

  44. New Reader’s avatar

    New Reader on January 5, 2010 at 12:09 am

    Mary,

    Does the novel have to be finished AND completely polished in order to enter? I Have finished my first draft and am half way through my first edit. My 400 word preface/prologue has been edited several more times to point of perfection. Is this enough to enter the competition?

    Would you require a short overview of the story?

  45. Linda Wilt’s avatar

    Linda Wilt on January 5, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    My first contest. Fun!

  46. Sheryl Gwyther’s avatar

    Sheryl Gwyther on January 5, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Mary, your easy code to copy and paste link doesn’t appear to be working – it says ‘An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.’
    Not sure if it’s the code or my site. Sorry.

  47. sherry’s avatar

    sherry on January 5, 2010 at 11:19 pm

    I’m going to enter my three finished YA novels! ;-)

    I’ve posted the contest info with links to this site at two different spots and now I’m commenting on a post.

    Hmmm, think I’ve covered all my bases…yea!

    Wish everyone who enters the best of luck!

  48. Cheri Williams’s avatar

    Cheri Williams on January 5, 2010 at 11:59 pm

    Wow, Mary. You’ll share your expertise on what makes a compelling beginning AND give out prizes? And I thought Christmas was over! Thanks for all you do.

  49. Angie B’s avatar

    Angie B on January 6, 2010 at 8:38 am

    Thanks for sponsoring this contest, Mary.

    Sheryl:
    I had a problem with the link, too. Removing the seems to work. Try this:

    Kidlit Contest

  50. Angie B’s avatar

    Angie B on January 6, 2010 at 8:46 am

    Oops, the html did funny things to my comment. What I was trying to say is: if you remove the word “target” and everything before the > sign, it should work.

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 ·