Young Adult Novel Discovery Contest

Writing Great YA Fiction
No query? No pitch? No problem!

Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its third Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents!

If you've written a novel for young adults—or have an idea for one that you would like to write—we invite you to enter our contest. Simply submit only an enticing title along with the first 250 words from the opening of your original YA novel.


GREAT PRIZESThe Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to submit an entire manuscript to YA literary agent Regina Brooks and receive a free, 10-week writing course, courtesy of Gotham Writers' Workshop, plus a collection of gourmet teas from Possibiliteas.co.

The Top Five Entrants (including the Grand Prize winner) will receive a 15-minute, one-on-one pitch session with Regina Brooks, one of New York’s premier literary agents for young adult books. They will also receive commentary on their submissions by editors at Scholastic, Harlequin Teen, Random House, Viking, Disney, Roaring Brook Press, Sourcebooks, and Kimani Tru and receive a one-year subscription to The Writer magazine.

The First 50 Entrants will receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. (Shipped only to addresses in US and Canada.)

JUDGING YA literary agent Regina Brooks and a select group of readers will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Rachel Griffiths, Editor at Scholastic; Nancy Mercado, Executive Editor at Roaring Brook Press; Leah Hultenschmidt, Executive Editor at Sourcebooks; Viola Krista, Editor at Dial (Random House); Evette Porter, Editor at Kimani Tru; Natashya Wilson, Senior Editor at Harlequin Teen; Abby Ranger, Editor at Disney (Hyperion); and Kendra Levin, Editor at Viking (Penguin). These judges will whittle the top 20 down to five, and each of the five winners will be provided commentary on their submissions.

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo
In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET), November 30, 2011.

IT IS EASY TO ENTER!
The contest is open to writers 14 years of age or older. Entrants will be judged solely on the title and the first 250 words of their YA novel—no additional material will be accepted. For an inside look at what the judges will be looking for, participants can refer to Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. There is no minimum word count for the submission. Only online entries accepted. And only one submission per person. If more than one entry is submitted, only the first will be judged and the others will be discarded.

https://secure.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/Account.php