Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The 8th Annual YA Discovery Contest


THE 8TH ANNUAL

YA DISCOVERY CONTEST

BEGINS NOVEMBER 1ST!!

No query? No pitch? No problem!



 Get in front of top YA Editors and Agents
with only the first 250 words of your YA novel!

Serendipity Literary Agency is hosting our eighth annual Young Adult Novel Discovery Contest.

Do you have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Have you been putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win exposure to editors and a critique of your manuscript by one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.
 
Regina Brooks is the CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of the award-winning book Writing Great Books For Young Adults, now available in its second edition.

—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—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

 You too can join one of the many contest finalists who have gone on to get a top tier agent and an amazing publishing deal!

http://skyponypress.com/titles/1716-9781632204271-temple-of-doubt




  
 
Testimonial

“I never had much luck with query letters. Writing about my book was harder than writing the book itself! So, when I saw the Discovery Contest, I jumped at the chance to let my book speak for itself. I was thrilled when I won…but not as thrilled as I was when I was offered representation. Getting my agent was just the start: what followed was invaluable revisions and development that transformed my book from a great story into an unforgettable journey. Shortly afterward, The Whitecoat’s Daughter was sold at auction, and is now due for publication with HarperCollins in 2018. We’re beginning work on foreign rights and talks with film agents and it’s hard to believe that all this started with winning a contest. I always said I just needed someone to read the book—not a query letter: the book­—and it turned out I was right. The Discovery Contest gave me the chance I needed, and I will always be grateful.” 
—Olivia Cole, “The Whitecoat’s Daughter”
(retitled "A Conspiracy of Stars")
(Garnered a two-book deal at auction with Katherine Tegen Books)

so… ENTER TO WIN NOVEMBER 1st!

Great Prizes
The Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to receive a full manuscript critique from YA literary agent Regina Brooks, 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 from editors at HarperCollins, Little, Brown, Macmillan, Skyhorse, Simon and Schuster, Abrams Books, Penguin Random House, Disney, and James Patterson’s new imprint, JIMMY Patterson.  In addition, they will receive a year's subscription to The Writer magazine!

First 50 Entrants receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.


Here's How It Works 

Entering the contest is easy and the rules are simple. Entries are to be submitted via the contest website at serendipitylit.com/contest. Valid entries shall include the title and ONLY the first 250 words of your manuscript.
 
One entry per person; anyone age 14+ can apply. There is a $15 entry fee.  Open to the U.S. and Canada (void where prohibited).  Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01 am (ET) November 1st, 2017 until 11:59 pm November 30th, 2017 (ET).

YA literary agent Regina Brooks and her team will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions.  These submissions will then be read by the following editors: 


Hannah Allaman (Disney)
Tiffany Lao (Henry Holt BFYR/ Macmillan)
Sasha Henriques (Little Brown, JIMMY Patterson Books/ Hachette)
Courtney Code (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Kate Meltzer (G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR/ Penguin Random House)
Sarah McCabe (Simon Pulse/ Simon and Schuster)
Alexa Pastor (Simon and Schuster BFYR/ Simon and Schuster)
Becky Herrick (Sky Pony Press)
Christine Krones (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR)
Lauren Smulski (Harlequin Teen/HarperCollins)
Alex Ulyett (Viking Children’s/ Penguin Random House)
and more...


These judges will whittle the top 20 down to five winners, including a Grand Prize Winner.
 
so… ENTER NOVEMBER 1st!



1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the heads up about this! My NaNo goal this year is to go through and rework my YA novel I actually finished during NaNoWriMo three years ago? So I'll get set to rewrite/get the first 250 words better so that they grab you and can get me entered into this!

    ReplyDelete