Here’s my open call for pg70pit slushies!
#pg70pit is a unique contest in that entries are selected by voice alone. While other contests are better suited for commercial fiction which hooks by the first page, #pg70pit is a contest intending to highlight strong, diverse, or “quiet” voices.
If you think you’ve got the writing and revision chops to be a slushie, read on!
Remember: the contest itself is open to any writer with a complete and polished novel-length work, for age categories MG–Adult.
Constest slushies, however, must have either:
- a writing/English/literature major or minor (must have completed at least 3 years of study), or
- a book deal with a nationally recognized publisher*
*Acceptable publishers:
- HarperCollins and its imprints
- Penguin Random House and its imprints
- Macmillan and its imprints
- Simon & Schuster and its imprints
- Hachette and its imprints
- Hyperion
- Graywolf
- Any other press or publisher which 1) puts out physical books and 2) has won at least one national award for literature (e.g., the Pulitzer Prize or the National Book Award)
Why these rules? We need slushies who can recognize a strong literary voice, and I don’t have time to vet everyone personally. There are so many excellent pitching contests for commercial fiction; I wanted to offer a pitching contest for quieter stories. #pg70pit is the result.
Reading the slush is a volunteer position. Entries come in July 1 for MG, July 2 for YA, and July 3 for Adult. All entries must be read and judged by July 5th at 7pm EDT. I estimate that each slushie will be assigned fewer than 60 entries (60 pages).
By hitting “submit,” you recognize that this is a blind contest—you pledge to not enter this contest yourself in 2016, and you pledge to pass any entries you recognize onto another slushie.
Lara Willard 
I’ll totally slush for you! I’m not interested in erotica or fantasy. My faves are MG YA contempt lit thrillers or mystery 😊 Aften Brook Szymanski af10ski@gmail.com 307-887-9992
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Hey Afton—awesome! Can you enter using the form on the blog post? (It might not be visible from email or mobile.) That way I can keep all the entries together 🙂
I am a full-time copywriter with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Comm. May I volunteer to judge?
Hi Travis—that would be great! Please fill out the form on the post’s page (it may not be visible from email or mobile)
Hi Lara–may we act as both judges and entrants in this contest? When will we be notified if we are selected as judges? 🙂
Hi! Note the small print: if you submit an application you are agreeing to not enter this year 🙂
I’ll email out a form to judges next week to sort slushies by age category.
I’m so stoked about judging this year!!
How many pitches did you get last year?
In 2015, we had 79 MG entries, 236 YA entries, and 198 Adult Entries.
Whoa! Nice! And overwhelming!
We’ll divide the entries among the slush readers so nobody has to read everything (except for me!). Cohosts will read all the entries in their age category.