january – Lara Willard

There are so many pitching opportunities coming up in the next few weeks and months that I might be forgetting one. If you know of any more contests, please let me know in the comments! Note that I am only including contests and pitching opportunities that are open to unpublished writers and which either have no entry fee or give professional feedback

Contents:

AgentMatch
SunVsSnow
Adpit
PitMad
Ink & Insights
Carina Pitch

Writers Seeking Agent #AgentMatch

For: PB–A

Submission Date: Send before Feb 5th at 8pm EST.

Submission Package: hook (one-sentence tagline), query, optional photo (see blog for specifics)

Entries: 150

Winners: unclear, but I believe each entry will be sorted by age category to make it easier for agents to scroll through.

Twitter: Cheer each other on using the #AgentMatch hashtag.

Sun Versus Snow #SunvsSnow

For: MG, YA, NA, and Adult genres, excluding erotica

Submission Date: Jan 26, 4pm EST (submission closes after 200 entries!)

Submission Package: heat vs cold paragraph, query, first 250 words (see blog for specifics)

Entries: 200

Winners: 30—fifteen entries will be chosen by each side (snow and sun), which will receive critiques from mentors before their revised queries and pages are posted for the agent round (Feb 9-11)

Twitter: Root for your favorite entries using the #SunVsSnow hashtag.

AdPit

For: Adult and New Adult manuscripts only

Submission Date: Feb 8

Submission Package: Pitch, Query (see blog for upcoming info)

Entries: 150

Winners: 11—six will be critiqued by “slushies” and the top 5 will receive a full critique from a secret agent / editor. All 11 will appear on the blog.

Twitter: Pitch party on February 13th open to all A and NA complete manuscripts

Pitch Madness #PitMad

For: PB, MG, YA, NA, A

Submission Date: Feb 20

Submission Package: 35-word pitch, first 250 words (see blog for more info)

Entries: 500+

Winners: 60 entries go onto the agent round.

Twitter: Pitch party on March 11th open to all complete manuscripts

Ink & Insights (Contest)

For: MG, YA, NA, A

Submission Date: March 1

Submission Package: first 10,000 words, $35 entry fee

Entries: ~200

Winners: Every entry gets professional feedback from 4 judges (that’s what the entry fee is for). Top 3 entries are read by 7 agents.

Twitter: n/a

Picture and Chapter Book Party!

For: Picture Books and Chapter Books

Submission Date: March 16

Submission Package: query, plus first 50 words (PB) or 100 words (chapter book)

Entries: 15–20

Winners: Every entry gets professional feedback from 4 judges (that’s what the entry fee is for). Top 3 entries are read by 7 agents.

Twitter: #PBParty (Date TBA)

#CarinaPitch

See the press release for more information on how to pitch directly to Carina Press editors on March 19th.

Twitter: Pitch party on March 19th from 9am–9pm EST

I’ve updated the SMART goals and Don’t Break the Chain calendar with a printable calendar for 2015! Make and keep your resolutions with this free download.

Lara Willard

UPDATE: Links have been updated with a full 2015 calendar!

I don’t really do New Years resolutions in January. Sometimes I set goals for myself, but April is generally my goal-setting month because it’s the month in which I was born. Doesn’t hurt that it starts with April Fool’s Day, so if I make a completely unreasonable goal, I suppose I could change my mind on April 2nd.

Back in January I decided 2014 was THE year for me to once and for all finish the manuscript I’ve been working on. The past few months I’ve been reading up on productivity, attending time-management and goal-setting workshops for artists, and setting short term and long term goals.

There’s a difference between a goal, though, and a SMART goal.