Monthly Archives: February 2010

Deadline: February 21, 2010

Entry Fee: Free

Guidelines: http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/Dear+Lucky+Agent+Contest+Middle+Grade+And+Young+Adult.aspx

This contest is being offered by the Guide to Literary Agents. The blog post states that it will be a recurring contest, although in different genres each time. So take advantage of this month’s contest if you write MG or YA fiction.

To enter, you need to have a completed manuscript. Yes, that means completely completed. Not done except for the editing, not almost done, not even “I’ve got a great idea and I can write it in a month” done. It must be complete now.

To enter the contest, you must send the first 150-200 pages of the manuscript in an email to februaryagentcontest@gmail.com. That should encourage everyone to turn a critical eye on that first page of the story. How is your hook?

The judge is Jennifer Laughran, an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She’ll choose the lucky writers to win critiques and Writer’s Digest books. And since writers are an optimistic lot, who knows what else might result from this fabulous contest?

Check the guidelines carefully. Be like Santa. Make a list of things they require. Check it twice. Then send your manuscript in and expect it to be everything they hoped for.