Hello wonderful readers! I am THRILLED to be hosting a brand new writing contest in January 2022!
As we have all heard approximately 439,745 times, this industry is extremely subjective. What one agent loves will be an immediate pass for another. What one editor wants to throw all the money at will be what another completely ghosts. It just is what it is. But for me personally, the greatest form of praise is when a KID loves my manuscripts!
For a very long time I've wanted to host a writing contest, but I never knew what exactly I wanted to do. There are already so many amazing contests out there, so how would mine fit into the mix? Then it hit me... what if we had KID judges?? I loved the idea and I'm flying with it!
On January 7th 2022, I will post the theme and rules for this year's contest. You will have just over 3 weeks to craft your entries based on that info. Entries can then be submitted via my website January 31st through February 2nd. THEN (and this is the really exciting part) a panel of KID judges will review the entries and choose the winners!!
For now, I need two things from the amazing writing community... KID JUDGES and Prize Donations! Applications for judges MUST be filled out by a parent/guardian. I am looking for judges in PB, MG, and YA categories and I especially hope to get a diverse panel of judges. This contest will be fully virtual, so kid judges can come from anywhere in the world, but must speak English since this contest will be hosted in English (apologies for that. I hope to find a way to be even more inclusive in the future).
***Kids will only have to read 10-15 entries (of 200 words or less) over the course of a month as judges. We will be dividing up the work into rounds so that no kid has to read a wild amount of entries***
If your child is interested in being a Kid Judge, please fill out THIS GOOGLE FORM.
If you are an author, editor, or agent and would like to donate a critique or book prize to a winner, please fill out THIS GOOGLE FORM.
AND if that all wasn't exciting enough, I am also loosely announcing the companion contest...
This one will be in July when kiddos aren't so busy with school. Kids will submit their entries to be judged by published authors and the winners will receive donated virtual author visits for their classrooms! That one is way less worked out on the details, but at least we can get excited!
For now, look forward to January and the awesome event we're going to create together! I can't wait to see what you write and what the kids fall in love with.
Thank you all SO much for your support in this new endeavor! I am super excited!
Title: NO SNOW FOR ME
BY: Wilma Krause Brucker
Genre:PB
I am a cat. My name is Jack.
I live in a house with large dog. His name is Jake.
The first time we met,I felt a cold nose sniffing my butt. “Meow! Get away Jack!” I shouted. Next, behind a gate, we went nose to nose. Then, I gave him a slow blink, telling him that I liked him. We have been friends ever since.
I love to lie in the sun and look out of the window at birds, rabbits and squirrels.
Jake chases those birds, rabbits and squirrels.
The leaves of the trees just turned red, orange and yellow and then fell off.
Inside…
Sample of "Trixie Finds a Friend"
By Linda Elliott Long
Genre: PB
I am Trixie, a cute collie.
I belong to Theo, a terrific ten-year-old boy.
Theo’s sister is Vivian. She’s six and very cute!
This is such great idea, Kailei! The kid judges must be so excited! What a thrill for them - and me too ;)
Looking forward to it!
I love this and immediately told my grand-daughter about it. She'd be a terrific judge and will also submit something to your July children's writing contest! Thanks for putting this together!
Sounds like a great idea to me.