All YA contests (book giveaways, agent crits, query, etc.)

oceansoul

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Charity Auction for Young Adult Writers / Readers (Agent Critiques, Signed Books)

Like the thread I made for the Scrabble event, I'm really not sure where to put this -- but this sub-forum seemed the most appropriate, since it's publishing related.

In connection with a UK charity called Stonewall, which supports LGBTQ who are vulnerable in their communities and promotes education, I'm running an auction featuring loads of LGBTQ YA Books and perks donated by agents/editors.

There are five 'clan boxes' to bid on. Each of these boxes contains 6-7 new YA books, most of which are signed by the author and accompanied by swag such as bookmarks. All of them have been gift-wrapped and popped in a lovely box accompanied with some other gifty items.

Each box also has a selection of perks for writers, donated generously by agents who rep Young Adult fiction or editors actively looking to acquire it. They are all LGBTQ and diversity friendly, but have stressed that you don't have to be writing QUILTBAG fiction to bid on and use the perks! Each box has 3-4 of these perks inside.

Publishing Perks include:

Query Critiques by Brent Taylor (Triada US), Rachel Brooks (L. Perkins Agency), Maria Vicente (P.S. Literary), Stephen Morgan (Entangled Publishing).

10pg (opening pages) Critiques by Stephen Morgan (Entangled Publishing), Rebecca Podos (Rees Literary), Peter J. Knapp (Park Literary), Patricia Nelson (Marsal Lyon).

Twitter Pitch Critique with Laura Zats (Red Sofa Literary) for those trying to stand out for #SFFpit and #Pitmad.

'Skip the Line' passes from Saba Sulaiman (Talcott Notch) and Marietta Zacker (Nancy Gallt), which means you will totally skip over everybody else in their inbox and get a query response right away.

The boxes themselves are gorgeous and would make a great self-gift or a gift for a writer friend about to start querying. If you've been a bit stuck on your query letter or opening pages, this is a great opportunity for you to get feedback while supporting a worthwhile cause. We just opened the auction today, so the opening bids are still quite low -- who knows, you might get a deal? ;) We're shipping to the UK, Ireland, US, Canada and continental Europe.

ALL proceeds from this are being donated to Stonewall.

To enter the auction, you record your bid in the comments under each item. You will pay through Indiegogo (secure, charity fundraising site) but they don't have a function for bidding.

Go forth and be charitable! (and win great stuff)

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(and example of what's inside one of the boxes!)


 
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oceansoul

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I've been PMed a few great FAQs and recieved many more through Twitter. These are answered in the blog post / auction site, but there is so much information on there that the details can be a bit obscurred.

Dates -

The auction started at midnight on the 9th of June, and will run until midnight on the 16th of June.

Bids --

There isn't a minimum starting bid, but all of the items now have an opening bid. You can bid as little $1 over the existing bid to be moved into first place.


Agents and Editors
The wildcards in each box are set. Unfortunately we can't let the winners of each box swap them around because that wouldn't be fair to other bidders. The listings tell you what items are coming with the books in each box.

I.e. Clan Hydra's box contains both a Query Critique with Brent Taylor and the first 10pg critique with Peter Knapp.

A pretty sweet deal in a beautiful gift box all wrapped up with signed YA books.
 

oceansoul

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Well, the thread is now merged -- so I hope people do still see it! Getting enough Retweets / general exposure has been quite a difficult aspect of the event.

Most of the items now have low starting bids, so all these amazing agent perks could be yours without potentially breaking your bank account.

This really is a terrific cause. Stonewall UK (our charity) are currently running a writing contest for marginalised 14-17 year olds ... so effectively by helping yourself (buying a critique) you're helping Stonewall to help diverse writers of tomorrow. Which is kind of a beautiful thought.

CHECB1_TW0_AI5a_UP.jpg


Anyway, sorry for spamming the thread! I'm justifying this by the fact it's for charity!
 

oceansoul

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Today is the last day for bids in the Queer YA Auction. Most of the boxes are still at a really reasonable bid, so, you could get some phenominal perks to help your writing from Agents pretty cheaply. It's for a good cause :)
 

stephsco

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My home romance writers chapter has their Four Seasons contest open now thru Oct. 10 with a YA category. We have an editor and agent final round judge for each category, and the manuscripts should be unpublished and have at least romantic elements (the romance does not need to be the primary focus for YA!). The TOR/Forge editor I met at this summer's RWA conference and she does acquire YA genres that are not sci-fi or fantasy, but definitely those too. Three overall finalists will receive a bonus critique from one of 3 selected writers in our chapter; the YA writer is Clara Kensie who won RWA's Rita industry award for best first book in 2015 for her YA Run To You through Harlequin TEEN.

OK that was a lot of info!
2015 Final Judges:
Young Adult
Editor: Amy Stapp, Tor/Forge
Agent: Marisa A. Corvisiero, Corvisiero Agency

Enter here: http://www.windycityrwa.org/
 

stephsco

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I'm a member of Young Adult Romance Writers and our annual contest is open for entries this month. This is for any unpublished, uncontracted Young Adult or New Adult manuscript REGARDLESS OF ROMANCE. There is a fee, and all entries will receive feedback by authors who read and write YA. Final round reviewed by 3 agent/editors per category (as far as contests go--this one has great industry pros attached. I only wish I would have entered before I was ineligible!)

All details here: http://yarwa.com/contest-2016/