YA WRITING CONTEST
Write Your Novella, Work With An Author Mentor, Get Your Book Out In The World!
The competition is totally free to enter! Here’s what you need to know:
*Write a 7-10,000 word complete story that works with the book cover below (no, it can’t be over 10k by more than a few words)
*Submit your query to our mentors by June 20, 2021
*Mentors’ choices announced June 30, 2021
*Mentorship process July 1-31
*Judging Aug 1-8
*Winner announced Aug 10
The winner will receive the pro book cover, formatting, and editing…which means the winner could have their book ready for release by Fall!
*We’re going to be very, very social media chatty about our mentees, which means you’ll get in front of a lot of eyes as you go through the process so we can help build your fandom!
This competition is for unpublished writers (this would be your debut!)
Submissions must fit into the YA genre (main character must be 15-18 years old)
Each mentor will chose one query to work with (not everyone will be selected)
Each mentor will do one developmental pass of the story and give notes back to the writer. The writer will then work on fixing up the story and send the revamped novella back to the mentor for one more look-over. Some mentors may chose to do more than this but are not required to go beyond this.
The judge will read over all final entries and make their choice.
From there, the winner will work with the professional editor on line edits before sending final manuscript for book and cover formatting. Then it’s up to the writer on how they will put their book out in the world, but I’ll be here with help and guidance should they want it!
Winner Receives: One of these book covers, formatting and interior graphics, professional line editing, + guidance from K.M. Robinson on publishing the story by this Fall!
Title will be changed on cover—you don’t have to use this title, but you’re also welcome to use it if you like it.
MEET THE JUDGE
Annie Sullivan is the author of A Touch of Gold, Tiger Queen, and A Curse of Gold. She grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Butler University. She loves fairytales, everything Jane Austen, and traveling.
MEET THE MENTORS
Lux Karpov Kinrade is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author who has published over 50 books in three pen names with her husband/co-author, Dmytry. Together they also teach writing classes in academic settings, make music, write and direct screenplays, and produce cinematic book trailers. She is best known for her Vampire Girl, Night Firm and Nightfall Chronicles book series. Lux lives in wine country California with her husband and their three offspring who have crazy creative genius oozing out of them, and too many cats who all think they rule the world (spoiler alert: they do). You can find her at KarpovKinrade.com and on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as @KarpovKinrade.
J.A. Armitage lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she’s not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She’s travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.
Constance Roberts is a retired flight attendant who turned in her wings to stay at home with her adventurous children and to write. She and her husband live in St. Louis, Missouri where they spend the weekends playing board games with friends. She is an avid bookstagramer and you can find her book photography on Instagram @imagery.in.pages
Teacher by day, award-winning author by night, J.M. Sullivan is a fairy tale fanatic who loves taking classic stories and turning them on their head. A firm believer in true love and the power of coffee, JM hopes to bring a little more sparkle to the world, one word at a time.
MEET THE EDITOR
Haley Walden writes fast-paced, character-driven epic fantasy with magical adventures, spellbinding love stories, and unforgettable friendships. The Witness Tree Chronicles is her debut series-in-progress. Haley is a multi-passionate geek with many obsessions, including pop culture, Star Wars, fantasy, mythology, martial arts, film, music, and musical theatre. She lives in the Deep South with her husband and children.
MEET THE HOST/DESIGNER
K.M. Robinson is a multi-time best-selling young adult fiction author who helps readers and writers grow in the industry, and is a social media educator and speaker who helps entrepreneurs build profitable businesses through smart social media marketing. She’s been spotlighted by Facebook for her innovative work in the field, and has been appeared on CBS News nationally, NBC news nationally, Business News Daily, Writer’s Weekly, New York Comic Con, Penned Con Charleston, Penned Con St Louis, MerMagic Con, Live Con, etc, and has partnered with companies like TikTok, Zynn, BeLive, and Logitech. She specializes in livestreaming, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok growth for entrepreneurs, including writers!
QUERY SPECIFICATIONS
TO QUERY, PLEASE EMAIL KM@KMROBINSONBOOKS.COM WITH SUBJECT LINE “WRITING COMPETITION—(YOUR NAME)—(YOUR STORY TITLE)
INCLUDE:
*A one-paragraph hook for your book with a brief introduction to what your story is about
*A one-paragraph synopsis of the entire book (this is not the place to tease the ending, actually tell us what happens)
*Why you would like to be selected for mentorship
*Please confirm you are willing to be mentored and are willing to fix up your story with mentor suggestions (you’re not required to do everything they say, but you must be willing to improve the story)
*Attach a Word doc of your completed 7,000-10,000 word story edited to the best of your ability (you can export Google docs are Word docs)
*Tell us who told you about the contest—there might be a thank you involved for the person who spreads the word the most!
We will confirm when we’ve received your entry—if you don’t hear back within two days, please email us again.
Manuscript Specifications
Manuscripts must be sent in a Word doc format (you can export Google docs as Word docs) size 14 Cambria or Calibri font.
Please double space lines.
Do not double space after periods.
Include a title page with your title, full name, and contact email.
Headers should have your name in it.
File should be labeled as YourName_Story Title
Have Questions?
Email km@kmrobinsonbooks.com with subject line Writing Contest Question.
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