A to Z: Young Adult & other Children's Fiction Contests

OUNG ADULT & 

OTHER FICTION CONTESTS

AGE LEVELS
Young Adult books are defined as targeting ages 12-18. The genres covered in this are basically the same as adult fiction. The main difference is that the main characters are preteens or teens dealing with teen issues.

Middle Grade books target 8-12 year old readers.

Picture books and Chapter books are for the lower reading levels and are actually more challenging for most writers because of the word limits you have to write within.


CONTEST BENEFITS
There are contests all over the internet. Sorting through them can prove a daunting task. The rewards can compensate for that many times over.

Winning contests provide visibility, acknowledgement, accolades, bragging rights and they look great on a list of credentials. Even mentions in contests can advance your writing goals. Having the rights to claim "award winning author" status goes a long way with readers, even if they're not familiar with the specific contests.

In my research, I've discovered that the majority of the contests out there have spring time deadlines. With that in mind, I looked for annual contests.


Some contests that you can enter that have no entry fees:

Writers of the Future - There are no fees to enter and it's a quarterly contest. Awards are in 3 month segments as well as an annual award. This is for new writers. This quarter's deadline is 6/30.

Highlights Fiction Contest - This is closed for this year (the deadline has passed). But it is one I plan to keep an eye on. The winners are purchased and published in the magazine. They have an additional way for children to contribute to the magazine, but their rules are different. Kids' submission guidelines are HERE. One of the nice things is, you don't have to wait for next year's contest to submit work to the magazine. (Contributor guidelines)

We Need Diverse Books - Short Story contest ... This one has passed already for this year, but I'm making note of it to plan on entering next year. Stories target MG level.




Best of luck to all of you who enter any contests.

Today's choices in blogs. 

1. Holly Lisle blog - She seems to have some great posts and her site has some amazing writing resources. 
2. Creative Genius 101 - I like the resources. 
3. Writing Career - A nice supply of contest and submission links.