The Go Teen Writers #WeWriteBooks Contest is Coming!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Here's how it will work:

1. Starting on Wednesday, September 14th, we will be open for submissions. That means, we are NOT open for submissions yet. We want you to have a couple weeks to get your entries ready so that no one is tempted to rush.

We will be open for contest submissions Wednesday, September 14th through Wednesday, September 28th OR until we receive 300 entries. 

2. When you submit your entry, your chapter must be no more than 3,000 words. We highly recommend that it be the first 3,000 words of your story, but that decision is up to you. If you have a prologue, you are welcome to include it as long as you stay under the 3,000-word limit. We also highly recommend that you not conclude your entry in the middle of a sentence because it's jarring to a judge. It's better to submit 2980 words of complete sentences and thoughts than it is to leave us off in the middle of a sentence or explanation but use all 3,000 words. (If you're confused about word count, there is an explanation below.) Wherever you decide to stop your entry, keep in mind the post on powerful chapter and scene endings. Hook us with that last line! Also, your synopsis must be no longer than two pages. Detailed formatting rules are posted below.

3. This contest will have two rounds of judging. Stephanie, Shannon, and I will work together to read every entry and compile a list of three finalists. The finalists will be given two weeks to prepare their first three chapters, which we will send to our talented editor friend Roseanna White, who will pick the winner. A huge thanks to Roseanna for helping us with the final round of judging.

Other questions you may have:

Where do I submit my entry?: We will announce that when the contest opens on Wednesday, September 13th.

Who may enter this contest?: This contest is restricted to writers age 21 and younger, who are not traditionally published, and who do not have an agent.

How many times can I enter?: Only one entry per person, please.

How should I format my entry?: Your chapter and your synopsis will not be formatted the same.

Your chapter must be formatted in the following manner:

-It should be double-spaced with no additional spacing before or after each line.
-It should have one-inch margins on all four sides.
-It should use 12-point Times New Roman or Courier font.
-Each chapter should begin on a new page. Don’t hit “Enter, Enter, Enter” to get your cursor to a new page. Instead insert a Page Break at the end of each chapter, then begin typing your new chapter on the next page. Remember, your submission has a word-count limit, not a page-count limit, so if you have more than one chapter, that's okay.
-Start each chapter ¼ to ½ of the way down the page.
-Format all chapter headings the same. It doesn't matter if you write "Chapter One" or "1," as long as you're consistent.
-Use only one space after punctuation, not two.
-Use italics for inner thoughts and to stress a word. Don't go overboard.
-Avoid all fancy formatting, like drop cap letters to the start of each chapter, flowery scene breaks, or any other decorative graphics.
-Scene breaks should be marked with asterisks or a number sign. Again, you could use one asterisk *, five in a row ***** or three with tabs in between *      *      *. It doesn't matter as long as you are consistent throughout the manuscript.

Click here to view my tutorial on proper manuscript format.

Your synopsis should be formatted in the following manner:

-It should be single spaced.
-It can be between one and two pages long.
-It should have one-inch margins on all four sides.
-Use only one space after punctuation, not two.

If you need help writing your synopsis, please refer to Stephanie's posts on how to write a synopsis and how to edit a synopsis. They are great posts.

What if I don't have Microsoft Word?: You don't have to submit a Word file. If you have a different word-processing program, just be sure to save a copy of your submission as a .txt file so that we will all be able to open it.

When will we find out who the finalists are?: We don't know yet. We'll have a better idea once we see how many entries there are, but we're taking the first two weeks of October off from blogging so that we can dedicate significant time to judging. We hope to be able to announce finalists when we return from that break, but we will just have to see how many submissions come in.

Will I get feedback on my entry?: We will do our best to give each of you something helpful and concrete that you can apply to your writing. But Stephanie, Shannon, and I also have young kids and books of our own to write, so we won't be able to do a line edit or talk over specifics with everybody.

If I win, do you publish my entry on your website?: We would like to highlight each of the three finalists on the Go Teen Writers blog by posting the first page of their chapter. Each finalist will have the choice whether or not they would like us to do that. We will ask permission first and will leave the decision up to each finalist.

How do I find the word count of my entry?: The industry standard for word count is Microsoft Word. In older versions of Word, you had to go to "Tools" and then "Word count." The newer versions keep track of the word count down below. (See the red circle):

See that place circled in red in the bottom left corner? There's your word count.

Or you can also go to the review menu and find it here:

Another option is using a site like WordCounter.net.

Will you go over these rules again?: Yes, I will post the rules again in two weeks. It any changes come up, I will tell you then, but I don't foresee any.

One final note: We don't like to limit entries for contests, but there are only three of us, and while the Go Teen Writers blog is very important, it is only a portion of our professional responsibilities. Plus we all have families with children and our own writing schedules to try and maintain. While it pains us that the limitations we've put on the contest (only accepting 300 entries) might inevitably exclude some writers, we hope you can understand why we need a restrictions in place.

As it is, Stephanie, Shannon, and I each have committed to reading and providing feedback for 300,000 words free of charge, and that will take up a lot of time and energy. We're happy to give back in this way to a community that we're blessed to be a part of, but we still have to put boundaries in place to remain healthy.

Any other questions I can help answer?