Upcoming Agent/Pitch Contests

If you’ve been around the Twittisphere lately, you’ll probably have heard a lot about #GUTGAA (Gearing Up To Get An Agent). It’s a contest that happened during the month of September that got a lot of writers in front of a lot of agents. I’ve been hearing more and more about the success stories of finding agents all because of contests that writers have entered. Well, if you’re worried you’ve missed them all, worry no more! Here, I’ve compiled a small list of contests that are coming up as soon as this weekend!

Spooktacular Pitch Extravaganza — Hosted by Jamie at This Writer’s World & Plot Bunnies, you have a chance to pitch to two agents from Corvisiero Literary Agency. Jr. Literary agents, Brittany Booker and Jordy Albert will be competing for YOUR pitch! Submissions start on Saturday, October 13th at 8:00 am EDT and to until 12:00 am EDT October 16th, so get those pitches polished!! The contest is open to Adult, Young Adult, New Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. You will need a 3 line pitch and the first 250 of your MS. (Latest details here.)

Hook, Line, and Sinker — Hosted by Dee of I Write for Apples (hosting MG), Kat of Kat Ellis Writes (hosting YA), and Summer of Fizzygrrl.com (hosting Adult), you have a chance to “hook” an agent. There are three rounds, the first of which opens Saturday, October 13th at 11:00 am EDT. You must have a three sentence (60 word max) pitch and your favorite line ready to send within the submissions window to the appropriate host. There will be three rounds. The first round will be the initial submission window where the first 50 MG, 75 YA, and 50 Adult will be accepted. Round two will whittle those entries down to 20 MG, 30 YA, and 20 Adult. Those entries will be posted along with the first 250 of the finished MS. The third round will be the final round of 10 finalists per genre where agents will request what they like. (Latest details here.)

Pitch Live — A different kind of pitch contest, you’re sure to be seen. Starting on Monday, October 15th at 8:00 am EDT, post the VIDEO of your elevator pitch on your blog and judges will hop around and pick the 30 best pitches who will move on to the agent round. From there, the VIDEOs will be posted on the host blogs and agents will hop around looking for the most interesting and entertaining elevator pitches. The hosts are Brenda Drake, Erica Chapman, and Leigh Ann Kopans. Genres being accepted are Adult, Young Adult, New Adult, and Middle Grade. (More details here.)

Get Your Pitch On — On October 15th, YAtopia and Down UnderWonderings will host this great pitch contest for YA in any genre. Marisa Pintado, Commissioning and Editing Manager of Hardie Grant Egmont, will take a look at the 100 entries each blog is accepting with no limit to how many she will request. (More details here.)

Trick or Treat with Agents — Hosted by Brenda Drake, Kimberly Chase, and Deanna Romito, this is a fun contest with a Halloween twist. Genres being accepted are Adult, YA, and MG. Submissions open on October 24th at 11:00 am EDT with the first 150 entries being accepted. The hosts will then choose 12 each that they feel fit with the participating agents. From there, costumed agents will be treating the entrants they like to requests. (More details here.)

Baker’s Dozen Agent Auction — Hosted by the Authoress at Miss Snark’s First Victim, the Baker’s Dozen Agent Auction is in it’s 3rd year! Starting October 30th and November 1st from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EDT, submissions for Adult fiction will be open. On November 6th and November 8th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EDT, submissions for YA/MG fiction will open. 100 entries from each Adult submission window and 150 entries from each YA/MG submission window will be accepted. On November 12th, 25 winning entries from the Adult category and 35 winning entries from the YA/MG category will be notified via email. Those 60 entries will be posted on November 30th with the auction going live on December 4th. Agents have until December 5th to place their bids. The winners will be announced on December 6th. THERE IS A $10 ENTRY FEE FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS! (More details here.)

If you plan on entering any of these, we at the Dojo wish you the best of luck!

Kathleen is a writer of YA Paranormal Romance and Fantasy. She lives with her husband, two kids, and a cat in Southern Indiana where she spends her days watching bad sci-fi movies and reading all the books. Her writing began with poetry when she was 12 years old. As she got older, she became interested in writing stories and books. She majored in Theatre in college and loves delving into the psyche of of others, figuring out what makes people tick. When she’s not reading a book, playing with her kids, or pulling her cat out of a tree you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.