Guide to Literary Agents blog is hosting another “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest, and this time it’s for Middle Grade and Young Adult Novels.

Submission dates are Feb. 7-21.  Judge is Jennifer Laughran from Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Details are here:  http://tinyurl.com/yb24bqz

Here’s a contest sponsored by an agent.  It includes Young Adult Fiction, (although various types of adult fiction is included) but there must be some sort of romantic relationship in the story.  MG and Children’s are NOT included.  The agent is Nephele Tempest at The Knight Agency.  See the details here:   http://nephele.livejournal.com/117404.html Submissions for the contest starts today and ends on 2/14.

The Crested Butte Writers are accepting submissions for their annual writers contest, The Sandy.  There is a children’s & YA category.  Final judge is Julie Scheina, Assistant Editor, Little, Brown Books

The deadline is Feb. 15th.

Details are here:  http://www.crestedbuttewritersconference.org/sandy_rules.php

The Guide to Literary Agents blog often offers query letters that worked.  Recently they posted one for a YA sent to ICM agent Tina Wexler.  Tina has attended NJ SCBWI events.  You might find her comments interesting.

Successful Query to Tina Wexler

Michele Burke and Allison Wortche have been to several NJ SCBWI events.  They’ve both recently been promoted.  From Publishers Lunch:

In the Knopf and Crown editorial department at Random House Children’s Books, Michele Burke has been promoted to editor and Allison Wortche has been promoted to associate editor.

I’ll be speaking at the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA in May.  Registration is now open.

Keynote speakers: James Rollins and Elizabeth Kann (of Pinkalicious fame.)

I’ll be speaking on revisions on Sunday.

Editors attending are:

Barbara Lalicky, editor, HarperCollins Childrens

Leis Pederson, editor, Berkley

David Pomerico, editor, Del Rey Spectra

Agents: (most are at least interested in Young Adult manuscripts, and some are interested in younger children’s as well.)

Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Agency

Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary

Jenny Bent, Bent Literary

Alex Glass, Trident Media

Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman Literary

Love to see you there!

Conference Information

This post from The Guide to Literary Agents blog.  It was written by Donna Gambale and Frankie Diane Mallis (who you might know from NJ SCBWI events.)  Valuable info here from Janet Reid:

Your ability to write a query that does your novel justice can make or break your chances of landing an agent. Reid recommends spending two months perfecting this 250-word marvel.

Your query encompasses three sections:
1. 100 words answering the question “What is the book about?”
2. A brief summary of your writing credits, if you have them.
3. Miscellaneous information on how you found the agent or why you chose him/her.

Read the rest of the post here.

If you missed this poll on Jenna Nadol’s blog, it’s very interesting.  She polled the Tenners, the group of YA and MG debut novelists to determine when they got their agents, how many queries they sent, how many books they’ve written, etc.  Very interesting stuff.

Selling Your First Children’s Novel:  A Poll

The Tenners

From The McVeigh Agency–Here’s what they’re looking for now.

•   Quirky, funny picture books with a unique twist; always kid-centric: what haven’t you ever read before in a picture book? Write it!
•   Chapter books with a great hook–school based, funny, always character or situation driven.
•   Middle grade genre books, especially those with series potential – for example, set in a private school, sports-related (for either boys or girls or both!), for horse-lovers, and something so irresistible to capture that elusive male reader who prefers video games. Girl books, but no watered-down “rich girl with sexy lifestyle” please
•   YA – funny or full of teen angst; envelope pushing or issue based; love stories, of course; always looking for something original and with a kid’s or teen’s voice. Again, ask yourself: what hasn’t been done before. Make it–and this goes for everything you send Mark–start with an intoxicating chapter that FORCES the reader to keep going.

Please note that we are NOT looking at middle grade or YA fantasy at this time.

Dazzle us with your query letter but keep it brief!  Then paste the first 10 pages of your manuscript into the body of the e-mail (no attachments).  Submit to   queries@themcveighagency.com

The McVeigh Agency

Kathy Temean has posted an update on the editors/agents and authors who will be at the NJ SCBWI conference in June.  You can see the list at her website.  Registration form will be up in sometime in the next two weeks.

NJ SCBWI Conference Editor and Agent Update