As announced on September 1, 2016, the Go Teen Writers #WeWriteBooks contest starts today! We’re open between now and Wednesday, September 28th OR until we receive 300 entries.
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
The Rules
1. Who can enter: Those who are 21 and under, un-agented, and not a contracted or traditionally published novelist. One entry per person.
2. Your chapter must be no more than 3,000 words. Do not submit 3001 words and hope to get away with it. You will be disqualified. We highly recommend that you submit 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 don’t end 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 exactly 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!
2. Your synopsis must be no longer than two pages. You synopsis and your chapter should not be formatted the same. Detailed formatting rules are posted below.
3. You must save both your chapter and your synopsis in one file to submit. That means you should perfect your chapter, triple check that the word count is 3,000 words or under, then add a page break and paste in your synopsis. This is because our entry form can only have one attachment per entry.
4. 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 editor Roseanna White, who will pick the winner.
How To Format Your 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.
-Set your indentations to .5.
-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.
-Save your file as a .doc, docx, or txt file.
-Please save your file with your name and story title. For example: JillWilliamsonThirst or Jill_Williamson_Thirst. (If you already submitted your entry before I added this instruction, no worries. We will figure it out.)
Click here to view my tutorial on proper manuscript format, if you’re not sure how to change some of the requirements in the list above.
-You do not need a title page, page numbers, or page headers.
Your synopsis should be formatted in the following manner:
-It should be single 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.
-Set your indentations to .5.
-It can be between one and two pages long. One-page synopses are preferred, so if you have both, give us the short one. You will not be marked down for having a two-page synopsis.
-Use only one space after punctuation, not two.
-Your synopsis should give us an overview of the full book and include the ending. Spoilers are part of a synopsis. You’re trying to show an editor or agent that you can plot out a book well. 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.
Other Questions
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 .doc or .txt file so that we will 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.
Ready To Enter?
Because of the need to have an attachment, we were unable to use Google Forms for the contest. Instead I was able to set up a form on my author website. You must give us three things on this form:
1. A name (a pen name is fine).
2. A correct email address. (Triple check it, please. If we love your entry but cannot find you because of a typo in your email address, that would be really unfortunate.)
3. Your attached submission—in one file. This is the tricky part. Please bear with us. Because of technology and the way the forms plugin works on my author website, I can only handle one attachment per entry. That means you will have to add a page break at the end of your chapter and paste in your synopsis. Make sure you check the word count of your entry before pasting in your synopsis. And make sure that your entry is 3,000 words or less because we hate having to disqualify people.
To enter, go to this link and follow the instructions.
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.
Good luck, everyone! And please feel free to ask any other questions you have in the comments below.