Announcing: Essay Contest for Aspiring Writers of YA/MG Fiction

Win a literary agent or acclaimed author’s feedback on your
unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers.  This
rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest
recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation.  See
http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.

You could win a manuscript critique from:

• Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot

• Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau

• Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse’s Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust

• Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe

• Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

• Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey’s Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue

All that separates you from this prize is a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation’s new anthology, WHAT YOU WISH FOR.  

A stellar collection from Newbery medalists and bestselling authors written to benefit Darfuri refugees

With contributions from some of the best talent writing for children today, WHAT YOU WISH FOR
is a compelling collection of affecting, inspiring, creepy, and
oft-times funny short stories and poems all linked by the universal
power of a wish – the abstract things we all wish for – home, family,
safety and love.

From the exchange of letters between two girls
who have never met but are both struggling with the unexpected curves of
life, to the stunning sacrifice one dying girl makes for another, to
the mermaid who trades her tail for legs, to the boy who unwittingly
steals an imp’s house, and to the chilling retelling of Cinderella, WHAT YOU WISH FOR
brings together a potent international roster of authors of note to
remember and celebrate the Darfuri refugees and their incredible story
of survival and hope.

Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012 and winners will be announced around Mar.
1, 2012.  If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50
pages of your manuscript for critique (which means you can enter the
contest even if you haven’t finished, or started, your manuscript).  You
can even enter multiple times, with essays about more than one of the
contest stories, for a chance to win up to six critiques.

If you
dream of being a published author, this is an opportunity you should not
miss.  To enter, follow the instructions at
http://bookwish.org/contest.

Good luck and best wishes,

Logan Kleinwaks
President, Book Wish Foundation

WHAT YOU WISH FOR (ISBN 9780399254543, Putnam
Juvenile, Sep. 15, 2011) is a collection of short stories and poems
about wishes from 18 all-star writers: Meg Cabot, Jeanne DuPrau,
Cornelia Funke, Nikki Giovanni, John Green, Karen Hesse, Ann M. Martin,
Alexander McCall Smith, Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol
Oates, Nate Powell, Sofia Quintero, Gary Soto, R.L. Stine, Francisco X.
Stork, Cynthia Voigt, Jane Yolen.  With a Foreword by Mia Farrow.  Book
Wish Foundation is donating 100% of its proceeds from the book to the UN
Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fund the development of libraries in Darfuri
refugee camps in eastern Chad.