Contest for Aspiring YA Authors

I was contacted recently and asked to pass along this information for those of you who may be aspiring authors and are interested in writing Young Adult or Middle Grade Literature. The details to win the opportunity to have your manuscript critiqued is as simple as reading What You Wish For, a collection of short stories, and writing an essay about the selection. Check out the details below!

Win a literary agent or acclaimed author's feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers.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. 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.

Good luck!