Delecorte Press YA Novel Contest

[Susan Gable]

I came across this information today and thought it might interest some people here!



Delecorte Press is sponsoring its 24th Annual Contest for a First Young Adult Novel. First prize is a publishing contract, $1500 cash and a $7500 advance against royalties. Submit your book-length manuscript of no less than 100 and no more than 224 pages, suitable for ages 12 to 18. Manuscripts must be postmarked
after October 1, 2005, but no later than December 31, 2005. For more information, see http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/#youngadult (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/#youngadult)

Susan G.

[rhymegirl]

Let me tell you guys my experience with this publisher which might help you decide whether you want to waste your time with them or not.

A number of years ago, I sent my young adult novel to them for the same contest. I was very excited about it and hoped for the best. I included a separate business-sized, self-addressed, stamped envelope in which they were supposed to send information about the results of the contest. I never received it!

I waited about 6 months to hear something. Nothing. Naturally, I was very curious.

I finally mailed off a letter to the editor, asking about the contest. She called me on the phone to tell me this: THEY DIDN'T PICK A WINNER FOR THE CONTEST BECAUSE NONE OF THE MANUSCRIPTS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO PUBLISH!

How do you like that one? Isn't that a lovely thing to tell a writer? I will never waste my time with this publisher again!

[PattiTheWicked]

I finally mailed off a letter to the editor, asking about the contest. She called me on the phone to tell me this: THEY DIDN'T PICK A WINNER FOR THE CONTEST BECAUSE NONE OF THE MANUSCRIPTS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO PUBLISH!

How do you like that one? Isn't that a lovely thing to tell a writer? I will never waste my time with this publisher again!

You know, I looked at their guidelines where it lists previous winners, and it seems there were several years where no winner was selected. I really find it hard to beleive that out of the thousands of submissions they got for four years in a row, that not a single one was good enough to publish.

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I doubt that every single submission sucked.

[CalicoBean]

It's actually not that unusual for legitimate contests like this one to not pick a winner. It doesn't mean every manuscript submitted sucked; most likely there were none that were of publishable quality and that were also what the publisher was looking for. It's just like submitting to the publisher and having your manuscript in the slush pile, except that because it's a contest, you're guaranteed to have the manuscript read within a certain time period. But no one is guaranteed a contract.

[rhymegirl]

You know, I looked at their guidelines where it lists previous winners, and it seems there were several years where no winner was selected. I really find it hard to beleive that out of the thousands of submissions they got for four years in a row, that not a single one was good enough to publish.

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I doubt that every single submission sucked.

Exactly my point! And think about this: Even writers who send their manuscripts to an editor(publisher) the normal way STILL have to do revisions if their novel is accepted for publication. In other words, an editor can LOVE your story and want to publish it, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. So, out of all those thousands of submissions, you can't tell me that not one could possibly be edited, revised and made better!

One thing that bugged the hell out of me was not being notified of the results of the contest when I had done exactly what they said to do! I sent a SASE for them to send me the results. I did not send a SASE for my manuscript to be returned because I didn't want to pay that much postage. I had a copy of the novel on my computer so I didn't need it back.

I will add that the editor was very snippy with me on the phone. She had a horrible attitude and that is not something a writer likes to see.

[rhymegirl]

It's actually not that unusual for legitimate contests like this one to not pick a winner. It doesn't mean every manuscript submitted sucked; most likely there were none that were of publishable quality and that were also what the publisher was looking for. It's just like submitting to the publisher and having your manuscript in the slush pile, except that because it's a contest, you're guaranteed to have the manuscript read within a certain time period. But no one is guaranteed a contract.

Sorry, but I don't think it's the same thing at all. When people enter a contest, they expect that there will be a winner. Look at the Absolute Write contest. How do you think all of us finalists would feel if Jenna had said: Ya know what, nobody wins because no one's writing was good enough. You don't think people would be pissed off?

When writers simply send their manuscripts off to a publisher willy-nilly, just hoping someone will bite, that's completely different. You know you're taking a chance in that case. But when you're competing, you put a lot of time, effort, and sweat into it and you fully expect that there will be a winner.

[CalicoBean]

But when you're competing, you put a lot of time, effort, and sweat into it and you fully expect that there will be a winner.

I agree with you in principle, but Random House/Delacorte has run contests for several years now and has a history of not selecting a winner every year (look at the Marguerite de Angeli contest for middle grade novels), so it's not like they're hiding anything. The whole thing does function as a kind of call for manuscripts. OTOH, the word "contest" is used, so I see your point about it misleading entrants into thinking there will definitely be a winner. Perhaps they should make their guidelines more clear. That's pretty shoddy work too, you not getting the results after sending an SASE. I hope you have better luck with your next submission.

[Torgo]

Out of all the thousands of manuscripts we were sent last year, not a single one failed to suck. So, I am not surprised in the least.

[mudflat_marsh_hawk]

St Martin's best first mystery novel contest is set up the same way. Many years they have not selected a winner.

[bkrrh85]

I agree with CalicoBean - the ms. they received may not have been what they were looking for.

Let's face it - we ALL spend a great of time, sweat and effort on our manuscripts, but that doesn't mean even though they may be well-written and polished to a degree, that a publisher has to choose it when it may not fit the style of that particular publishing house.

I also wonder how many of those entering took the time to carefully peruse the Delacorte Contest site. They plainly list the years they've had winners and the years they haven't as well as who the winners were. Thus it is up to the contest participant to investigate further to see if their ms. is a good fit with those previously published winners. As we all know, not every ms. is publishable quality, or even if it is, it doesn't mean the house we send it to will like it.

[Julie Worth]

Out of all the thousands of manuscripts we were sent last year, not a single one failed to suck. So, I am not surprised in the least.

Ha! My new goal: to fail to suck.

[alanna]

I would like to note that it says right in the guidelines that the judges reserve the right to not award a prize.

[Gindee77]

Could it possibly be that they didn't find a writer good enough that they wanted to advance $7500 to? I wonder how many manuscripts they get in a contest like this...maybe it's not as many as you would think.

G

[James D. Macdonald]

The contest gives you a chance to get your manuscript read by Delacourt without an agent. That's all it does. The other way to get your manuscript read by Delacourt is to get an agent -- and still no guarantee that they'll buy your book.

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

For what it's worth, I'm going out on a limb and announcing here that I have been intending, since last year, to submit a manuscript to the 2005 contest as soon as October 1 rolls around. (It'll be the manuscript whose first draft came about with my participation in NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) 2002 (http://www.littlebull.com/nanowrimo/?year=2002).)

Nothing I've seen on this thread has dissuaded me, mainly because I already knew that they don't guarantee a winner. I read the guidelines. Seems fair--if the prize is a publishing contract, they want to be sure that publishing the prize-winner won't be a losing proposition. (As much as any publisher can be sure of that, anyway, when they offer a contract!) And, of course, a single person's reports of bad attitude get taken with a grain of salt over here. We all have rotten days from time to time.

I'm submitting because A) as Uncle Jim said, it's a guaranteed chance to get read unagented within a set period of time, and B) having a deadline will get my butt in gear to finish editing the novel.

Should I not win the contest, I have two places lined up after that to send the manuscript/book proposal: A small press I'm fond of that seems a good fit, and an agent likewise. This novel will not "sleep over" on its rejection letters.

So, having a solid commercial plan for what to do if I don't win, but loving the chance, however slim, of rocketing out of the gate with a prize-winning first novel, C) I've nothing to lose and enough to gain on the venture to make it worth my time. And D) I can only publish a first YA novel once! Might as well give it a shot.

It's not like I won't be working on the next book while this one's in Delacorte's contest slush, after all.

My whole-hearted encouragement to anyone else who will also be entering. And to those who feel this isn't worth their time, I totally understand, and wish you the best along the roads you do choose to travel.

[Inspired]

From the writer's perspective, it does seem very discouraging, but I don't think it makes me NOT want to deal with that publisher. It does make me think that they have VERY high standards and a specific need. I can't imagine they would put themselves through the work of running a contest and frustrating writers just for the fun of it. They don't benefit from not choosing a winner. Do they?

[bkrrh85]

Hear, hear, Nicole! I, too, have thought about entering said contest; however, I'm not sure my ms. will be ready. I'm having surgery Tuesday, and it will be putting me out of commission for several months. Sigh. Hope I even remember that I wrote a book by the time I get back to it!

Hope your work places as nicely as it deserves!

[Jamesaritchie]

Let me tell you guys my experience with this publisher which might help you decide whether you want to waste your time with them or not.

A number of years ago, I sent my young adult novel to them for the same contest. I was very excited about it and hoped for the best. I included a separate business-sized, self-addressed, stamped envelope in which they were supposed to send information about the results of the contest. I never received it!

I waited about 6 months to hear something. Nothing. Naturally, I was very curious.

I finally mailed off a letter to the editor, asking about the contest. She called me on the phone to tell me this: THEY DIDN'T PICK A WINNER FOR THE CONTEST BECAUSE NONE OF THE MANUSCRIPTS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO PUBLISH!

How do you like that one? Isn't that a lovely thing to tell a writer? I will never waste my time with this publisher again!

I've been on the other end of this, and while it may sound awful to writers, quite often there simply are no submissions that are good enough. That's just how it is. When publishing is part of the contest, no good publisher will select a winner when none of the manuscripts are deemed good enough to go out in public with the imprint of that publisher.

This is the sign of a good publisher, not a bad one.

[Jamesaritchie]

You know, I looked at their guidelines where it lists previous winners, and it seems there were several years where no winner was selected. I really find it hard to beleive that out of the thousands of submissions they got for four years in a row, that not a single one was good enough to publish.

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I doubt that every single submission sucked.

Yep, you're overly optomistic. Sucking is the rule, not the exception. This isn't just a contest that says "Okay, this is the best of the bunch, so it gets the prize." This is a contest where the winner gets to dress up and go out in pubic with the publisher's imprint printed on the cover. It makes a huge difference in how good the winner has to be. It can't just be better than all the other novels that were submitted, it has to be good enough to justify not only the prize money, but being seen in public wearing the publisher's clothing.

Anyone who has gone through a slush pile knows this can be a pretty rare thing.

If you want a guaranteed winner, then submit to contests where publication by a large publisher isn't part of the package.

[PattiTheWicked]

Ha! My new goal: to fail to suck.

I've added it to my To Do List, right between picking up my dry cleaning and taking my son to t-ball.

[PattiTheWicked]

Yep, you're overly optomistic. Sucking is the rule, not the exception. This isn't just a contest that says "Okay, this is the best of the bunch, so it gets the prize." This is a contest where the winner gets to dress up and go out in pubic with the publisher's imprint printed on the cover. It makes a huge difference in how good the winner has to be. It can't just be better than all the other novels that were submitted, it has to be good enough to justify not only the prize money, but being seen in public wearing the publisher's clothing.

Anyone who has gone through a slush pile knows this can be a pretty rare thing.

If you want a guaranteed winner, then submit to contests where publication by a large publisher isn't part of the package.

It just suprises me, that's all. I mean, with all the countless GOOD children's books that come out every year, it's a bit disappointing -- for me, as a reader, not so much as a writer -- that it's so hard for a publisher to find one that's imprint-worthy. I'm not sure if that means writers suck as a group, or if it's just the sucky ones who are submitting.

Bottom line is that publishing is a business, and if it's a bad business move to publish any of the entrants, then it makes sense to have no winner. It just seems kind of a shame, that's all, because it means that there's a whole lot of crap out there instead of good manuscripts.

[Jamesaritchie]

At the risk of repeating myself, I think the best way to say it is this. If you submit a novel to such a conetst, and that novel is not one they would publish had it been submitted through a normal route with no contest involved, then it will not win the contest.

Because of this, "sucks" is not always the reason a novel doesn't win. Even a very good novel that is not the kind of novel this particular publisher thinks is right for their line, be it because of content, story, characters, etc, that novel will not win the contest.

This does not mean it might not sell quickly to another YA publisher that looks for different kinds of YA novels.

Most submissions do suck, but in any such contest there should be a handful, five or six, that are good enough to publish, just not right for the particular publisher holding a particular contest.

These contests are held not only to find good novels, but also to find writers who to write in a way that fits the publisher holding the contest.

Sometimes, if they find a novel or two that is marginal, a publisher will say, "None of the novels win," and then they will but one or two of these novels from contestents at a lower advance figure, and with less marketing. In other words, while they think none of the novels are good enough, or right enough, to be publicized as a major contest winner, they will take a chance on buying them.

Sometimes, in fact, they will announce one novel as winner, and buy two or three others through normal procedures. I've seen it happen.

But in addition to good, you also have to question whether or not your novel is right for this publisher, and the best way to do this is probably to read as many other YA novels they publish as is possible.

[James D. Macdonald]

Once again, I'm going to recommend Slushkiller (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html).

And I'll comment that sometimes "Does not suit our current needs" means "We just bought another book that's less excellent than this one, but has a very similar theme and characters, so we can't buy this one too."

[mdmkay]

I have every intention of submitting but it will be a mss that I have slaved over to get into the very best form that I can make it with the best story I can tell. If for no other reason that I can be assured it will at least get read and not just thrown away with the rest of the slush pile or unsolicited mss's. So...my priorities are going to change at least until after Dec.

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

...If for no other reason that I can be assured it will at least get read and not just thrown away with the rest of the slush pile or unsolicited mss's.Why would you think the rest of the slush pile gets thrown away?

Yes, I know how many manuscripts and 3-and-synopsis packages end up in the slush pile of a publisher who accepts unsolicited submissions. They number among the gazillions and bazillions. But, at the risk of sounding hopelessly naive, if that publisher has let it be known that they accept unsolicited submissions, why would you assume that they would then turn around and throw away those submissions without even reading them?

(And, just for clarification, are we talking about the Delacorte contest, or are we now talking about any publisher who accepts unsolicited submissions? Who is it you think will throw away submissions unread?)

[KimJo]

In the Delacorte contest, all entries are read.

I entered last year's contest. Didn't win, but I didn't expect to. There was a winner, however.
I plan to enter this year's, if I have something ready in time for the deadline.

[mdmkay]

But, at the risk of sounding hopelessly naive, if that publisher has let it be known that they accept unsolicited submissions, why would you assume that they would then turn around and throw away those submissions without even reading them?

By no means am I saying that all mss sent to a publisher that end up in a slush pile get thrown before getting read, but it is a fact of life that not ALL mss submitted to ALL publishers get a fair reading before a form rejection is sent or it is thrown out depending on each publisher's policy. If it is an unsolicited mss. you do take the chance of it being tossed before even being opened especially if the company has changed to a no unsolicited mss policy.

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

Well, good grief, if a company has changed to a "no unsolicited manuscripts" policy, common sense says don't send them an unsolicited manuscript!

(Or do you mean when such companies change their policy after you submit but before they get to your submission?)

As for companies with "unsoliciteds OK" policies... You may think it a fact of life, and you may even be right, but it seems defeatist to go in with that assumption. I'd rather believe that calls for submissions are made on good faith (barring scammy-scam outfits). I make my submissions the best I can not to avoid the phantom menace of ending up all unread in trash, but to stand a better chance at being accepted. I don't assume that a form rejection means my story wasn't read; I assume it means my story was read and not chosen for publication.

[Jamesaritchie]

By no means am I saying that all mss sent to a publisher that end up in a slush pile get thrown before getting read, but it is a fact of life that not ALL mss submitted to ALL publishers get a fair reading before a form rejection is sent or it is thrown out depending on each publisher's policy. If it is an unsolicited mss. you do take the chance of it being tossed before even being opened especially if the company has changed to a no unsolicited mss policy.

If they have a policy on no unsolicited manuscripts, it's sill to submit manuscripts.

Bur from my experience, when a publisher allows unsolicted manuscripts, those manuscripts nearly always get looked at. At least a page or two will be read, and believe me, this is enough to know that at least 70% stand no chance of making it.

It is true that many publisher that accept unsolicited manuscripts almost never buy one, but this is more a matter of quality than of policy.

But you're painting with a brush that's far, far too wide. Just because 100% of all manuscripts submitted to all publishers aren't looked at really means nothing. Most publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts do look at them, and if tey find something that's good enough, and that fits the line, they buy it.

[alanna]

I think what mdmkay was referring to was a change in policy, not submitting to a publisher that did not accept unsolicited manuscripts. I believe the reference was to a manuscript thrown out after the policy was changed, that was submitted before it was changed. please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Jamesaritchie]

Sorry, but I don't think it's the same thing at all. When people enter a contest, they expect that there will be a winner. Look at the Absolute Write contest. How do you think all of us finalists would feel if Jenna had said: Ya know what, nobody wins because no one's writing was good enough. You don't think people would be pissed off?

When writers simply send their manuscripts off to a publisher willy-nilly, just hoping someone will bite, that's completely different. You know you're taking a chance in that case. But when you're competing, you put a lot of time, effort, and sweat into it and you fully expect that there will be a winner.

If Absolute Write decides to pay the winner a $1,500 dollars winner's fee, plus give them a $7,500 advance, plus stick the winner in all the major bookstore sin teh country with their name on it, I;d agree with you.

I think you need to find some way of sitting on the other side of teh slush pile for a couple of months.

I don;t know how many entries the Delecorte contest will receive, but,yes, I can tell you with absolute confidence that it is entirely possible for there to be not one novels that should be declared the winner.

It seems really odd to be pissed off about this. Bad writing, and novels that may be good, but simply do not in any way fit the publisher, or that are exactly like something else out there, and not only common, they're the rule, especially in contests such as this.

I don't know why you think a publisher should pick a winner, even when there is no novel entered that the editors believe should be published by Delecorte?
I don't know why you think it isn't possible that no such novels are entered in the contest? It's entirely possible, and even likely. I'd be diasapointed in such a contest if they picked a winner every year.

Nor do I see why it even matters? Either your novel is a winner or it isn't. If it isn't, then it means your novel was not right for Delecorte. It may mean your novel was good, but not right for several other reasons. It may mean your novel was all right, but simply not a standout. It may mean everyone there tought your novel stank. Whether a winner is picked or not, no one there is going to think differently about your novel.

If a thousand writers enter, and one winner is picked, should the 999 be pissed off because everyone there thought that one novel was better than all the others? Does this even mean all the others were worthless?

Getting upset with a contest such as this because no winner is picked is not only pointless, it tells me you want a winner despite quality, or despite that winner being completely wrong for Delecorte, and this simply is not going to happen, and should not happen. Delecorte is right not to pick a winner when no novel qualifies to go out in pubic wearing the Delecorte brand.

This does not automatically mean every novel entered was lousy, but I'd guess they met the average of any slush pile, so 70% probably were very bad, another 20% just weren't good enough to stand out, 4-5% were written well, but were the same old thing editors see all the time, 1% were probably some sort of takeoff on Harry Potter, and only somewhere between 1-5% stood any chance at all. Of these, if you're lucky, you find one or two or three novels that really stand out enough to take a chance on them, and Delecorte is taking a chance on publishing the winner.

And sometimes, now and then, you find no novels that meet your standards, for one reason or another. It may not mean no novels are good, it just means no novels are right.

It might be a different matter if Delecorte charged a big entry fee, but they do not. Writers know up front that there may be no winner. And whether there is a winner not, it does not in any way affect how good, how bad, how right, or how wrong an individual novel is.

It only means that if you do not enter, you cannot win, and that if you do enter and do win, you have an exceptional novel.

But it's just wrong to expect a contest of this type to automatically declare one novel the winner, no matter what.

[James D. Macdonald]

But when you're competing, you put a lot of time, effort, and sweat into it ...

I hope that when you're submitting normally that you're putting just as much time, sweat, and effort into your work.

Listen: Every publisher with open submissions holds a contest every day. The prize is publication.

Every agent has a contest every day. The prize is representation.

Let me quote from the Tor FAQ: "If we have a month in which we don't see any manuscripts we like, we don't buy manuscripts we dislike just to keep up our acquisition rate."

[Torgo]

Delacorte don't accept unagented submissions. This contest is simply their way of doing the slushpile all at once instead of piecemeal throughout the year. What recommends this model to me is the fact that they've got seven books out of the last fourteen years' worth of unsoliciteds, a pretty good hit-rate.

It's good they don't award a prize every year. Best thing in the slushpile is not necessarily something anyone would want to read.

Do I sound rather wearied by the slush? You slog through thousands of these things, and all you hear is moaning about how it's all so stacked against the authors.

[mdmkay]

Originally Posted by mdmkay
By no means am I saying that all mss sent to a publisher that end up in a slush pile get thrown before getting read, but it is a fact of life that not ALL mss submitted to ALL publishers get a fair reading before a form rejection is sent or it is thrown out depending on each publisher's policy. If it is an unsolicited mss. you do take the chance of it being tossed before even being opened especially if the company has changed to a no unsolicited mss policy.




Let me clarify what I was saying. One I was talking if a publisher has changed from an unsolicited to only socilited mss policy you won't get read if you mss is unsolicited. Second. noticed I didn't say, read...I said a fair reading by ALL publishers. I consider a fair reading more than just the first three or four pages which is all you may get, if you get that, and again I said by ALL publishers. You have to read the publishers guidelines before sending in a mss. if they say they aren't needing a certain genre of books right now and you send that genre...no matter how good of a book you think it is...it is doubtful it will even get read. In a contest such as this I think you have a much better chance of having your whole book read unless it sucks at the very beginning, was all I was trying to say

[James D. Macdonald]

1) Publishers don't need slush piles. Between solicited material, agented material, and subsequent books by their own authors, they can fill every slot in their calendar.

2) Reading slush is a low priority. The publisher's main interest is in producing and marketing the books they've already bought, not in finding new books.

3) Most slush is bad. No, it's really worse than you think. While most books do come out of one slush pile or another, the amount of gold to the amount of gravel is a horrible ratio.

4) Reading three or four pages is a fair reading. It's far more than a potential buyer standing in a bookstore will give your book. The book has to grab the reader on the first page and not let go. "Maybe it gets better later on" isn't how readers look at books.

[Jamesaritchie]

Originally Posted by mdmkay
By no means am I saying that all mss sent to a publisher that end up in a slush pile get thrown before getting read, but it is a fact of life that not ALL mss submitted to ALL publishers get a fair reading before a form rejection is sent or it is thrown out depending on each publisher's policy. If it is an unsolicited mss. you do take the chance of it being tossed before even being opened especially if the company has changed to a no unsolicited mss policy.




Let me clarify what I was saying. One I was talking if a publisher has changed from an unsolicited to only socilited mss policy you won't get read if you mss is unsolicited. Second. noticed I didn't say, read...I said a fair reading by ALL publishers. I consider a fair reading more than just the first three or four pages which is all you may get, if you get that, and again I said by ALL publishers. You have to read the publishers guidelines before sending in a mss. if they say they aren't needing a certain genre of books right now and you send that genre...no matter how good of a book you think it is...it is doubtful it will even get read. In a contest such as this I think you have a much better chance of having your whole book read unless it sucks at the very beginning, was all I was trying to say

I agree with most of this, but three or four pages is more than a fair reading for the majority of manuscripts. Often a page is all it takes to know a book simply is not going to be accepted.

Whether it's a contest or a slush pile, a reader will read only until you give him or her a reason to stop reading. As long as a book holds the reader's interest, that reader will continue to read. Or at least sit it aside to be finished later. But the moment any reader gets bored, loses interest, or finds the writing bad, that reader stops reading, contest or not. This happens during the first three or four pages at least 70% of the time, in my experience. Sometimes even more often. For one reason or another, 90% of books in the average slush pile are simply not good enough to publish, no matter how many pages you read.

As UJ says, "Maybe it gets better later on" is not how readers work, particularly readers who are editors, and who have long experince proving that, no, it probably just gets worse later on. Believe me, darned few manuscripts get better later on. When they start bad, they usually end worse, so when the first two or three or four pages say "bad," you save your time and sanity by stopping right there. Agent or editor, this is just how it works.

The thing is this. In one sense, it's probably wrong to call the Delecorte contest a contest at all. It is in the sense that they are awarding a $1,500 first prize, but the intent is not to find a prize winner, as is the normal rule with contests. Delecorte is looking for a new YA book to publish. The "contest" will allow the book some extra publicity, but this is really a submission to Delcorete. Under slightly different circumstances, yes, but still a submission, and as such, a book entered in this "contest" is really just a book that's being submitted to Delecorte, and stands the same chance as any other book submitted in a normal manner. If you submit a novel that, for whatever reason, Delecorte wants to publish, it will win the contest. . .or receive some sort of honorable mention. If you submit a book Delecorte does not want to publish, it won't win.

Now, this contest is open to anyone who hasn't published a YA novel, but it's still unlikely many writers who are already pro writers will enter. I'd say most or all who enter will be unpublished writers. Or largely unpublished, in any event. So while it may sound cruel, the overall level of manuscripts is not going to be nearly as high as a stack of agented manuscripts resting inside the doors of a regular publisher. And even most of the ones in the stacks sent by agents aren't going to make the grade.

[Doyle]

. . . with the idea of a YA novel, now I have a reson to think harder on it. It would be a challenge for me, and a way to sharpen my skills by having a very defined audience to write for. Thank you Jim, for the head's up, we all deeply appreciate having you here -- most of the time, anyway.

Doyle

[alanna]

ALERT! I just got an e-mail back about this contest from Delcourte Press, and apparently for the ya protion of this contest at least novels with a fantasy setting are NOT going to be accepted. They are looking for contemporary settings. It briefly alludes to this in the guidelines, hence my e-mail to them. I don't know if anyone else here was planning to submit a YA fantasy, so i figured I'd post this here. Sorry if this is bad news for you. It sure is for me... :(

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

ALERT! I just got an e-mail back about this contest from Delcourte Press, and apparently for the ya protion of this contest at least novels with a fantasy setting are NOT going to be accepted. They are looking for contemporary settings. It briefly alludes to this in the guidelines, hence my e-mail to them. I don't know if anyone else here was planning to submit a YA fantasy, so i figured I'd post this here. Sorry if this is bad news for you. It sure is for me... :(Well, it's bad news to me if "novels with a fantasy setting" includes novels which have contemporary settings but plots which turn on supernatural elements. Do you know if that's the case?

I'll double-check the guidelines and maybe e-mail 'em myself.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[mdmkay]

Everyone can quit quoting me now.....Occasionally we all have had our heads up our butt when we shouldn't have....for me it's just more often then most people. I'm thinking seriously about having my navel fitted for a contact so I can see while my head is improperly positioned.

Yes, I'm planning on submitting a mss to Delacourt. No, I don't think my chances of being published will improve one iota if it sucks, nor do I think they will read each mss to the very end. We'll be darn lucky if it's to the end of the first chapter. That is why I'm working my butt off with revisions, and I plan on presenting my mss. in the most professional manner with all my i's dotted and t's crossed along with all guidelines followed to a t. I do however, think this is good opportunity to submit to a major publishing company at a time when basically they are saying they will accept manuscripts from anyone who wants to submit one, without having to go through an agent or being a "known" author and solicited by them.

Now, the next person that quotes me to point out how stupid I sound..........I'm going to cry and call you a doody head........so there.:box: :flag: :idea: :Cheers: I feel much better now:banana:

[Leanan-Sidhe]

ALERT! I just got an e-mail back about this contest from Delcourte Press, and apparently for the ya protion of this contest at least novels with a fantasy setting are NOT going to be accepted. They are looking for contemporary settings. It briefly alludes to this in the guidelines, hence my e-mail to them. I don't know if anyone else here was planning to submit a YA fantasy, so i figured I'd post this here. Sorry if this is bad news for you. It sure is for me... :(

I'm glad you posted this as I was indeed intending to submit a YA fantasy. I wonder why they wouldn't accept it. Either it's just me or are a good deal of books in the YA section fantasy? Oh well, I guess its just one less deadline I have to worry about, and I was thinking about revamping this particular novel into an adult fantasy...:Shrug:

[Cassie88]

I have an idea for a young adult novel, but I need to read some books in this genre. Can anyone recommend one published by Delacorte?

[flotsamarama]

Cassie88, you can go to the contest website and see the titles of past winners. I did this and read a few before I submitted my manuscript to the 2003 contest (another year in which there was no winner).

I was pleased to receive a personal letter from an editor at Delacorte as part of my "sorry you didn't win" message. He praised aspects of the book and suggested some relatively minor revisions. He said if I made those revisions, he'd like to take a look at it again. A year later, it's still "under consideration." I can only dream what that's supposed to mean...

[Cassie88]

Thanks, flotsamarama, I've written down a few of the titles from past winners. I just wondered if anyone here has read any of them and could recommend one. Maybe I'll see if any of these books are in the library. That's terrific that your book is still under consideration, although the time period must be frustrating for you.

Cassie

I went to www.randomhouse.com/kids/index.pperl (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/index.pperl)

and did some exploring. I found an author that listed some of her favorite books. Since I liked the first books mentioned... To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies, I wrote down the other titles.

Tithe by Holly Black
Snowfish by Adam Rapp
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The author's name is Libba Bray. She wrote, A Great and Terrible Beauty.