SLUSH PILE CHALLENGE July 2023
We are pleased to announce the July 2023 Slush Pile Challenge, set by Saskia Leach, of Kate Nash Literary Agency .
Saskia joined Kate Nash Literary Agency in 2021 and is building a list in commercial adult, YA and children's fiction. She is also Secretary of the AAA Bridge Committee, a sub-committee of the Association of Authors' Agents who support early career literary agents.
She loves musical theatre, both as a performer and audience member, and is a lifelong supporter of Brighton and Hove Albion FC.
Saskia enjoys reading a wide range of genres and is fascinated by stories written from multiple perspectives. She also loves books which feature complex and dynamic characters.
Twitter: @saskialeach_ Instagram: @saskia.reads
THE CHALLENGE
“I’d like to see the first chapter of a contemporary YA Thriller or YA Romance. The story can be of any theme and I'm particularly interested in hearing from underrepresented perspectives.”
Entrants do NOT need to have completed the manuscript before submitting their entry.
THE REWARD
Saskia will pick a winner. She will arrange to have a 30-minute meeting with the winner. It will be either in person, Zoom or a phone call.
THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
You need to be an un-agented, current SCBWI member, and resident in either the UK or Europe.
If you win a challenge, you can enter any other Slush Pile Challenges but not with the same manuscript.
To join SCBWI and take advantage of the many opportunities to raise your profile, market your work, meet fellow writers, artists and the gatekeepers to publication, while being supported in the development and pursuit of your craft, visit scbwi.org
If, between submitting your entry and the winner being announced, you gain representation from an agent, please contact us at competitions@britishscbwi.org
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
1 Check that you are a paid-up member of SCBWI before submitting your entry by going to scbwi.org. Any entries received where member's details cannot be found on SCBWI records will not be included as a valid entry.
2 Send in your entry as a single Word Document to competitions@britishscbwi.org. Submissions to the Slush Pile Challenge should not be sent direct to the agent/editor/judge.
3 The document should only contain THE TITLE and FIRST CHAPTER the judge has requested. Do not include your name, address or email address in your word document or the document name. The word document should be named in the following format – 'your title' July 2023 Slush Pile.doc
4 Please do not insert a header or footer in your submission.
5 In the email please write your full name as it appears in SCBWI membership records and your email address. Also include the title of your work.
6 Shortly after you have submitted your entry you will receive an email from the competitions email address stating, 'Your entry has been received.' If you do not receive this message please send an email to competitions@britishscbwi.org. However, we cannot put entries through after the closing date unless your entry is received on or before the closing date.
7 Only the first entry will be considered. Please do not send revisions, multiple entries or multiple attachments.
8 Any entries received after the closing date will automatically be disqualified.
THE PROCESS
As soon as the competition is closed, it is necessary to generate a random selection using a computer program. All valid and verified entries received will be included irrespective of whether the entry was received on the date of the launch of the competition or on the closing date, or whether the entrant has previously had their submissions seen by an agent/editor/judge. This has to be done to ensure that there is no bias or pre-judging from SCBWI BI/SCBWI BI Words & Pictures editorial team when sending the entries for judging. The terms of the competition are that the judge agrees to read a minimum of fifteen entries from the number of submissions. In many cases the agent/editor/ judge requests to read more. When an agent/editor/judge requests to read fifteen or another proportion of the total entries, those chosen as the first ones to be read by the computer will be sent to him/her. Sometimes the judge may request a further selection of valid and verified entries before making their decision. When this occurs, to avoid bias, the next group of entries from the initial computer generated random selection will be sent to the agent/editor/judge. There are times when the judge requests to read all the entries and these are then forwarded to him/her.
The judge will pick a winner and also tell us why. Sometimes he/she may quote a few sentences or phrases from the winner's submission in the blog announcing the winner.
The winner will be put in touch with the judge so they can arrange the 30-minute discussion by Zoom or on the phone.
Good Luck Everyone!
The Words & Pictures team are aware that our members write for different ages and genres. With this in mind, we endeavour to provide at least one Slush Pile Challenge a year that our un-agented members feel able to enter.
*Header image: In house collaboration between Ell Rose and Tita Berredo
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Elaine is a member of the Words & Pictures editorial team, managing The Slush Pile Challenge.
Elaine Cline has been a SCBWI member for over eight years and loves to write picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade books. She lives by the sea and has one dog.
Elaine is a member of the Words & Pictures editorial team, managing The Slush Pile Challenge.
@elaineccline
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Find their work at www.shannonillustrates.com
Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org
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Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles and the Art Director of Words & Pictures. She has a Master's degree in Children's Literature and Illustration from Goldsmiths UOL and a background in marketing and publicity.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter or www.titaberredo.com
Contact her at: illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org
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