Calling all YA and Middle Grade Novelists!

We just caught wind of a tremendous opportunity for Wrimos who have written a young adult or middle grade novel. And it supports a wonderful humanitarian cause that also champions our shared passion for literacy and libraries!

Thanks to a contest hosted by literacy charity Book Wish Foundation, you could get feedback on your writing from literary agents and renowned authors like Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe, and Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue.

(We're excited to see past NaNo and YWP pep talkers Meg Cabot and John Green are involved in this project, too!)

From Book Wish Foundation:

Visit http://bookwish.org/contest for full contest details. To enter, write a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation's new young adult anthology, What You Wish For. Write the best essay about Meg Cabot's story, and you'll win a manuscript critique from one of the top YA literary agents. Write about Ann M. Martin's story and the author of the mega-bestselling The Baby-sitters Club and the Newbery Honor-winning A Corner of the Universe could provide feedback on your NaNoWriMo novel.

Six winners will be chosen, one for each of the agents/authors. You can even submit essays for each of their stories, and you'll be in the running critiques from all of them.

Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012. Winners will be announced on or about Mar. 1, 2012. If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of an unpublished young adult or middle grade novel to receive a one-page critique from one of these literary agents or authors. Since you will have time to work on your novel before sending it for critique, you can enter even if you didn't win NaNoWriMo. This contest is open to U.S. residents age 13 and older, with full eligibility requirements at http://bookwish.org/contest. There is no fee to enter.

What You Wish For 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, and Jane Yolen.

This anthology is available at these libraries, or you can find it at your local book seller. 100% of the proceeds go to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fund the development of libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad.

Best of luck to all our YA and middle grade writers who participate!

– Lindsey