Please spread the word for an amazing contest opportunity

Get to work perfecting those illustrations! :)

Spread the word, friends:

The deadline approaches for the 16th annual Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children's Literature. Submit your manuscripts (first 25 pages + a synopsis for novels, or maximum 1200 words for picture books), dummies, and/or portfolios by February 1st for a chance to win $250--and, more importantly, to have your work evaluated by top-of-the-line agents and editors. (These judges are anonymous, but because I help choose them, I happen to know that the phrase "top-of-the-line" is no exaggeration. These are the best of the best.)

Entering contests is good for you. And a great way to start off your new writing year. The "Tassy" is a particularly successful contest that has paved the way to publication for many award-winning authors and illustrators, including Lynda Mullaly Hunt, winner of this year's Schneider Family Book Award and NYT Bestseller, Fish in a Tree.

The contest is open to all unpublished children's authors and illustrators from Connecticut, so if you are one, do yourself a favor and send that manuscript in! And if you have a friend in CT, do them a favor and send them over! Feel free to share this post through Twitter, Facebook, shouting from the rooftop while doing an Irish jig, or calling Connecticut news agencies. But preferably the first two. :)

Gabe says: "What? You have a book and you haven't submitted yet?!"

For some of my personal experience with the Tassy, read these posts:

Happy News

Top Ten Reasons You Should Be Entering Writing Contests

Fear Unmasked (the speech Mark and I gave at last year's award ceremony)

And here are just a few of my favorite books by Tassy Winners:

(This post contains affiliate links, so if you buy the books through those links, I'll get a small percentage of the sale.)