I know. It’s Saturday.

Not only is it Saturday, it’s Saturday NIGHT!

I should NOT be in your inbox.

But January went by so fast! And suddenly here we are at five minutes to February!

And if I don’t pop into your inbox now you won’t have as much time to write your entry for. . .

The 8th Annual Valentiny Writing Contest

~ for children’s writers ~

So here I am!

With the guidelines!

Just for you!

So you can start writing! ✏️✏️✏️😊😊😊

The Contest:  since writing for children is all about “big emotion for little people” (I forget who said that, but someone did so I put it in quotes!) and Valentines Day is all about emotion, write a Valentines story appropriate for children (children here defined as ages 12 and under) maximum 214 words in which someone feels skeptical!  They can be skeptical in a good way or a bad way. They can be skeptical about themselves, or skeptical of someone else. They can be skeptical of a situation, event, occurrence, behavior, or performance, sky’s the limit!  Just make sure it is clearly Valentine-centered! Think beyond the obvious!  Your story can be poetry or prose, sweet, funny, surprising or anything in between, but it will only count for the contest if it includes someone skeptical (can be the main character but doesn’t have to be) and is 214 words (get it? 2/14 for Valentines Day 😊 ) You can go under the word count but not over! (Title is not included in the word count.)  If you are so inclined, you are welcome to enter more than one entry – just remember you’ll be competing against yourself 😊  No illustration notes please!

Post your story in the comment section of my Sunday February 12th Post, between 12:01 AM Eastern Sunday February 12th and Tuesday February 14th by 11:59 PM Eastern.  There will be no regularly scheduled posts for the duration of the contest (Tuesday Debut or PPBF), so the post and all of your entries will stay up for everyone to enjoy.  If you have difficulty with the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may email your entry to me and I’ll post it for you. But please don’t email your entry before the start of the contest – my inbox is generally overflowing and things may get lost!

The Judging: over the following days, my lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to around 12 top choices depending on number and quality of entries which will be posted here and voted on for a winner as soon as we can get them up.   The winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced a few days after the vote. (I’m not even going to try to hazard a guess on exact dates!)

Judging criteria will include:

1. Kid-appeal/Kid-friendliness – remember, this is a story for kids!
2. Creativity in using skepticism, and success in making us feel the skepticism! Skepticism must be central to the story line, not just mentioned briefly in passing in a story about something else entirely.
3. Valentine’s Day appropriateness – this is a VALENTINE story and Valentine’s Day must be central to it!
4. Quality of story – we will look for basic story elements and a true story arc
5. Quality of writing – use and flow of language, correctness of mechanics, excellence of rhyme and meter if you use it, PROOFREADING!
6. Originality – surprise us with something new and different! 😊
7. How well you followed the Submission Guidelines – agents and editors expect professionalism. This is a chance to practice making sure you read and follow specified guidelines.

The Prizes:  I’m still working on prizes (aren’t I always 😊), but I wanted to get the contest guidelines up so you’d have time to WRITE!!!)

⭐️ Rhyme & Meter Self Study Course – Renee LaTulippe Renée M. LaTulippe is the author of The Crab Ballet (Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2022) and Limelight: Theater Poems to Perform (Charlesbridge, 2024) and has poems published in many anthologies including No World Too Big, Night Wishes, School People, National Geographic’s The Poetry of US, One Minute Till Bedtime, Poems Are Teachers, ThankU: Poems of Gratitude, and A World Full of Poems.

⭐️ Free Ticket #1 to Writing Picture Books With Heart Webinar – Rosie Pova

This webinar will explore the elements that give stories that edge, and the power to tug at the reader’s heartstrings, so that they stay with the reader long after they’ve closed the book. 

The webinar will offer tips and practical advice on how to write stories with heart as we use mentor texts and pinpoint the right ingredients of a heartfelt story. A handout PDF is included, and it will provide a long list of titles to use as additional mentor texts.

⭐️ Free Ticket #2 to Writing Picture Books With Heart Webinar – Rosie Pova

This webinar will explore the elements that give stories that edge, and the power to tug at the reader’s heartstrings, so that they stay with the reader long after they’ve closed the book. 

The webinar will offer tips and practical advice on how to write stories with heart as we use mentor texts and pinpoint the right ingredients of a heartfelt story. A handout PDF is included, and it will provide a long list of titles to use as additional mentor texts.

Rosie Pova is the author of IF I WEREN’T WITH YOU (Spork, April 2017), SARAH’S SONG (Spork, September 2017), SUNDAY RAIN (Lantana Publishing, March 2021), THE SCHOOL OF FAILURE: A STORY ABOUT SUCCESS (Yehoo Press, May 2022), and for Middle Grade readers, HAILEY QUEEN PRANKING MAKES PERFECT: THE ALIEN ENCOUNTER (Spork, April 2017)

⭐️ 30 Minute Picture Book Zoom Critique Session with Lynne Marie

Lynne Marie is the accomplished author of Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten – art by Anne Kennedy (Scholastic 2011), Hedgehog’s 100th Day of School – art by Lorna Hussey (Scholastic 2017), The Star of the Christmas Play — art by Lorna Hussey (Beaming Books 2018), Moldilocks and the 3 Scares — art by David Rodriguez Lorenzo (Sterling 2019 and Scholastic 2019),  Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World — art by Parwinder Singh (Beaming Books 2019) and The Three Little Pigs And The Rocket Project — art by Wendy Fedan (Mac and Cheese Press 2022) and American Pie — art by Dea Lenihan (Dancing Flamingo Press, April 12, 2022)

⭐️ Rate Your Story Speed Pass from Lynne Marie

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Tina Shepardson, author of WALKOUT (Clear Fork Publishing, September 8, 2020)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming PB or Children’s Poem) with focus on rhyme and meter from Suzy Levinson, author of ANIMALS IN PANTS (Cameron Kids/Abrams, April 11, 2023) and contributor to many poetry anthologies!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Katie Munday Williams, author of POET, PILGRIM, REBEL: The Story of Anne Bradstreet, America’s First Published Poet (Beaming Books, August 2021)

⭐️ Winner’s Choice: Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) OR a 30 minute ask me anything from Kari Ann Gonzalez, author of HOW TO HATCH A READER (Gnome Road Publishing, August 15, 2023)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Shelley Kinder, author of NOT SO SCARY JERRY (Spork, September 19, 2017), GOD AND ME AT THE SEA (Kregel Children’s Books, May 17, 2022), and THE MASTERPIECE (Sprok, November 27, 2018)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Jenny Buchet, author of LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA (Spork, May 11, 2021)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique OR signed book (winner’s choice) from Aimee Isaac, author of THE PLANET WE CALL HOME (Philomel Books, March 21, 2023)

⭐️ A signed Copy of the gorgeous MY GRANDPA, MY TREE, AND ME (Yeehoo Press, March 6, 2023) from author Roxanne Troup

⭐️ 30 Minute Ask Me Anything Zoom Chat (anything relating to writing/publishing) with Penny Parker Klostermann, talented author of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT (Random House 2015) and A COOKED-UP FAIRY TALE (Random House 2017) as well as the forthcoming SPIDER LADY: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army (Astra/Calkins Creek 2025) and another as yet unannounced 😊

⭐️ 30 Minute Ask Me Anything Zoom Chat (anything relating to writing/publishing)- Becky Scharnhorst, author of MY SCHOOL STINKS! (Flamingo Books, July 2021) and THIS FIELD TRIP STINKS! (Flamingo Books, August 2022)

⭐️ 30 Minute Ask Me Anything with Rebecca Gardyn Levington, author of BRAINSTORM! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2022), WHATEVER COMES TOMORROW (Barefoot Books, Mar 7, 2023), I WILL ALWAYS BE…(HarperCollins, Spring 2024), and AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? (Penguin/Rocky Pond, Spring 2024)

Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊

So wait til the kiddos are in bed if you must (or get up before them), take out your secret stash of Dove dark chocolate Valentine hearts (you know, the one you keep in the freezer inside a tupperware marked “Turkey Gizzards”), wrap your cozy fleece throw around you, and fire up those brain cells and your pencil/pen/phone/tablet/laptop/desktop/skywriter/writing implement of choice! It’s time to set the world on fire with your brilliant writing!

Ready!

Set!

GO!!!!!