[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

This contest is for unagented picture book writers and author/illustrators!

The PBParty judges and I are so excited for submission day on March 1. The final round has 52 amazing agents and editors.

Here's a link to the contest info and FAQ: https://mindyalyseweiss.com/2022-pbparty-annual-contest/

Here's the list of participating agents and editors: https://mindyalyseweiss.com/2022-pbparty-agents-editors/

We also have an exciting giveaway with 38 critiques from past PBParty finalists & some of my agent-siblings. I'm thrilled so many people will win a prize...but I wanted everyone to be winners, so I put together a Google form for a PB ranking party to help make sure they know which manuscript is the strongest and get at least a little feedback (there's detailed info inside the post).

https://mindyalyseweiss.com/pbparty-critiques-ranking-party/

Fingers crossed for everyone who enters! It's fun cheering for all the Blueboard finalists each year. The judges and I can't wait to read your entries. 🙂

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,952 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Mindy, this looks fantastic. I have to see if I have any PBs to submit this year.

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,448 Status: Offline WWW]

What an amazing list of agents and editors! You do such a great contest, Mindy!

[Vijaya Posts: 7,134 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Mindy, I'm not involved in any social media, so I won't be participating. I am so impressed with all you do to support PB writers. Thank YOU. What an amazing roundup of agents and editors and I love reading success stories. So good luck to all who are participating. May all the writers, agents, editors get matched up rightly through your stories. 

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

Thank you all so much. PBParty has brought so much sunshine to me, and I love seeing it grow every year. It's evolved from an annual contest to a year-round supportive community.

And with 53 (or more) agents and editors for the final contest round in March, I have a feeling we'll have even more Success Stories than ever.

Fingers and toes crossed for Debbie and everyone else who is entering! 

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,952 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Fingers and toes crossed for Debbie and everyone else who is entering! 

It doesn't look like I'll enter. The manuscript I was thinking of needs tweaks I may no have time for, but we'll see.  But I totally agree about sending the good luck to everyone.

And thank you for your work on this. I know you, and the other judges, do a lot.

[JulieM Posts: 971 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm not involved in any social media, so I won't be participating.

Vijaya, from what I've read you don't need to be on social media to participate (although you can be to do extras). The actual submission is via Google forms.
Thanks to Mindy and team for this amazing effort and promising opportunity for so many picture book creatives.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,134 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Julie, thank you. I remember all these parties happened on Twitter so didn't even check the FAQS. Bites nails in anticipation.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,134 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Mindy, how does this work if one is more interested in the editors?

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,952 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

V, if the committee selects your work, it gets posted for the agents and editors to see. If they like it, then you submit to them. You could simply ignore any agent likes. That's what I recall from the past and from scrolling through this year's rules.

[sophielynette Posts: 72 Status: Offline You're never too old for penguins! WWW]

I'm wondering, with so many agents/editors included in this contest... if one were to enter and not be selected, does that mean you shouldn't submit to those agents/editors at a later date?   I guess I'm just nervous about submitting to so many people at once -- usually it's like, send it out to a few people, wait for a response (if any), do some tweaking, then send it out to a few more..

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

V--both the agents and editors will view the finalists and request any they'd like to see more of (and occasionally ask for additional manuscripts as well). Last year we had 1003 entries and whittled it down to 50 in the main final round and 20 in the Illustration Showcase.

Finalists aren't obligated to send to everyone who requests. But if an entry resonates with an agent...it could turn into a great match.

Hi Sophie--agents and editors don't see any of the entries that aren't in the final round/Illustration Showcase. Only the judges and I see them.

With picture books, you should have at least 3 manuscripts polished and ready to submit. If you're in the final round, hopefully you'll receive a magical yes! But if you don't, you might want to consider leading with a different PB for any participating agents/editors you think might be a good match.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,134 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Thanks so much for clarifying, Debbie and Mindy. And wow, a thousand entries!!!

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

You're welcome, V. The amount of entries has gone up each year...probably due to the success stories and growing number of agents and editors.

[lrzajac Posts: 79 Status: Offline I write science as a story, sprinkled with art WWW]

Thanks so much for putting this event together! It looks like a fantastic opportunity. To clarify, will our entries be viewable by others or only to the participating authors/agents?

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

You're welcome.

The entries that make it to the final round and Illustration Showcase can be seen by everyone. That's why we only include up to a 70 word sample and state that the full picture book must be at least 200 words. The entry form includes the option to have an entry deleted after the showcase is over.

One thing I love about this contest is that it helps newer and intermediate writers as much as the ones who are in the showcase because they see what makes a great query and sample. Reading through them is like taking a workshop!

[lrzajac Posts: 79 Status: Offline I write science as a story, sprinkled with art WWW]

So if you don't make it to the final round, your query isn't visible. If you make it to the final round, your query is posted.  I absolutely agree that reviewing successful queries is helpful to others.  They were helpful to me.

I also like that you get more words than a Twitter Pitch Party.  Twitter events can leave a writer feeling a bit humiliated when there is no activity on the post. If you don't do well in this event, no one sees it. IMHO, that's a much better plan.

[Shannywriter Posts: 507 Status: Offline Believe in yourself and never give up WWW]

I loved that this wasn't a Twitter pitch thing! (SCARY!) Thanks, Mindy, for doing this! It was fun and I feel like I learned pretty well on how to write a PB query by looking at last year's finalists! After many years of notes and ideas and half finished drafts I finally finished two drafts and entered one. Seriously, I think writing novels might be easier than writing PBs!   

[Ree Posts: 363 Status: Offline No Boxes WWW]

What a fun contest.

Ree

[Mindy Alyse Weiss Posts: 3,633 Status: Offline A long journey - but I'm determined to get there!]

Thank you all so much. I'm glad it wasn't scary.

I'm loving all the daily Twitter chats. And wow...the finalists are doing fantastic. We're up to 323 requests and have had 6 additional agents pop in. So exciting!

You said you learned a lot from last year's queries.

If anyone wants to check out the finalists from this year, here's the link: https://mindyalyseweiss.com/pbparty-2022-finalists/

I'm missing some of the requests on the entries from editors who shared with me via e-mail and tons of agents and editors the first day who had issues posting (a widget on my website had an update that messed everything up for about 24 hours) so I shared all those in the private FB group...but hope to add it to my website by tomorrow night because seeing what agents and editors request is so helpful. If you write similar genres or topics, you can build a list for future queries (if they're open to unsolicited submissions). Sometimes they add helpful info, like wanting books with invisible disabilities.

The showcase will stay open a bit longer because a couple editors let me know they need a few more days. So you have time to peek, if you'd like. Happy reading!

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,952 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

I've been on deadline this week and have missed all the chatting but it's on my calendar to check to see what's gotten requests and how those pitches were worded. Thanks to all of the judges.

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,448 Status: Offline WWW]

You run an amazing contest Mindy!

[Sue Irwin Posts: 65 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

You run an amazing contest Mindy!

Congrats to all of the PBParty finalists 
and thanks, Mindy, and all of the judges for your hard work in preparing and running this event! Such a great opportunity! So fun!   

[lrzajac Posts: 79 Status: Offline I write science as a story, sprinkled with art WWW]

Yes, a huge congrats to the lucky winners.  What a fabulous opportunity. Mindy, thanks so much for all your time putting that showcase together and sharing it with all of us. After reading and studying the examples, I just tweaked a manuscript and ripped into a cover letter and they are both SO much better for it. Yes, yes, yes!