Mentorship Submission Instructions Page

Step 1: Determine Your Eligibility

• Log in to www.scbwi.org, then click on “My Home” in the upper right corner. When your profile appears, find the “My Profile” box and look for “Membership Expiration.” If your membership has expired, you can renew from the link next to your status. You must be a current premium member (not expired) to enter the mentorship. Proof of eligibility may be requested.
• If you have previously won a mentorship for YA/MG, then you are not eligible.

Step 2: Register for the mentorship

• Once the registration platform is live, a link will be provided here and in numerous mentorship announcements across our social media platforms.
• The submission fee is $55 (nonrefundable). 
• One entry per person.
• After you register, you have until 11:59pm EST on January 11th to complete the Google Form that will be made available to you upon registration. Failure to send the submission materials by the deadline or to follow submission instructions will invalidate your registration without a refund.

Step 3: Fill Out the Google Form

• You will have until 11:59pm EDT on January 11th to complete the Google Form that will be made available to you upon registration. Failure to send the submission materials by the deadline or to follow submission instructions will invalidate your registration without a refund. 

You will enter your name and email address to fill out the Google Form, but this information will not be shared with the judges. You will do this so that the Mentorship Coordinator is able to return your feedback to the correct person.

Be prepared to answer the questions below on the Google Form:

• Tell us about your manuscript. For example, what was your inspiration for this story? What makes this a great story for middle grade students or young adults? Include anything you think will help the judges and mentor. (300-word limit)
• What do you hope to gain from the mentorship? (200-word limit)
• What are you looking for in a mentor? (200-word limit)

Combine all manuscript pages into a single PDF or Word Doc file (limit 10 pages). Attach the document to the Google Form:

• Limit the file size of your PDF to no more than 25MB. 
• Please DO NOT put your name or any other identifying information in your file name.
• Please DO NOT put your name or any other identifying information in your manuscript. To ensure an unbiased selection process, the manuscripts will be identified by title only, not the author’s name. 
• In the header of the attached document, include the title of your manuscript and the page number.
• Leave the footer blank. 

Once You Submit: 

• Feel free to announce the mentorship on social media.
• DO NOT mention on social media that you entered the competition.

Judges evaluate submissions based on the following criteria: 

• Creativity:
• Storytelling:
• Technical Proficiency:
• Overall impression.

For more information, please visit our FAQ page here.