New lit mag wants submissions, Quattro novela contest, CANSCAIP children's lit contest and the Toronto Novel Marathon!

Hi, Brian!

Thank you for your blog! It's been an incredible asset to myself and many others over the years! I'm wondering if you'd be willing to post a call for submissions for me?

I'm launching a brand new magazine this fall with a vision to feature Canadian voices in flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

We are currently open for submissions and are waiving our submission fee until July 10, 2016. We want polished, diverse work from writers at any stage of their career. Full submission guidelines here.

Thanks for your time!

Alanna Rusnak

Editor in Chief, Blank Spaces

Too Much on the Inside, Danila Botha,
a novella from Quattro Books

2016 KEN KLONSKY NOVELLA CONTEST

The 2016 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest opens on June 01, 2016 and runs until July 31, 2016. Quattro Books will publish the best novella manuscript by a Canadian author as part of their 2017 publishing list. The contest is open to Canadian writers who reside in Canada. You do not have to have any publication history. The novella manuscript should be completed, neatly typed, and not less than 20,000 words or more than 40,000 words. $15 reading fee.

For more details on the Ken Klonsky Novella Contest, and submission dates, click HERE.

Check out this great article on the Descant blog by Lesley Kenny “The Novella: neglected middle child of prose” for an insight into the world of the novella.

Note: Apart from the contest, Quattro considers unsolicited fiction Juan 1 to May 31 and poetry Jan 1 to March 31. Full guidelines here.

CANSCAIP / Writers' Union Writing for Children Competition 2016 

If you want to write children's lit, you should enter this contest - because both winners and finalists get submitted to three Canadian publishers, and there's no better way of submitting your work than with CANSCAIP's assurance that yours is one of the best manuscripts in Canada. ~ Brian

CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) is pleased to accept submissions by unpublished writers for the 19th annual Writing for Children Competition. The deadline for submissions is July 31, 2016.

A goal of the Writing for Children Competition is to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of children's literature across Canada. The Writers' Union of Canada initiated the Competition in 1996, and in 2014 CANSCAIP took on this initiative in partnership with TWUC.  

·         Two winners will be awarded $1,000 for a Picture Book/Early Reader entry and for a Chapter Book/Middle Grade/Young Adult entry. 

·         Eight additional finalists in these categories will also be selected. 

·         Three Canadian children's publishers will receive the winners' and finalists' entries for consideration. Some winners and finalists in the Writing for Children Competition have had their entries published.

·         All the writers will receive feedback from the readers who evaluate the entries. This feedback is a unique, useful and potentially important benefit of entering the Writing for Children Competition. 

Rita Bailey, 2015 winner
for her middle grad nove,
REBEL MOON
Yay, Rita!

ELIGIBLE WRITERS

         Writers who have not been published in book format in any genre (children or adult) including e-book and self-published

         Writers who do not have a contract with a book publisher

         Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada

ELIGIBLE ENTRIES

         Up to 1,500 words, fiction or non-fiction, English text, written for any of these reading ages:

Picture Book (age 2 to 6)
Early Reader (age 5 to 8)
Chapter Book (age 7 to 10)
Middle Grade (age 9 to 12)
Young Adult (age 13 and up)

ENTRY FEE

·         Entry fee is $30 for one entry, $50 for two entries, and $75 for three entries

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES

·         Deadline for entries is July 31, 2016

Full contest details here. 

Toronto Novel Marathon 2016 is now accepting registrations. Writers of all levels are encouraged to join in this amazing event. This is a 72 hour writing competition and fundraiser.

Writing begins at 7pm Friday, July 29 and ends by 7pm Monday, August 1, 2016.

Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges and winning manuscripts will be sent to noted Canadian publishers for a sympathetic reading! Constructive feedback will be shared with the authors.

Come join in the fun, bring your ideas and write uninterrupted for 72 hours.

For more information, or to register, see our website, torontonovelmarathon.ca or contact Cynthia at langillcl@gmail.com

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.