Common Deer Press seeks middle grade and young adult novels, also pays for short stories

The Oddity by Kat Hawthorne,
published by Common Deer Press

Dear Brian,

Common Deer Press is looking for a great Canadian Children's novel and, to that end, we have launched a writing contest, The Uncommon Quest.

This Uncommon Quest is a writing competition for authors of novels for children and teens.

First prize is a publishing contract with an additional $1,000* cash prize.

Second prize is a publishing contract with an additional $500 cash prize.

Third prize is a publishing contract with an additional $250 cash prize.

Entrants must be Canadian residents, or non-resident Canadian citizens. Entries must be original and not have been submitted elsewhere, accepted for publication, or previously published, including in online magazines or other online publications.

Word count restrictions: We strongly suggest that any manuscript for a middle grade audience be no longer than 45,000 words and for a young adult novel, no longer than 70,000 words.

*Prizes will be paid in Canadian dollars or the equivalent in local currency if a winning entrant lives in another country.
Deadline March 31, 2019.

My best,

Kirsten Marion, CPA, MSc.

Publisher

Common Deer Press

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The Great & the Small by A.T. Balsara
published by Common Deer Press

Common Deer Press was founded in 2016 by Ellie Sipila to publish uncommon books for middle grade, young adult and adult readers. Kirsten Marion joined in 2017 as co-owner and Publisher and Ellie currently handles Editorial, Design and Production.​

In addition to publishing books, Common Deer also publishes a weekly short story (up to 7,500 words) on its website. It pays $100 for a short story and $50 for flash fiction. Details here.

“At Common Deer Press, we believe that books are magical. Black ink on plain white paper can cause you to cry, laugh, sigh, get angry, anxious, nervous. Fall in love. Inspire wonder. They can transport you to far off lands – places you’ve never been to. Even other worlds. They can make you think seriously about things you’d never even considered before. Time travel exists, my friends. We do it every time we open a book. The teleport machine was invented centuries ago when the first cave person made the first marks in the stone and someone else saw them and imagined something.

“Our vision is to publish books that are so beautifully written they border on art. We strive to to be both publishing partners and a caring people to our community of authors. We are willing to take smart risks and think outside of the box – unless the box is the innovation. We will bring exceptional books to the reader via imaginative marketing efforts.”

Submission guidelines for Common Deer’s children’s book contest, "The Uncommon Quest," here. Deadline March 31, 2019.

Literary agent Stephanie Sinclair

If you’re interested in getting published, soon or somewhere down the road, don’t miss the upcoming How to Get Published workshop Saturday, Nov 17, in Mississauga with literary agent Stephanie Sinclair (see here). 

For updated listing of How to Get Published workshops see here (and scroll down).

If you’re interested in writing for children or for young adults, Brian will lead a Writing Kid Lit weekly course on Thursday evenings, Jan 24 – March 28, in Oakville (see here). 

For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down). 

Also coming soon: How to Build Your Story: Plotting novels & Writing short stories, Saturday, Nov 24 in Alliston (see here) and Saturday, Jan 19 in Oakville (see here) and Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner, Saturday, Dec 1 in London (see here), and Saturday, Dec 8, in Guelph (see here).

Fox Kit in Algonquin Park

 A weekend writing retreat:

Algonquin Writing Retreat, Friday, May 31 – Monday, June 3, 2019: four days in the luxurious isolation of Arowhon Pines Resort to get down to some real creative growth. Details here.

Winter courses (Details of all 5 classes here):

Exploring Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons, Jan 24 – April 5 (no class March 14), in Burlington. Details here.

Writing Kid Lit, Thursday evenings, Jan 24 – March 28 (no class March 14), in Oakville. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, Jan 22 – April 2 (no class March 12); first readings emailed Jan 15, in Burlington. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings Jan 23 – April 3 (no class March 13); first readings emailed Jan 16, in Burlington. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Friday mornings Jan 25 – April 5 / 12 (10 or 11 weeks, no class March 13); first readings emailed Jan 16, in Toronto. Details here.

            Details of all 5 classes here.

Read reviews of Brian’s courses, retreats, and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including Saturday writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, New Tecumseth, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.