Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest FINALISTS

Hello wonderful readers!! Happy March. It's time... the FINALISTS and HONORABLE MENTIONS for the 1st annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest are announced below.

This past month seemed to fly by. I've been fielding the votes from our amazing kid judges, prepping "Thank You" gifts for these amazing kiddos (THANK YOU to all who attended the fundraiser webinar), and generally being in awe of your writing and their judging.

This has been such a fun adventure and I am officially announcing that this will be a yearly event because I LOVED it so much!! So if you aren't subscribed, please make sure to do that at the bottom of this page so that you don't miss anything. And a reminder that this summer, I will be hosting the Kids Write KidLit Writing Contest for our young authors.

And now... the moment you are all waiting for...

Announcing the 1st Annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest FINALISTS!!

(For now, only Title and Author are listed below for the ease of reading this post... for the winner's post, I will include the excerpt/sample from each author. But you can also read their entries by searching the comments on the original submission post).

(And don't forget to read to the very end, because there are also HONORABLE MENTIONS included here!)

(In no particular order....)

YA Finalists

Year 2070

By: Kala Senthi

THE NOTE

By Sabrina Shah

1917

by: Raluca Sirbu

SCREAM QUEEN

By: Jessica Haster

FIRE GIRL

by Amy Reitz

I'M NOT THAT INNOCENT

By: Ashlee Hashman

The Witches of Wonderland

By: S.E. Reed

Full Moon

by Bethany Walker

***

MG Finalists

The Secret of Scaremere Forest

By: Gayle C. Krause

IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

BY: Colleen Fogarty

SCHOOL OF SECRETS

By: Penny Nolan

CANDYBOT

By Ellen Seal

EVA AND THE CROWS

By: Cheryl MacAller

PIRATE’S BOOTY

By: Mark Huffman

THE HOUSE THAT ATE A BOY

By: Sondra Eby Eisenstat

SUNSET SISTERS

By: Abbi Lee

FOUR HOURS TO GO

By: Jeannette Lee

IZZY HOFFMAN IS NOT A WITCH

By: Alyssa Alessi

***

PB Finalists

PORCUPINE PLOP

By: Katie Brandyberry

THE SECRET ROOM

By: Becky Walker

THE RUNAWAY UNDERWEAR

By: John P. Conery

UP YOUR NOSE

By: Tonnye Fletcher

THE OLD LADY WHO LIVED IN A…

By: Melanie Rowsell-Docherty

THE GIFT WRAP TRAP

By: Allison Strick

NEVER-EVER!

By Julie Fruitticher Schroeder

SIR TOOTS

By: Hollie Wolverton

The Sunshine Club

By: Kimberly Horch

Grown-ups Have it all Wrong!

By: Kimberly Bellanti-Bartho

Time To Go!

By Sasha Harris-Lovett

I WANT A MOOSE

By: CJ Penko

TURTLE LOVES WAFFLES

By: Michaela Almeida

HUGE CONGRATS to all of our finalists! And now for the list of honorable mentions based on the kids' votes and comments.

YA Honorable Mentions

Rise

By: Rebecca Laxton

A SWEET PROMPOSAL

By: Kari Ann Gonzalez

Premonition

By Owen Christie

Elenora Hastings was a Piece of Gum

By: W.O. Hemsath

ONE WAY TICKET

Lindsey Hobson

CONTAINED NO MORE

By: Brooke Thomas

***

MG Honorable Mentions

A Plague on all our Houses

By Melanie Adkins

Showdown at the Chicken Coop

By J.A. Tovmassian

SNUGGLE TIME

By: Rebecca DeRosa

VIDEO GAME GLITCHES

By: Valerie Jauregui

FRESH OUT OF WORMS

By: Adam Thomas

THE GALACTIC ICE CREAM STAND

By: Thekla Richter

DISAPPEARING ACT

By: Emily Durant

Field Day

By Stephanie Henson

One Good Friend

By: Lexi Donahue

HECATE'S CURSE

By: Marcia Berneger

PRINTLESS

By: Davina Bennett

THE HOLLOW SLEEPS

By: Faith Rivens

***

PB Honorable Mentions:

Cats do NOT belong in School

By: Andi Chitty

The Funniest book of all time

By: Sue Lancaster

GORDON AND HIS GLASSES

By: Tiffany Kirtley

Trixie Finds a Friend

By Linda Elliott Long

Achoo

By Erin Johnson

Whole Can of Worms

BY: Charlotte Dixon

Dumpster Dive Surprise

Ashley Sierra

Better in the Wild~Animals of India

By: Shuba Mohan

The Bottom Book

By: Jess Freeman

Curtis E. Flush

By: Jennie Heydt

There’s a Booger

By Beth Janes

No Bath for Me

By Shirley V. Ting

Bookworm and Robin

By: Suzy Leopold

The Biggest Baboon

By: Hazel Gardner

Steve, Tie Your Shoes!

By: Vanessa Ireson

COME OUT!

By: Kathleen Latlip

NEWMAN NOODLE

By: Abby Wooldridge

DO UNICORNS TAKE SHOWERS? And other unicorn questions answered

By: Gina Coffin Smith

CAUTION: THERE’S BOOGERS IN THIS BOOK! (NO THERE’S SNOT!)

By: Laura A. De La Cruz

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Toot

By: Alicia Meyers

The Loch Mess Monsters

By Elizabeth Muster

Noise Annoys

By Kell Andrews

MY DOG EATS POO

BY: Amy Hublou

THE TRUE STORY OF A STOWAWAY CAT

By: Ann Malaspina

Quiet as a Butterfly Fart

By Lauri C. Meyers

Babies Vs. Plants

By Daniele Arndt

Snacks Gone Wild

By Chris Garcia-Halenar

There’s a Seagull Living in my Garden

By Anjalee Burrows

Delicious Donut

By Laura Heath

The Dust Bunnies

By: Chayala Nachum

BANANAPANTS

By: Aimee Satterlee

Poke the Bear

By: Monica Freeman

Vultures Eat Everything

By Vashti Verbowski

Just for Tonight

By: Rachel Ralph

WHOOO!!! That was a list! But seriously SO amazing! I can't tell you how much fun I've had with this, and I am SO grateful to each and every one of you for entering. Please remember that your writing is worthy. It's AMAZING. I was truly blown away by your work. I can't wait to see these stories on my shelf.

I have badges available for Finalists, Honorable Mentions, and Participants! Click the corresponding button below to download!

Download Finalist Badge

Download Honorable Mention Badge

Download Participant Badge

Now... join me in the comments in congratulating the finalists and honorable mention entries. The WINNERS will be announced on (or close to depending on our judges) March 16th. And again, you are ALL amazing. Thank you so much for making our inaugural year a smashing success.

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. She loves writing books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to. Kailei's debut middle grade book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Summer 2023

Kids' Choice Teasers and Thoughts on Limitations

Hello wonderful writers! Thank you SO much for your patience as our Kid Judges read through your amazing entries. You will be excited to know that the Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest Finalists will be announced TOMORROW NIGHT!!! Woo Hoo! So to get everyone excited, here are some teasers from our kid judges:

PB Teasers from our kid judges:

"I love it so much! I just love it. "

"I do not like the title but I love all of the story."

"Poo makes every story funnier!"

"All of the stories were my favorite!"

"I like it because it's very funny."

"I like it because it's silly."

MG Teasers from our kid judges:

"I loved XXX because it used personification, and I always like when stories make creative things."

"I liked XXX because it had an ominous ending, and it was futuristic or had to do with magic."

"I liked the fifth entry because it had some mystery to it and suspense."

"The top two I picked (XXX and XXX) because I was interested in hearing the rest of the story."

"I thought XXX was the funniest, but the whole story was written and I didn't think it would be interesting any longer than it already is."

"I enjoyed this story a lot. It had a little bit of poem format mixed in which was cool. I love how the story was told and it was pretty entertaining."

"This is one of my favs! It must have took some thought to think about this poem. Very good ideas!"

"XXX hooked me because it made me want to keep reading. I wanted to find out what happened."

YA Teasers from our kid judges:

"LOVED (XXX)! Hint of Dark Shadows Vibes. Also want to know what happens next."

"(XXX) was so deliciously good i loved every but of it. and the ending?! perfect cherry on the top. i definitely want to read what happens next."

"Oh, I LOVED this one. My favorite part was definitely the ending. It was just so perfect, especially because of the story idea that the author had already established."

"I have only two words to say: HECK YES. Okay, I lied; I have more words. This one is my favorite, by far..."

"I really like this one. I love books where the main character is morally grey and not a completely good person..."

"The name of the story is not captivating, but the story is amazing! The hook makes me want to read more. I have so many questions! Very captivating story for a not so captivating name."

Isn't this so exciting??? Reading all of the comments from the young judges has been the BEST! I'm hopeful that I'll be able to share the feedback with the authors... but it's a lot, so we'll see how I get it done.

And now, I want to comment a bit on the nature of this contest, its limitations, and some things to be aware of.

First of all, remember that your writing is worthy. No matter what happens tomorrow, WE NEED YOUR STORIES IN THE WORLD! Keep at it, and never stop pushing towards those dreams.

Now... this contest has some limitations. Unlike other writing contests where one judge (or a group of judges) reads and judges every single entry, that was simply not a possibility for this contest. There was just no way I could ask children to read and rank 200+ entries.

As a reminder, we had:

217 PB entries

42 MG entries

24 YA entries

We had over 150 registered kid judges. Because life happens and they are kids, not all of them were able to participate in the judging after all. And they each only judged one age category. So in the first round, I was able to have 21 groups of 5 kids read 10-11 PB entries each, 4 groups of 10 kids reading 10-11 MG entries, and 2 groups of 7 teens reading 12 YA entries.

Then, they voted for their favorite, and the top choices moved on to the next round. Some groups were surprisingly unanimous and all judges chose the same favorite entry to move on to the finals. Others were split at least partially. Some finalists received 4 votes, and some 3 votes. If there was a tie for the top in one section, it was okay, because I asked the kids to vote for their top 2 choices in the event of a tie.

Then, with the top choice(s) moving on, we had to take it down from 21 1st place PB votes (the number of PB groups that I had) to only 13 PB finalists. (The MG and YA groups got to send on the top 2-5 selections from each judging group). So I had a group of local kids I work with voting on any "tie breakers" (entries that received the same number of votes in round 1). And we ended up with 13 PB finalists, 10 MG finalists, and 8 YA finalists in the end. And they are all amazing!

To have only 31 finalists out of 283 entries means that LOTS of REALLY GOOD entries didn't make it to the final round. And I'm more aware than anyone that things could have been different with just the slightest change...

I grouped the entries randomly. But what if the groups had been slightly different? Or what if one group of judges would have loved an entry that didn't connect with the group it was in?

This is the nature of tournament-style competitions though... Things could have been different with different match-ups, different groups of judges, etc. And it just is what it is.

In the finals, all of the judges in each age group will be reading all of the finalists' entires. So that round will be less variable.

I personally don't think these limitations are necessarily bad. I mean, we got to hear from KID JUDGES and I would never expect a child to read so many entries. So to me, it was worth it to get the kid perspective while making it manageable for them.

I guess what I'm saying is... this is a really unique contest with really unique parameters. So if you don't see your name in the finalist list tomorrow, don't fret. Even with kid judges, this business is so subjective! You've got this. I was blown away by the quality of entries.

And I truly can't wait to see your stories in the world.

If you don't already subscribe to my blog, make sure to subscribe (in the box below) before tomorrow night so you don't miss the big announcement!

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. She loves writing books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to. Kailei's debut middle grade book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Summer 2023

The 1st Annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest is OPEN

Hello friends!! Today is January 31st, so that means... the 1st Annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest is OFFICIALLY OPEN!!! I am beyond excited for this moment and cannot wait to read all of your amazing submissions. And I REALLY can't wait for our kid judges to read each one and vote for their favorites. This is going to be super exciting!

If you need a refresher on all of the rules one more time before posting your entry, please read them in detail HERE.

If you want to read all of the details on the optional submission change for PB authors, you can read that in detail HERE.

Once you post your entry below, you might want to hop on over to my twitter to let us know that you posted and to tell us all how you're feeling! Use #KidsChoiceKidLitWritingContest or comment on THIS TWEET so we can all follow along. And if you'd like, you can download this contestant badge to display on your website and/or social media pages. Just click the button for the downloadable image.

Download Contestant Badge Here

I hope you'll also come back to this post and read the other entries and leave comments for the other participants. It's always so nice to feel encouragement from other authors. Can't wait to see this community grow! (Remember to turn off the "join this site's community" option so you don't get hundreds of e-mails with comment notifications. This is an issue on all Wix sites that I super apologize for! I am hoping they change their policy and if they don't make the shift before next year, I will definitely be making a move).

Now, here is a final reminder of what you need to include in your entry below:

TITLE

By: (Your Name)

Genre: (PB, MG, or YA)

Paste your story here. (or your sample for those PB authors who plan to query/sub this story).

Optional: include any links to your blog (with your entry pasted there too if you like) and other social media platforms so that we can all follow you there.

**Note: If you have any issues with getting your entry to show up, please fill out my contact form HERE. Remember that I can't be sitting by my computer 24/7, but I promise I will get back to you in plenty of time to get your entry up during the submission window, so don't stress.

Alright, friends! That's that. Thank you SO much for participating in this kick-off year. This wouldn't be possible without each and every one of you. Our kid judges are super excited to read what you've prepared. It's going to be so much fun!

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and children's book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. Kailei's debut Middle Grade Book, KID MADE will be coming to you from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Summer 2023