 FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS! Welcome to First Page Contest #5 -- for writers of Adult Thriller / Mystery / Crime / Suspense. If you write in this age category, keep reading and submit your work! This free contest ends on Jan. 31, 2026. Here’s how it works: We invite an awesome literary agent to judge the contest. The agent picks the genre(s) they want to judge. Writers in that genre are invited to send in their first page as part of the competition. Winners get a fabulous critique from your agent judge. It’s free to enter. Sound good? Then let’s get to some details and rules! There are three other contests happening right now in 2025-2026 -- one for writers of Middle Grade Fiction, one for writers of Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy, and one for writers of Romance / Women's Fiction / Romantasy. DATES AND GENRE SPECIFICS: For Contest #5, you have until Jan. 31, 2026 to submit to the contest. Winners will be announced by end of February 2026. We will reach out to the winners by email and post their names above on this post. This contest is only for writers of Adult Thriller / Mystery / Crime / Suspense. PRIZES: The agent judge will pick three winners (in no particular order). All three winners are invited to send their first 5 double-spaced pages to the agent judge for a free critique. If you've ever wanted to know what an agent is thinking when they read your submission, this critique is a great way to learn just that.  Learn secrets and proven paths to finding an agent with the book GET A LITERARY AGENT. The guide explains query letter writing, submission dos and don'ts, how to craft engaging opening pages, synopsis FAQs, nonfiction proposal tips, literary agent pet peeves, and much more. OUR SOCIAL MEDIA REQUIREMENTS: Although the contest is free to enter, in order to be considered, you must fulfill our social media requirements. For every submission, you must spread word of this contest twice through social media — Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or something comparable. In other words, you just have to share news of it online, twice, to spread the word. (Share the website/URL of this contest -- that's the key. You can copy and paste the URL of this post, or use this shorter version: https://tinyurl.com/wdwcontest5) When you e-mail your submission, make sure you include some kind of way for us to understand you have followed these guidelines. For example, if you have shared news on Facebook, include a link to that status. If you have shared news of it on BlueSky, you can take a screenshot or send us a link of that status update, etc. An easy way to notify us is to tag us:
If you use Twitter/X, put our handle at the middle or the end, not at the very beginning of the tweet, or else the tweet will be invisible to others. (Please note that simply tweeting does not count. You have to include the contest URL with your mention; that’s the point -- to spread awareness of the contest page here.) If you want to share news of the contest on the same social media platform, try and spread your mentions out, because two mentions at the same time will not help spread the word. At least separate them by a day Here is text that can be copied and used: New FREE contest for writers of Middle Grade Fiction — https://tinyurl.com/wdwcontest5 — Judged by Agent Kelsey Evans of Rosecliff Literary, via @writingdayworkshops. Winners get an agent critique of their work. If you belong to a writing group that may be interested in this contest, feel free to tag them on social media by using their handle when tweeting the news.   THE AGENT JUDGE: Kelsey Evans of Rosecliff Literary is a publishing professional with a background in communications, marketing, and editing. After a decade helming marketing strategy and content development for agencies with major clients like AAA, Dannon, and Target, she transitioned into publishing. She began as an editor, helping writers shape their work through developmental feedback, query critiques, and revision guidance. Later, she moved into agenting, interning with Triada US and Creative Media Agency (CMA), where she gained hands-on experience in manuscript evaluation, submissions, and client development. Passionate about championing authors, Kelsey now combines editorial insight with marketing expertise to help writers navigate both craft and career. She is especially excited to seek out independent voices by tracking breakout self-published successes, surfacing under-the-radar talent, and scouting the indie authors whose sales, platforms, and craft signal they’re ready to leap into traditional publishing. Check out recent deals by Rosecliff Literary pasted here: How to submit to Contest #5 is below.   SUBMIT TO CONTEST #5: Submit your manuscript’s first double-spaced page, via email, to [email protected] 300 words of manuscript text, maximum. Do not attach your page. Just copy and paste the page into the email submission. At the beginning of the email, before you paste your first page, this is what we need to know:
Self-published novels are not eligible for this contest. Unpublished (new) material only, please. You may submit more than one submission; however, you are encouraged to only submit your best work. FINAL NOTES: By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here. If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at chucksambuchino [at] gmail.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions. This contest buys no rights; so even if you win, you can still do whatever you like with the work. We do not acquire or own or publish anything. Good luck! Make sure you fulfill the submission requirements to be considered — i.e., do NOT skip the social media requirements. Pitch an Agent at a Writers Conference in 2026:
 This post by Chuck Sambuchino, freelance editor and lead director of Writing Day Workshops. Chuck is a former longtime staffer with Writer's Digest, editing the Guide to Literary Agents. He is the author of the writing guide CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM as well as the bestselling humor book HOW TO SURVIVE A GARDEN GNOME ATTACK. His most recent books are all about pickleball -- daily tear-off calendars as well as the picture book GOODNIGHT, PICKLEBALL. He is a proud #GirlDad, movie geek, and guitar/piano player. Connect with him through WDW's Instagram and Twitter, Comments are closed.
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