 FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS! First Page Contest #6 of this year is for writers of Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy. 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 Thriller / Mystery / Crime / Suspense, and one for writers of Romance / Women's Fiction / Romantasy. DATES AND GENRE SPECIFICS: For Contest #6, 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 Science Fiction & Fantasy. 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.  Want to sell more books and market yourself? Check out the guide CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. The book explains how to build an audience, understand social media basics, sell more books, increase promotion & publicity, get engaged online, 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/wdwcontest6) 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 Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy — https://tinyurl.com/wdwcontest6 — Judged by Agent Lydia Caudill of Andrea Hurst Literary Management, 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: Lydia Caudill is an associate agent with Andrea Hurst Literary Management. She began her editorial internship with the agency in 2022, quickly transitioning into a full-time role as a literary scout and editorial assistant. Now, Lydia is excited to build a diverse client list of her own and collaborate with authors to craft and share meaningful stories that leave a lasting impact on readers. Originally from a small town in Eastern Kentucky, Lydia developed a passion for literature early on, often seen toting around a book and seeking any opportunity to read. She is a graduate of NC State University, where she earned her B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. When she’s not editing or reviewing submissions, you can find her attending live music events, tutoring Spanish, working on her own writing, or spending quality time outdoors with her dog, Rocky. Check out books represented by Andrea Hurst Literary Management.
 SUBMIT TO CONTEST #6: 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 Agents 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, Check Out Other Great Articles & Resources:
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