ABC's Children's Picture Book Competition Seeks Entries

February 15, 2007 — The February 28, 2007, deadline is fast approaching for the Third Annual ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition. The competition is currently seeking manuscripts of less than 1,000 words targeting children ages 2-8. Any author with a US citizenship—published or unpublished—over the age of 21 with an original, unpublished manuscript is eligible to enter.

The winner will be chosen from 10 finalists who will have their stories posted on the ABC’s website with a companion piece of artwork for an internet vote which will start September 2007. The winner will receive a royalty based publishing contract.

“Our research into the children’s picture book market found that three out of every 12,000 manuscripts submitted to traditional publishers, get published,” said Rita Mills, founder of the ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition. “We wanted to create a competition which was unique and zeroed in on the marketing prowess of the author and illustrator. The author’s willingness to marketing their book is vital to the success of a published book, and during the internet vote (final step in the competition), the cream will rise to the top.”

The winner of the third competition will be announced October 8, 2007. Previous winners include 12 Dog Days of Christmas in New York City by Maritha Burmeister of San Antonio, Texas, and Ellen Leventhal and Ellen Rothberg both of Houston, Texas who are the authors of Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets. The illustrator for the two winning entries is Bill Megenhardt of Houston, Texas.

For more information, visit www.abcbookcompetition.org