Yes, they do! And you only have until January 31st to submit for this round of vetting. Here’s a breakdown of how the process works.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Traveler started as a NaNoWriMo project (that I didn’t finish at the time), then finally got completed and I spent a good long time shouting into the void, querying and workshopping and querying again to not much avail. I was only one unknown voice among thousands vying for the ear of that editor or agent.

I needed a platform. I needed to get my novel read by readers, real readers, who could give me feedback and write solid reviews that might get me noticed. So I took a leap of faith (and believe me, I agonized over it at the time) and entered the Swoon Reads YA contest.

The rest is history. Here I sit, working on book 2 of that series, and Traveler will be out in bookstores in a little over a month!

What have you got to lose? Even if you’re not chosen this round, you may be on the next. And you gain valuable (I really mean it!) feedback from a host of dedicated YA beta readers. You can’t put a price on that.

Do it.

Just do it.