WriteMentor announces finalists for Idea Idol competition
Ideal Idol: The Finalists
Announcing the finalists for Ideal Idol, WriteMentor’s brand new competition for ideas right from the early concept stage, judged by agent Deirdre Power from David Higham Associates.
Our readers reviewed a pitch and a first page (or 3 spreads for Picture Books!) from around 500 entries across Picture Books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Teen, and Young Adult.
All of the entries were well-written and of a high standard of prose, which was really encouraging to see. As it stands, with just an opening and a pitch to go off, the concepts that our readers put through had to be completely out of this world, and that meant saying no to a lot of close calls.
Congratulations to the finalists, and thank you to our readers and to everyone who entered. There were so many brilliant ideas that we hope will become full-length books one day.
Below are our finalists, our longlist, and some general feedback from our readers. Our agent judge will select her winner from the finalists, who we will announce in the coming weeks on social media, our blog, and in our newsletter.
Finalists
| Title of Story | Age category of proposed reader |
| Flying Bunnies: The Purple Pox | Chapter Book (6 to 9) |
| In-Spectres | Chapter Book (6 to 9) |
| Willow Werewoof | Chapter Book (6 to 9) |
| Dewey Decimal is my Friend | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| Girls Can’t Be Highwaymen | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| Hayden Jones and the Earthscraper | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| No-Merit | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| The Coriander Wars: Rupali | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| VKG | Middle Grade (9 to 12) |
| ANJAR, THE MAESTRO OF ART! | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| BUGGY DINER MYSTERY | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| Etta and the Wish | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| I Am Your Dog and I Always Will Be | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| Pants vs Socks | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| Pip’s Peculiar Pet Sitting Service | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| Ryan versus Lion | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| The Wild Library | Picture Book (4 to 6) |
| COFFIN CANDY | Teen (12 to 15) |
| That time I accidentally took over the world | Teen (12 to 15) |
| Purgatory | Young Adult (15 to 18) |
| THE FORESHADOWING | Young Adult (15 to 18) |
| The Summer Of Nothing and Everything | Young Adult (15 to 18) |
Longlist
The following titles get special mention as entries that almost made the final list.
| Alice and Esme |
| Bad luck, Duck! |
| Bamboo Hullabaloo |
| Book Does Not Want to Be Read |
| Chasing Copper Bottom: What Would You Do? |
| Cuthbert McSnoop |
| Moon Munchers |
| Nell’s New Hat |
| Oscar Drake and The House of Cake |
| Penguin’s Perfect Pebble |
| Put it on the Ribbit Card! |
| Rubber Duck Soup |
| Squishy Squashy Woo |
| The Boy who ate Books |
| The Case of Wolf Versus Hood |
| The Library of Pets |
| The Memory Stick |
| The Sun Lantern |
| The Teeny Tiny Ninja |
| Twilight Tails |
| When Dandelion Met Tige Lily |
| When Gold Stars Bloom |
| When WILL the Leaves Fall? |
General feedback
Below is some general feedback from our readers on both pitches and first pages based on the entries. If you opted in to receive individual feedback, we encourage you to read our article on receiving and absorbing feedback.
Feedback on pitches
- Some pitches that tried to build mystery or tension ended up sounding vague and unspecific.
- Many pitched relied on the cliché of ‘before it’s too late…’ to increase drama/tension. Make sure the stakes are specific to the story and/or character. What is this particular character set to lose if they don’t succeed? Why them and no other character?
- Be more selective with words to emphasise the genre/tone/voice of the book. With so few words, make each one count.
- Many entries had a really strong voice that wasn’t reflected in the pitch. Try and capture this voice – as above, even playing around with word choice can help.
- Many of the pitches were too vague in setting up the stakes. If a secret may be revealed, what are the consequences? If there is a magic system, how does it work? Some pitches could have applied to more than one book and weren’t therefore individual enough to put forward.
- Some of the pitches weren’t very clear – there were too many characters crammed in to a fifty word limit, which made it confusing for the reader to parse. I would stick with one main character, their stakes, and the consequences if they don’t achieve their goal.
- There were a lot of pitches that didn’t include crucial original concepts in the pitch itself. A few of the fantasy entries, for example, didn’t distinguish themselves as different to what’s already on the very crowded market.
Feedback on first pages
- Lots of characters observing and not participating in the action.
- Some openings were written older or younger than the pitch or age range.
- Some openings didn’t strike the right tone or promise the premise of the pitch.
- The majority of entries started with the main character going through a morning routine of some sort – breakfast, waking up, etc. Perhaps in these cases, skipping to the start of the action would help – we can learn about the MC’s home life through their interactions with other characters and action.
- Many characters were either in the car or walking to the inciting incident. Again, this was the author building a scene for themselves as opposed to allowing the reader to be swept up in the action. Most of these characters even mentioned how impatient they were to reach their destination – us too!
Don’t miss out on entering our next writing competition
Thanks to the success of our first Idea Idol, we’ll be running this competition again soon. Plus, before the end of the year, we’ll be opening entries for our annual Picture Book & Novel Awards. Stay up-to-date on these competitions plus further writing opportunities by subscribing to our free weekly newsletter.
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