My NaNoWriMo novel isn’t long enough – or ready enough – for this contest, but if you have between 90,000-110,000 words you may be good to go. This contest is small, only 250 entries are accepted. But the judges are terrific. There’s one for each genre:

• Romance – Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large & Category Specialist for Ballantine & Bantam Dell
• Mainstream Adult Fiction – Kevan Lyon, Agent at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
• Suspense / Thriller / Mystery – Kat Brzozowski, Assistant Editor at Thomas Dunne Books
• Fantasy / Science Fiction – James Frenkel, Editor at Tor / Forge
• Children’s & YA – Mary Kole, Agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency

And here’s the great thing. Your entry won’t simply disappear into a great void of unsuccessful attempts. These judges will rate your entry and give you feedback. Given the quality of the judges, this feedback could be priceless. The entry fee is a measly $35, but you need to enter fast. The closing date is February 12, but entries won’t be accepted after the magic 250 number is reached.
There’s a tiny bit of prize money, but again, this is immaterial. A critique like this is designed to help you get closer to publication.
You can find all the details on the Crested Butte Writers website: http://www.crestedbuttewriters.org/index.php, along with information about their annual writers’ conference (June 22-24 this year).