Open to unpublished, unagented children’s writers based anywhere in the world.
Entry fee £20
Prize:
First Prize: a publishing contract with Chicken House with an advance of £10,000, plus the offer of representation from literary agent Lydia Silver of Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency.
Open to unpublished, unagented children’s writers based anywhere in the world.
Entry fee £20
Prize:
First Prize: a publishing contract with Chicken House with an advance of £10,000, plus the offer of representation from literary agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch of Andlyn
Chicken House 'is thrilled to announce' the opening of its 2022 writing competition, in conjunction with The Times, and with a new prize sponsored by TV production company Lime Pictures. The deadline for submissions is 1 June 2023. Read more
YA writers resident in the UK or Ireland.
No entry fee
Prize:
The first prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Faber and a £15,000 advance, while the second and third prizes also receive publishing contracts with advances of £8,000 and £5,000 respectively.
Faber has launched The Imagined Futures, a new YA science fiction prize aimed at finding stories that 'offer hope and spark the imagination in this period of incredible global and environmental change'. It is looking for fiction that shines a spotlight on the power and value of the natural world and explores the potential outcomes for our collective future. Read more
fee Open to unpublished, unagented children’s writers based anywhere in the world.
Entry fee £20
Prize:
First Prize a publishing contract with Chicken House with an advance of £10,000, plus the offer of representation from literary agent Louise Lamont at LBA Books, Second Prize a £7,500 publishing contract plus an offer of representation
Now the biggest children's writing competition in the UK, the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition has been running for 12 years and has kickstarted the careers of many of the most established writers for both children and adults in the UK - including Jasbinder Bilan (Costa-winning author of Asha & the Spirit Bird), SJ Bennett (The Windsor Knot) and Nicki Thornton (The Last Ch Read more
Open to writers of children’s novels for 7 up including YA.
No entry fee
Prize:
Mentoring
24-hour open submissions period window will be open on 20 September only
The day is for finished or unfinished novels for children aged 7 up to (and including) YA, and offers the chance to gain mentorship from a member of the editorial team. Read more
Adult Fiction prize and a Young Adult /Middle Grade prize. First Prize Publication contract offer from Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms Press with advance against royalties, Second Prize $150 and critiques
Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize
*Open for submissions until May 3rd*
The first Leapfrog Fiction Prize was established in 2009 as an additional means of discovering new writing. This year, we have rebranded the contest the Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize and have split the competition into two, providing both an Adult Fiction prize and a Young Adult /Middle Grade prize. Read more
Open to writers of any nationality writing in English
Entry fee for Best Unpublished Novel £49
Prize:
£15,000 for Best Unpublished Novel, an advance on a publishing deal with Bonnier and £10,000 for Best Published Novel
Submissions for the two 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prizes are now open. The international prize is now in its sixth year. Entries are accepted from writers of any nationality, writing in English. The deadline is 7 March. Read more
Open to women writers only from across the world with unpublished manuscripts (self-published work allowed)
Entry fees - various
Prize:
Various
Short Story
For complete short stories in any genre for adult /young adult women writers. First Prize 3,000 plus optional week at an Arvon writing centre Entry fee 310
Flash Fiction
Fr complete short fiction narratives in any genre for adults and/or young adult readers First Prize £500 Entry fee £5
Unagented YA authors from all over the world
No entry fee
Prize:
Publication
GUPPY YA NOVEL COMPETITION - OPEN SUBMISSIONS MAY 2020!
From 11th to 15th May 2020, Guppy Books will be unbolting the portholes and welcoming submissions of young adult fiction from unagented writers. We are looking for an exciting and fresh new voice in young adult writing. Read more
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen.
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen. Read more
'Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything.'
"Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument: the individual mind and spirit of man," writes John Steinbeck in East of Eden. "Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy."
UK literary festival organisers face an uncertain future after losing the funding provided by investment group Baillie Gifford, with many paying tribute to the group's "commitment to the industry" pointing to the security the money offered to smaller book events.
Diana Urban is the author of several YA thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets and the upcoming Paris catacombs survival story, Under the Surface (Putnam, Aug. 13). In this essay, Urban reflects on why young readers are so enthralled by murder-centric stories, making mysteries and thrillers such hot genres in YA publishing today.
Children in the UK and Ireland are reading fewer books than they did last year, according to a new report, as post-Covid absences from school and a lack of dedicated reading time contribute to lower reading abilities.
If you ever want to feel a sense of awe, try standing near an erupting volcano. The late author Michael Crichton was fascinated with volcanoes for most of his life. And even now, 16 years after his death, among the countless books and papers at his office in Santa Monica you'll find stacks of volcano research.
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) has called on the next government to "enshrine protections for writers" in its manifesto recommendations ahead of the forthcoming general election.
The trade union representing writers wants the next government to implement its recommendations around fair pay, fair treatment, sustainability, and copyright and AI.
'If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.'
'Writing is of you, but it's not YOU'
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen. Read more