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Children's writing

The Selfies Book Awards UK 2023

Information

Closing date: 
3 January 2023
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s books or adult memoirs/autobiography in the UK between January and December 2022. Entry fee: £35 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus other prizes

For the fifth year running the hugely popular Selfies Book Awards - powered by UK trade journal BookBrunch and sponsored by Ingram Spark® - will again reward three self-published authors for their publishing excellence. Submissions are now open for indie authors who have published an adult autobiography/memoir, adult fiction or children's book during 2022.
  Read more

2022 Times/Chicken House writing competition

Information

Closing date: 
1 June 2022
Entry: 
fee Open to unpublished, unagented children’s writers based anywhere in the world.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

The Selfies Book Awards UK 2022

Information

Closing date: 
3 January 2022
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s books or adult memoirs/autobiography in the UK between January and December 2021. Entry fee: £30 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus other prizes

Now in its fourth year, the 'hugely popular' Selfies book awards - powered by UK trade journal BookBrunch - have opened and will again reward three categories of self-published books: adult autobiography/memoir, adult fiction and children's books.  Read more

Chicken House Open Coop

Information

Closing date: 
20 September 2021
Entry: 
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

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2020

Information

Closing date: 
15 May 2021
Entry: 
Unpublished and unagented writers of children’s fiction suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. No entry fee
Prize: 
A worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus an offer of representation from a top literary agent

Enter The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition  Read more

The Selfies Book Awards UK 2021

Information

Closing date: 
1 January 2021
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s books or adult memoirs/autobiography in the UK between January and December 2020. Entry fee: £25 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus a profile in BookBrunch and the option of a special publishing deal provided by sponsors IngramSpark

Back for the third year, the hugely popular UK Selfies book awards - powered by BookBrunch - is adding for 2021 a third category, adult memoirs/autobiography, to the existing categories of adult fiction and children's books.  Read more

Wicked Young Writers 2020

Information

Closing date: 
2 March 2020
Entry: 
5-25 year-olds writers in the UK. No entry fee
Prize: 
Each winner gets four tickets to see the London production of WICKED at the Apollo Victoria Theatre + meet cast members after the show along with an exclusive backstage tour and £50 worth of books/eBooks tokens to spend.

The Wicked Young Writers Awards has announced that entries are open for its 10th anniversary year. Created by the producers of the musical Wicked in partnership with the National Literacy TrustUK-based organisation which has campaigned since 1993 to improve literacy standards across all age groups. Excellent research information and details of the many initiatives the charity is currently involved in. www.literacytrust.org.uk. It also has a useful page of news stories on UK literacy, which links to newsletter http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/TheLibrary.aspx, the annual national writing competition is for 5 to 25-year-olds, and is intended "to reward excellence in creative writing and encourage young people to find their own voice".  Read more

The Bookbrunch Selfies Awards 2020

Information

Closing date: 
27 December 2019
Entry: 
All titles submitted need to have been published in English since January 2018, and entries will be accepted from authors based in the UK who are predominantly or only self-published. Entrance fee of £25+VAT per title, and all those submitting work will receive six-month subscriptions to BookBrunch.
Prize: 
£1,000 in each category

Submissions are open for the second year of the Bookbrunch Selfies Awards in the UK.  Read more

The Caterpillar Story Prize 2019

Information

Closing date: 
30 September 2019
Entry: 
Open to all writers over 16 Entry fee €12
Prize: 
First Prize €1,000, Second Prize a week’s retreat at the marvellous Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Co. Monaghan, Ireland.

This annual award is given to the best story (of no more than 1,500 words) written by an adult for children aged 7-11.
Anyone can enter, as long as you are over 16 and your story is previously unpublished.


THE JUDGE

We are delighted to announce that Kelly McCaughrain will judge The Caterpillar Story Prize 2019.

HOW TO ENTER  Read more

Winchester Writers Festival 2018 Writing Competitions

Information

Closing date: 
11 April 2018
Entry: 
Open to all, no requirement to attend the Festival £6 per entry, +10 for feedback
Prize: 
Various prizes

Our 2018 Writing Competitions are now open!

For full details on our ten writing competitions, please visit www.writersfestival.co.uk/competitions  Read more

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The Selfies Book Awards UK 2023

Information

Closing date: 
3 January 2023
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s books or adult memoirs/autobiography in the UK between January and December 2022. Entry fee: £35 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus other prizes

For the fifth year running the hugely popular Selfies Book Awards - powered by UK trade journal BookBrunch and sponsored by Ingram Spark® - will again reward three self-published authors for their publishing excellence. Submissions are now open for indie authors who have published an adult autobiography/memoir, adult fiction or children's book during 2022.
  Read more

'Writing is a strange synthesis between the two parts of your mind: the analytical side and the side that knows nothing at all, and you have to allow the dreaming side free rein.'

— Rose Tremain

Worldbuilding 2: the basics of writing fantasy fiction

Sun, 04/12/2022 - 2:30pm
The basics of writing fantasy fiction

Fantasy fiction is a niche market, but a very popular niche market. It is particularly popular among new writers, and I suspect this is a consequence of growing up on a diet of best-selling fantasy fiction over the last couple of decades. In this article, I will look at the differences between writing fantasy fiction and other genres, and also the similarities.  Read more

Worldbuilding 1: Character names in fantasy novels

Mon, 21/11/2022 - 6:34pm
Character names in fantasy novels

One of the more rewarding - and difficult - things about writing a fantasy novel is having the opportunity to create and describe a world different from our own; one where magic is real, where non-human beings interact with us, and where reality has a shape and texture that is anything but mundane.  Read more

21 November 2022 - What's new

November 2022
  • ‘The TikTok success stories of Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry have done the genre a wonderful favour by putting romance firmly in a spotlight so bright that their popularity cannot be ignored...
  Read more