If you find this page and our site useful, please consider making a small donation through our Ko-fi page. This will help us offer regular free-to-enter competitions and free entries to our paid-entry competitions for those on low incomes.
Please also sign up to our free monthly newsletter. Subscribers gain exclusive access to our free-to-enter competitions, entrance into free prize draws, information about the latest writing competitions and events from around the world and more.
Authors working on picture books (or the text for picture books at least) for children should take a look at this Searchlight Awards competition. Authors should submit the complete manuscript and a short pitch that tells us what the story is about. Note that this year the competition is for unagented and unpublished writers only.
As well as the top prize of £500, the top 10 entries are included in a Publisher Pitch Book which is sent to a selection of literary agents. The winner will also have a one-to-one call with the judge, Lorna Hemingway of Bell Lomax Moreton. While the author of the entry picked in second place will receive a Detailed Editorial Review by Natascha Biebow, expert picture book editor and founder of Blue Elephant Storyshaping. The review includes an in-depth consideration of your picture book manuscript (up to 1000 words), and a detailed editorial review letter, with specific comments about the work, notations on your manuscript and suggestions for revision.
Details