Enter the New Children's Author Prize 2015 and you could win a publishing contract with Bloomsbury - Deadline 30 September 2014

About the New Children's Author Prize

In partnership with Bloomsbury Children's Books we want to find talented new authors of children’s fiction.

We are inviting members of the public to submit your stories for eight to 12-year-olds to be in with a chance of winning a publishing contract with Bloomsbury, including advance payment of £5,000 for your work.

At the National Literacy Trust we work to take books and reading for enjoyment to children in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. Exciting, engaging and inspiring literature and books are vital to our work, which is why we have launched this competition with Bloomsbury to help find existing and developing talent for children’s storytelling.

Early rounds of the competition will be judged by our experts, with the winners selected from the shortlist by a panel of judges, including children’s author Katherine Rundell and author and critic Nicolette Jones.

All proceeds from entry fees will help the National Literacy Trust continue our vital work improving literacy across the country. Every entrant will receive exclusive tips on writing for children from Katherine Rundell.
The prizes

First prize:
A publishing contract with Bloomsbury, which includes an advance of £5,000 and a print run of your work
Use of “Winner of the New Children's Author Prize 2015 from Bloomsbury and National Literacy Trust”
A prize ceremony in your honour, with press, authors and publishers in attendance

Shortlisted authors:

Use of “Runner up in the New Children's Author Prize 2015 from Bloomsbury and National Literacy Trust”
Signed book bundles
Plus all shortlisted authors will be invited to attend the prize ceremony with the opportunity to meet agents, editors, press and others.
How to enter
All entries must be submitted by email, using the official template. A link for this template will be emailed to you once you have paid your entry fee.
Entrants must be aged 18+, a UK resident and must be previously unpublished
Entrants must submit a 20-40,000 word children’s story, targeted at children aged 8 to 12, with a 350 word synopsis and a 1,000 word passage highlighted for judging in the early rounds, as per the format of the template.
Entries must also be:
Written in English
Typed in font Arial, 12pt, black
Double spaced
Not include the author’s name anywhere in the story other than the first page of the form
Submitted using the template provided on receipt of your submission fee and saved as “Author_Name_Title_of_Story”, e.g. “P_L_Travers_Mary_Poppins”
Emailed to author.prize@literacytrust.org.uk by 5pm 30 September 2014.

Entries are £30. Additional entries by the same person are £15. You will be given a code for this discount once you have made payment for your first entry. All proceeds go to the National Literacy Trust.

The competition will be closed for entries on 30 September 2014.
*EARLY BIRD OFFER* All entries before 30 June 2014 are half price at £15.

Enter code EARLYAUTHOR when paying for entry to qualify for discount.
The judging

Round one: all entries will be initially judged by a team of experts to create a long-list.

Round two: the editorial team from Bloomsbury will select the short-list.

Final round: the winners will be selected from the short-list by a judging panel of Katherine Rundell; Nicolette Jones; Ellen Holgate, Bloomsbury editor; and National Literacy Trust Director Jonathan Douglas.

Read the full terms and conditions

Enter now