The Times / Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2016
The most valuable children's writing competition in the UK is open for entries. The winner will receive a £10,000 advance for their novel, agency representation and publication by Chicken House. New writers are invited to submit novels up to 80,000 words aimed at children between 7 and 18.
Are you a writer with an original and exciting story for 7-to-18-year-olds? If so, we'd love you to enter our competition, and you have until Friday 18th December 2015 to submit. Every entry will be read by our team of experienced readers in order to draw up a longlist of the very best submissions. Barry Cunningham and the Chicken House editorial team will then narrow these down to a shortlist of five.
Our prestigious panel of judges will then pore over the shortlist to choose the winner, to be announced in spring 2016. The prize will be a worldwide publishing deal with Chicken House, with an advance of £10,000 (subject to contract).
What Chicken House are looking for
Original ideas, a fresh voice and a story that children will love! To enter, you must have written a completed full-length novel suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. By full-length we suggest a minimum of 30,000 words and ask that manuscripts entered do not exceed 80,000 words in length.
What you can win
First prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus representation from a top children's literary agent. All longlisted entrants will receive a reader's report of their work.
When to enter by
The competition will close on Friday 18th December 2015.
Your entry
Please send us:
- A hard copy of the full manuscript (double-spaced; font size 12pt);
- A covering letter explaining why you believe your novel would appeal to children and telling us a bit about yourself;
- A page-long synopsis of your story;
- A chapter-by-chapter plot plan outlining the major events of each chapter.
Please secure your manuscript with an elastic band and place it inside a cardboard wallet/folder. You will also need to enclose a cheque for £15 made payable to Chicken House Publishing Ltd, with your name, address, phone number and email address on the reverse of the cheque.
Please mark your envelope CHILDREN'S FICTION
COMPETITION.
Please ensure you include all contact details - name, address, phone number and email address - with your entry.
If you wish us to acknowledge receipt of your entry, you must enclose a self-addressed postcard with sufficient postage attached. We cannot accept entries by email.