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Calling all children’s fiction writers! We’re super excited to announce the opening of this year’s children’s fiction competition. And because we’re committed to opening our competition to writers everywhere, we’ve introduced online entry and payment for the first time – yippee! For full details on how to enter, plus our submission requirements, please see our submissions page.

In the meantime, here are some FAQs on our new online system …

How does it work?
Once you click ‘Begin’ on our submission page, you’ll be asked for your name and contact details, plus an email address and password. Once you click through, you’ll be taken through the online payment process and asked to upload your submission. You will receive an email when your submission has been successfully received. Easy peasy!

How do I prepare my manuscript for online submission?
Please create a single Word document, which should consist of: a single page covering letter, a single page synopsis, and your full manuscript.

Do I have to enter online?
If you’re entering from outside the UK, yes you must enter online. If you’re entering from within the UK, you can enter by post and pay by cheque if you prefer.

Can I pay online and submit my manuscript by post, or pay by cheque and submit my manuscript online?
No. To prevent any confusion, you must either submit either entirely online or entirely by post.

Do I need a Paypal account to enter?
No, you can pay via Paypal without joining, just make sure you have your payment card details to hand.

This year’s competition deadline is 18 December 2016, so you’ve got plenty of time to edit, polish or even write your novel ready for submission. We’ll be announcing our longlist around March 2017. All twenty-odd longlisted authors will receive an editorial report, and the winner is awarded a £10,000 publishing deal with Chicken House.

So if you’re an unpublished, unagented writer with a great story for ages 7 through to YA, we’d love to hear from you!