Goodbye January, hello February
Competitions, courses, new books and the Oxford Children's word of the year
There are some really exciting competitions, submission opportunities and courses available for children’s authors and illustrators this month. We’ve listed them all below along with their deadlines. Good luck!
January here in Cornwall has been a mixture of freezing cold, bright blue skies and wild storms - there was even a tornado 15 minutes from our house which isn’t something we ever thought we’d say in the UK!
This month James has been busy finishing the artwork for our next picture book which is being published by Ladybird in October. It’s looking gorgeous and we can’t to share more with you soon.
Naomi had a busy few days last week in Banbury, Oxford and London. She helped Oxford University Press announce the Oxford Children’s 2024 word of the year, took part in the Diverse Book Awards panel at Waterstones Piccadilly and visited schools and bookshops for signings in every city.
The children surveyed chose ‘kindness’ as their word of the year - how inspiring is that? The world could definitely do with a little more kindness in it, especially at the moment. The slang word chosen was ‘slay’ - it’s not a word we use, but it is still kind!
You can watch Naomi in action on ITV here:
Naomi’s latest book also published this month - Wild Buddies: The Hungry Tortoise was written for OUP’s new Stories for Maths reading scheme. It tells the story of a sneaky tortoise and introduces children to the concept of mass. The Hungry Tortoise is illustrated by Pauline Gregory.
This month we’ve also been enjoying reading the first issue of Shelf magazine - a new magazine dedicated solely to picture books.
Events and courses
Stepping into Stories are running a free virtual event on 6th Feb 19:30 – 20:30 that will cover roads into publishing, basic dos and don'ts and will hopefully demystify the process of getting an agent and getting a traditional publishing deal.
Author/illustrator Jarvis is running a two hour online picture book writing course on Sunday 16th Feb 1-3pm. Tickets are £60.
Tickets for London Book Fair 11th-13th March are now on sale. Book fairs are great for getting a sense of publisher’s lists and listening to talks but aren’t the best place to approach agents or editors directly.
Submission opportunities and competitions
Puffin has launched a graphic novel competition for creators who consider themselves to be underrepresented in the UK.
The Shirley Hughes Sketchbook Award for observational drawings by Orange Beak Studio is free to enter and open from 13th Feb - 16th May. First prize is £1000 plus an Orange Beak tutorial.
The Write Mentor Novel and Picture Book Award in partnership with David Higham Associates is looking for new talent in children’s and young adult fiction. Entries are open now until 1st April.
The Alice Corrie Award at Orange Beak Studio invites picture book authors to submit a manuscript by 3rd March 2025. The winner gets £200 and have the opportunity to meet a publisher online. This award is in memory of editor Alice Corrie who Naomi worked with on her books How to Catch a Rainbow and How to Make a Story.
The Kelpies Prize for writing - they have categories for picture books, children’s fiction and non-fiction but writers must live in Scotland. Closing date is 28th Feb 2025.
The Emma Press will be open for submissions of poetry and fiction for children aged 8+ between 4-18th February.
We hope you have a good month and wish you all the best if you apply to any of these opportunities.
Naomi & James x
Why subscribe to Words and Pictures?
We’ll share everything we know about making books and how the industry works in a new post each Monday.
Every month we’ll hold a live session for community members to ask us anything and everything they want to know about writing, illustrating and getting published. The next live session is Sunday 23rd Feb 8pm GMT.
There will also be free interviews every Friday with authors, illustrators and publishing professionals as they spill the ink about life behind the scenes making books.
Every month we’ll also highlight submission opportunities and exciting new releases in the world of children’s books.
Lots of lovely goodies here to unpack! Thank you.
Thank you for the information on all the opportunities.