Submission opportunities for children's authors and illustrators and industry news
April 2025 publishing updates
There are some amazing competitions and submission opportunities for children’s authors and illustrators this month which we’ve compiled below. If you find this helpful, please do take a moment to like this post and repost and/or share with writer/illustrator friends to help us spread the word.
Our news
This month Naomi had two new books published by HarperCollins for their new Read On series which is very exciting. It’s always so special when your stories are released into the wild…
We had a busy Easter holiday with our boys doing egg hunts, meeting friends and hanging out on the beach. We squeezed in an event at Jubilee Pool (the salt water lido in Penzance) and managed to pop into some of our lovely local Cornish bookshops for signings too.
This month we’ve shared interviews with illustrator Rachel Dean, author Craig Barr-Green, indie bookshop owner Clemo Books and author/illustrator Catherine Rayner. You can watch/read them all for free along with all of our other interviews here.
Industry news
After London and Bologna book fairs, April is always a busy month for agents, editors, designers and rights people as they rush to get all of their follow up done.
We shared a post about why book fairs matter and how rights sales can turn your books into bestsellers. This month we also looked at things that might surprise you about the world of publishing, how to actually make a living as a writer (this post has pie charts and everything) and how to find your writer/illustrator tribe.
The Oscar’s Book Prize shortlist was announced this month. You can read/watch our interviews with three of the nominees: Rebecca Cobb, Marissa Dulak and Craig Barr-Green.
The Jhalak Prize shortlist was also announced recently. For a reminder of why paying attention to shortlists and doing market research is useful, check out this post here.
If you haven’t already, do check out these posts by editor and author
who recently joined substack. Although she works on ‘grown up’ books, pretty much everything she writes is applicable for the children’s publishing industry too.Submission opportunities
There are lots of submission and competition opportunities for children’s authors and illustrators this month:
Puffin are running a graphic novel competition for underrepresented authors/illustrators. You can apply between 10th-25th May. The competition will close then they receive 500 entries.
Little Thoughts Press is open to submissions between 10th May - 20th June for stories, artwork and poetry for readers under 10.
World of Books has launched the Sustainable Story Award for children’s authors based in the UK. The deadline is 6th July.
Walker Books have launched a competition for unpublished illustrators. The competition closes on 31st May.
Faber has announced the FAB prize which is now open for writers and illustrators of colour. The competition closes 25th July. You can read our interview with previous winner Mariesa Dulak here.
The Bath Novel Award is now open to YA authors. Deadline 31st May.
Post Wave UK has announced a prize for unpublished children’s illustrators over the age of 18. The prize will launch in October 2025.
The Little, Brown Emerging Artist Award for diverse picture book illustrators is open until 15th June to US residents only.
Lemon Jelly Press in the UK are open to picture book, poetry and short fiction submissions until 14th May.
The Chicken House fiction competition is now open. Deadline is 2nd June. (You can read our interview with Jasbinder Bilan who previously won this competition here.)
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.
Write Mentor Idea Idol competition will be open internationally to any unagented writers of Picture Books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Teen, and Young Adult fiction between 1st April - 1st July.
The I Am In Print competition is open for picture books, chapter books and graphic novels. Deadline 22nd May.
Undiscovered Voices 2026 launches on May 22nd for unagented writers of Childrens and YA fiction with a free online event for SCWBI members. The competition itself opens on 3rd July and closes on September 8th.
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 18th May 8.00pm 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.
Mentoring and feedback
If you’re looking for help with your children’s book writing, Naomi offers bespoke mentoring and feedback.
This is what some recent clients had to say about working with her:
'This is the clearest, most constructive, most comprehensive and thus the most helpful I have ever received. By a very long way… Your feedback was worth every penny.' R. Burton
'Everything makes perfect sense. I feel like I have such clear next steps on where to go from here.' Laura Lott
'I had a sense that parts of it weren’t working but I couldn’t pinpoint why. Your comments helped clarify that—and made me feel more confident about how to move forward. Not just with this manuscript, but in my storytelling overall.' Valentino Marazziti
If you’d like to find out more about working with Naomi, just hit reply or leave a comment.
Naomi and James x
Thank you, looking forward to reading your comments about my rhyming book once you have reviewed it, hopefully in time to have it illustrated and submitted - if you think it’s suitable
Star boy looks awesome! Looking forward to when it comes out.