It’s that time again! The Guppy Open Submission Competition is launching for 2025!

We’re thrilled to announce that we will be opening the portholes to unagented and unpublished writers in our sixth competition – this time for MIDDLE GRADE authors. Following hot on the heels of the publication of the wonderful EVIE AND MARYAM’S FAMILY TREE written by Janeen Hayat, we are excited to announce the dates for the next competition.

The Open Submission window will be the week of 16th June, from 9am on Monday 16th June to 5pm Friday 20th June 2025 GMT.

We would like to see the first few chapters or up to 2000 words of the novel (but don’t worry too much about word count going over, this is an approximate number of words). Please also send a short synopsis. Please submit in a Word or pdf document to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk during the Open Submission window only.

Writers who have been traditionally published in other genres are unfortunately not eligible. This competition is open to self-published authors. Please send your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk during the specified dates only. Any entries sent before or after this time will not be eligible. ONE SUBMISSION PER PERSON. At longlisting stage (late July) we will ask the longlistees for a nearly-finished/full novel to be sent.

Any other enquiries, please email submissions@guppybooks.co.uk.

We do not charge an entry fee, though we would invite all entrants to buy a book published by Guppy Books if they can (available from all bookshops and online retailers as well as the Guppy shop). We strive to be as open as we can and encourage all aspiring writers to apply.

A winner will be announced in the autumn of 2025, after whittling down to first a longlist and then a shortlist – please keep an eye on social media and the Guppy Books website for updates along the way. We hope to announce the longlist by the end of July.

All shortlisted authors will be offered an editorial meeting with Bella Pearson. The winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books (with no obligation to accept).

We look forward to finding our next winner! And good luck!

Winner Janeen Hayat and her wonderful middle-grade novel EVIE AND MARYAM’S FAMILY TREE was the 2023 winner of the Guppy Open Submission, and came out in the shops yesterday. Read more about it here!

Amelia Cheeseheart is the BA Indie Children’s Book of the Month!

We are so thrilled that the very first book in our Amelia Cheeseheart series, AND the very first in our new Mini Guppy imprint, is the INDIE CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR MAY! Hooray for the amazing Cat Weldon and Nene Lonergan, author and illustrator of this magnificent series.

Amelia Cheeseheart is an intrepid, courageous mouse who investigates mysteries at the museum where she lives, with her bestie, spider Webster. Funny, charming comic-style illustrations, this is a super young graphic novel perfect for children who are just learning to read, as well as older readers who want to dive into a gorgeous world of adventure, Egyptian fun facts, and friendship. Available in ALL GOOD INDIE BOOKSHOPS and in other places too.

Announcing a brand new imprint, MINI GUPPY!

Our mission in life is to show children and young people the benefits of reading and how much fun there is to escape into the world of story – and we are thrilled to be announcing a new imprint for very young readers – Mini Guppy!

With the latest data showing children’s enjoyment of reading lower than ever and with the demand for comic books at an all-time high, there is a huge need for funny, entertaining, highly illustrated, colourful books for ages 5 and up. Providing a stepping stone between picture books and chapter books, these small tactile books with short chapters, interactive illustrations and carefully chosen vocabulary are perfect for emerging readers – ready to build a firm literacy foundation and most importantly, cement the joy of reading.

Our first series is AMELIA CHEESEHEART INVESTIGATES – a very young graphic novel set in a museum, telling the tales of courageous mouse, Amelia and her bestie Webster, who investigate mysteries set in each exhibition. With fun non-fiction facts at the very end, young readers will love the fun, gentle illustrations, and the satisfaction at having read a book all on their very own.

‘A joyful and accessible read.. an adorable comic filled with age-appropriate action and embedded in friendship’ Inis magazine starred review

STORIES FOR CHANGE Competition!

Calling All Young Writers. Enter the Stories for Change Competition.

Guppy Books and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups are thrilled to announce Stories for Change – a short story competition for children aged 7-12, inspired by the themes of National Share a Story Month 2025 and Maggie Blue and the Lost Child by Anna Goodall.

This year’s NSSM theme, “Changing the World, One Book at a Time”, celebrates the power of storytelling to inspire environmental awareness, hope, and action.

In collaboration with acclaimed author Anna Goodall (Costa Book Award-shortlisted Maggie Blue series), we are inviting young writers to craft a 500-word short story inspired by their local environment. Whether it’s a school playground transformed by a secret garden, a mission to clean up a polluted pond, or a story of friendship sparked by a shared love for nature, we want to hear young peoples’ vision for change – big or small!

Themes: The environment, climate change, hope, and action
Who can enter? Children aged 7-12
Deadline: 11^th April
Prizes: Your story read by Anna Goodall, a writing ‘mini masterclass’ from Anna Goodall, signed copies of the Maggie Blue series and more …

Join us in celebrating the power of stories to change the world by sharing the competition with your schools, families and networks. Go to the FCBG website to download the submissions form and for all details!

And the 2024 Guppy Open Submission Winner is…!

HUGE congratulations to Ellen Haggan, whose novel BLACKMOOR has won the 2024 Open Submission Competition! The judges and I loved the spirit of this original and exciting fantasy novel, with such brilliantly drawn characters and a hugely exciting plot that propels the reader through the story. Huge congratulations to Ellen!

And this year, we also had a very worthy runner-up – Amelia Etherton with ALL THE WORDS FOR STUPID – a moving story set in Ireland which manages to deal with some very important themes with sensitivity, empathy and humour too – congratulations to Amelia.

A huge thanks to our ever-wonderful panel of judges: author and editor, Linda Sargent, Golden Egg editor Adamma Okonkwo and Andrea Reece, all round children’s literature wonder. It was so interesting to discuss the shortlist and their insights as ever, were thought-provoking and insightful.

And last but not least, thank you to all the shortlistees. I will look forward to discussing your books with you in editorial chats if you would like, and thank you for entering the competition and being so patient with the timing!

Guppy’s 5th Birthday Party!

We had a wonderful evening last week, celebrating the fifth birthday of Guppy Books.

The party took place in St Luke’s Chapel in Oxford, and was filled with authors, illustrators, agents, colleagues and supporters – and what a warm joyful occasion it was.

We celebrated the many successes that Guppy has achieved over the past five years – fifty books published, many awards won, numerous shortlistings, national reviews, international translation rights sold and over 150,000 books sold in the UK alone. Small but mighty, we are so proud of our successes even despite the world events and challenges of the past five years. Here’s to the next five years!

Some recent Guppy award news!

We attended the fantastic Week Junior Award ceremony earlier in October, and were absolutely thrilled that the two shortlisted Guppy titles each won their category – the fabulous MEXIKID: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR by Pedro Martín won the very first Graphic Novel Award (a new category this year) – ‘This is an amazing book!’ said the judges. And the magical PIZZA PETE AND THE PERILOUS POTIONS by Carrie Sellon won the Junior Fiction Award – ‘exceptional’ said the judges. Huge congratulations to the marvellous Pedro and Carrie – such entertaining books and such deserving winners.

And on the 4th November, the illustrious 2025 Carnegie nominations were revealed – and again, much excitement at Guppy headquarters as three titles received FOUR nominations! 100 TALES FROM THE TOKYO GHOST CAFE written by Julian Sedgwick and manga illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada received nominations for both the Carnegie Writing and the Carnegie Illustration Medals; APOCALYPSE COW by O R Sorrel has been nominated for the Carnegie Writing Medal; and MEXIKID: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR by Pedro as above has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Illustration Medal!

BRAVO and congratulations to our AMAZING authors and illustrators who are, quite frankly, smashing it!

Guppy Open Submission Shortlist announcement!

Well, it has been extremely difficult but finally we have whittled down the longlist to a shortlist of nine fabulous young adult stories. Thank you so much to all who were longlisted – the novels were all of such a high standard and hugely enjoyable to read. Now it’s the judges turn to agree on a winner – we hope to announce a winner towards the end of November.

The shortlisted authors and their books are, in no particular order:

Ellen Haggan   Blackmoor

Lucie Bowins   Elderwitch

Nell Griffin      Plan A Plan B

Amelia Etherton          All the Words for Stupid

Sanam Akram             Madi and the Moon

Heather Grainger        Lost and Found

Esther Scherpenisse   Cinders and Stars

Caroline Icke   Killer Queen

Sarah Bates     All Your Numbered Bones

Congratulations to you all!

Revealing the 23 writers on the Guppy Open Submission YA longlist 2024!

Thank you so much for sending in your entry for Guppy’s open submission window. We were so impressed with the standard of writing, the original ideas and the incredible energy that went into all the submissions.

Huge congratulations to those who made the longlist! You will hear more about the next stages individually by email.

I have said this before many times but it’s always worth repeating: for those who didn’t make it, during my career, I have said no to SO many books that have gone on to do great things; if you don’t find yourself on this list I hope you don’t feel too disappointed. The standard of writing was very high, and I was really impressed with the level and commitment to writing for young adults.

LONGLIST in no particular order

Amy King         Love You. Hate You.

Helen Price      Forgive me, Father

Clare McCarron           You Have My Heart

Ellen Haggan   Blackmoor

Kae Tan           Unprecedented Times

Lucie Bowins   Elderwitch

Nell Griffin      Plan A Plan B

Amelia Etherton          All the Words for Stupid

Sanam Akram             Madi and the Moon

Heather Grainger        Lost and Found

Eve Chancellor             Two Brothers

Jennifer Hicks             The Fame Game

Dani Castonzo             The Mermaid Seekers

Megan Pyper               A Song for Solispel

Yesret Bi          Displacement

Bibi Anisah Mohamoodally     Never Let Me Down Again

Esther Scherpenisse   Cinders and Stars

Caroline Icke   Killer Queen

Lis Maimaris   My Father’s Ghost

Sarah Newman           Fishsong

Sarah Bates     All Your Numbered Bones

Mandy Wilson-Garner             MAD

Carrie Stewart             The Silence

Guppy Open Submission Competition 2024 update

We are really enjoying reading all the fantastic YA submissions we received last month – what a lot of talent there is out there!

Thank you all for your patience. We’ll be announcing a longlist next Friday 26th July, and a shortlist at the end of August.

Please keep an eye on social media, plus an announcement about this year’s judges!

What it means to win the Guppy Open Submission Award! OR Sorrel spills the beans.

Every day, I still wake up completely baffled that I won the Guppy Open Submission in 2022.

It’s especially bizarre that because I won the Guppy Open Submission, I now have a real book with pages and an amazing cover, and people I’ve never actually met have bought and read it.

My journey here has been long and strange – which is incidentally how I would describe myself.

My eldest sister did her degree in Creative Writing, which helped me realise that you can do a degree in something you actually enjoy and are good at, and don’t have to do a degree in Economics and Generalised Anxiety to please your estranged relatives. So, I did the exact same degree.

My mum then did a Masters in Writing for Young People, then entered the Myslexia Novel Competition and won it. Having completed my degree in Creative Writing without a personality of my own, I decided to do the exact same Masters and enter competitions my mum recommended.

My mum has excellent taste, as it turns out. Entering the Guppy Open Submission was by far the best decision I’ve made since I started taking Sertraline. It is so, so hard to break into the children’s book industry – there are so many people out there with ideas (almost) as good as yours, and most of what you hear is rejections and Deafening Silence.

Bella was so open and warm from the very beginning. She genuinely cares so much about every book she publishes, and works harder than any person should. The whole team at Guppy is amazing, and I’ve felt very important the whole time, despite absolutely not being their only client. They’ve got my very queer, absolutely bananas apocalyptic comedy noticed by people I’d never have imagined.

I now do things like walk into bookshops and sign their copies of my book as if that isn’t completely unhinged behaviour. I’m preparing for the panel I’m on and planning the workshop I’ll be running at YALC this year. I had my own table at Abergavenny Pride. I was on the Children’s Books Ireland Pride Reading Guide. I was a Debut of the Month and Star Book for Love Reading 4 Kids. And my book only bloody came out three weeks ago. I still can’t believe any of it.

For all the kind rejections, the less kind rejections, and the Total Ignoring, it was so worth it to enter the Guppy Open Submission.

You’ll never know what could happen if you don’t let them see your words.

The Guppy Open Submission Competition 2024 is here!

It’s that time again – where we get ready to open the portholes here at Guppy Books and welcome submissions from unpublished and unagented authors for our annual competition. This year it’s the YA competition – where writers of novels for young adults have the chance to win a publication deal with Guppy Books and join our small but mighty team. On June 6th it will be the publication day of APOCALYPSE COW, the 2022 winner of the last YA Guppy Open Submission by the incredible author O R Sorrel – could your novel be the next winner?

The Open Submission window will be the week of 17th June, from 9am on Monday 17th June to 5pm Friday 21st June.

We would like to see the first few chapters or up to 2000 words of the novel (but don’t worry too much about word count going over, this is an approximate number of words). Please also send a short synopsis. Please submit in a Word or pdf document to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk during the Open Submission window only.

Writers who have been traditionally published in other genres are unfortunately not eligible. This competition is open to self-published authors. Please send your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk during the specified dates only. Any entries sent before or after this time will not be counted. ONE SUBMISSION PER PERSON. At longlisting stage (late July) we will ask the longlistees for a nearly-finished/full novel to be sent.

Any other enquiries, please email submissions@guppybooks.co.uk.

We do not charge an entry fee, though we would invite all entrants to buy a book published by Guppy Books if they can (available from all bookshops and online retailers as well as the Guppy shop). We strive to be as open as we can and encourage all aspiring writers to apply.

A winner will be announced in the autumn of 2024, after whittling down to first a longlist and then a shortlist – please keep an eye on social media and the Guppy Books website for updates along the way. We hope to announce the longlist by end July.

All shortlisted authors will be offered an editorial meeting with Bella Pearson. The winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books (with no obligation to accept).

GOOD LUCK!

Independent Publishing Awards

We are thrilled to be shortlisted for the Bookseller Newcomer Award in the Independent Publishing Awards, with a ceremony on 24th April to celebrate the breadth of independent publishing here in the UK. You can see all the shortlists here – and we’re looking forward to celebrating with our wonderful colleagues next month!

The Guppy Open Submission winner is…

Congratulations to the wonderful Janeen Hayat, whose book EVIE AND MARYAM BREAK THE CODE has won the 2023 Open Submission Competition! The judges and I all loved the relationship between Evie and Maryam and the themes of family history, giving readers an insight into colonial India as well as the impact of past on present; the two girls are beautifully drawn and I’m so excited that it’s our winner.

A huge thanks to the panel of judges: author and editor, Linda Sargent, Golden Egg editor Adamma Okonkwo and Scott Evans, primary teacher and blogger. They are wise and thoughtful and their insights and advice was invaluable – I’m very grateful to them all.

And thank you to all the shortlistees for their brilliant entries; I look forward to discussing each of their submissions in editorial chats, and also am very grateful for their patience during the judging process.

Nick Ward, author of the Charlie Small series, talks about his life as an author

Where did the idea for the Charlie Small books come from? I had always loved books as a child, the feel and smell of the pages and knowing that by opening the cover and staring to read I could be transported to another, more exciting world. Every day I felt I was on the edge of adventure, especially on our holidays in Cornwall.

Some of my favourite memories are of getting up early in the morning with my brother, and paying a fisherman to take the two of us across the bay in a little dinghy, to Looe Island. It’s amazing that we were allowed to go! There were no lifejackets, no mobile phones to contact our parents, and no way to get back to the main-land until the same fisherman picked us up in the afternoon. The island was owned by two eccentric sisters, and was a haven for sea birds.

The feel of the place has stayed with me ever since, and perhaps influenced the sort of books I loved: Treasure Island, Moonfleet, and The Island Of Adventure. Other favourites included the Narnia series, and The Wind In The Willows.

All books that, in one way or another, opened up alternative worlds. Exciting trips to remote islands apart, my adventures when young more often involved trekking across fields to catch Crested Newts in Newt Pond, fishing in our local canal and sailing our raft along the brooks that cut across the springy-turfed fields behind our house.

Our raft was a present from our parents and consisted of a wooden platform with two large inflatable cylinders attached underneath. It wasn’t very easy to steer, in fact it was more scary than exciting, but we had hours of fun paddling about in the shallows, pretending we were setting off on a dangerous voyage. It was always important, though, that we were home in time for tea!

These experiences provided inspiration for the starting point of Charlie Small’s amazing adventures. He sails his raft along a stream, swollen and flooded after a storm, and finds himself on a stretch of water he doesn’t recognise. Attacked by a ferocious crocodile, Charlie is catapulted, quite literally, into another world. In his attempt to find his way home and get back in time for tea, Charlie travels from world to world and from adventure to adventure. Will he make it home? Will he escape the gruesome creatures and baddies that live in these worlds? I wonder!

As for me, I still like to walk beside rivers, their winds and meanders promising all manner of adventures, just around the next bend. 

Learn TEN facts about Lisa Williamson! New series Bigg School is published this Thursday…

1 Lisa Williamson is a British children’s author. She has written four fiction titles for young adults and three non-fiction titles for younger children, including a biography of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Her latest book, Best Friends Forever is for children ages 8+ and is the first title in a brand-new series called Bigg School. Set at Henry Bigg Academy, every title in the series will explore the life of a different child in year 7.

2 Lisa grew up in Arnold, Nottinghamshire with her mum, dad and big sister Helen. Arnold is not very exciting (sorry, Arnold) so as a child Lisa spent a lot of time making up stories in her head to stop herself from getting bored. She also loved to draw, dance and trying to train (not very successfully) her rabbit Juniper to do tricks.  

3 Lisa is also an actor and has starred in many musicals and pantomimes over the years, including Aladdin (three Christmases in a row!) and Peter Pan where she was flown across the stage on wires. She has also appeared in lots of TV commercials including the 2014 John Lewis Christmas advert (the one with the penguins!).

4 Lisa wrote her first novel for young adults, The Art of Being Normal after working at a clinic for children wishing to explore their gender identity. Hearing their stories inspired her to write a book from the point of view of a transgender teenager. She still gets letters and emails from young people discovering the book for the very first time.

5 As a child Lisa loved to read. Some of her favourite books growing up included The Magic Faraway Tree seriesby Enid Blyton,George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl, Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg, and Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume. She also really enjoyed reading comics like Twinkle, Bunty and Mandy.

6 Lisa likes to write the sorts of books she thinks her younger self would have enjoyed – stories about ordinary children navigating everyday life. She believes that every child has a story worth sharing and loves getting under the skin of her characters and finding out what makes them special and unique.

7 The first book in the Bigg School series is about Lola, whose friendship with BFF Evie looks set to change when they find out they’re going to be in different classes when they move up to secondary school. The next book is called Double Drama (out in April 2024) and is all about Daniel, a young carer and inspiring actor. When Daniel gets the lead role in the school play he struggles to juggle rehearsals with his complicated home life, all the while hiding both from his gang of mates.

8 Lisa works on the Bigg School series alongside illustrator Jess Bradley. Jess also illustrates the well-loved Squid Bits for The Phoenix magazine. In Best Friends Forever Jess’s illustrations bring Lola’s story to life and really capture the characters. Lisa’s favourite illustration in the book is the one of Lola and Evie on the very last page because it makes her feel happy and sad at the same time. When she first saw it she got a massive lump in her throat!

9 When she was nine, Lisa won a McDonalds drawing competition. The prize was a party at McDonalds and a tour around the kitchens. It was one of the best days of her life.

10 Lisa’s favourite things are (in no particular order) chocolate ice cream, bookshops, board games, Christmas, the seaside, theme parks, baking, long walks in the woods, reading on trains and her whippet Nelson.  

You can watch Lisa read an extract from Best Friends Forever here on the Guppy website and we have some fantastic Teacher resources too to accompany the series, take a look here.

Finding the Joy: Myles McLeod, one half of the Brothers McLeod, talks about why funny books are so very important…

Hands up all of you who think reading is a bad thing and should be discouraged? I’m guessing that’s none of you! No wonder we are all worried by the new survey from the National Literary Trust. They tell us more than half of children and young people do not enjoy reading in their free time. Even more sobering, their report says the number of 8 to 18 year olds who read daily in their free time has decreased 26% over the past 18 years. Now, hands up all of you who think laughing is a bad thing? I’m guessing that’s also none of you. But hands up those of you who think that drama is more important than comedy? Now, we’re not so unanimous.

Dramatic stories connect us to deep and powerful emotions. We read about injustice and complications and feel angry and sad on behalf of the protagonists. And we feel enormous relief when they win through, or grief when they ultimately fail. But funny stories just make us giggle a bit. So drama wins, right?

What does comedy have in its armoury to defend itself? I can think of at least three important points. The first is that comedy thrives in company. Reading a funny book with a friend or family member means you can laugh together. I recently received this note: “reading your books, laughing, and coming up with voices for all the characters stands out as some of the best times I’ve had with my kids.” I don’t think I’ve ever read such a lovely note. It makes me want to go and sit in a corner and have a little, happy cry. I know of another school who used our book as a class reader. Different children were in charge of reading different characters.

What a great (and funny) idea!

The second is that comedy books are eminently re-readable. My brother and I loved reading the Asterix comics when we were children. Some of the books actually fell to pieces because we re-read them so much. I’m not saying that dramatic stories can’t be re-read; I’ve done Lord of the Rings twice (what a show off!) But when you re-read a comedy, it’s a sort of self-care. It’s familiar like a blanket. It’s going to soothe you. (Favourites I’ve re-read recently are Cold Comfort Farm and the Adrian Mole books). I’d argue this is also useful as a reading exercise: reinforcing words, familiarising yourself with story structure and character.

Thirdly, comedy can be deep too. At its best it can be a safe space in which to examine our own flaws and the flaws of society. In Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton notes, ‘In the hands of the best comics, laughter acquires a moral purpose, jokes become attempts to cajole others into reforming their characters and habits.’ It also offers up the comforting idea that none of us are perfect.

That’s all very well, I hear a hypothetical audience member cry… but surely comedy can’t be used as a core text! The following appeared in a review of our first Knight Sir Louis book: “It is a hilarious book… I think my students would love it, but it will be a bit hard to use this as core text.” Reading this review made me feel sad. I thought it was a shame that a funny book packed with different types of writing (letter, dialogue only chapters, haiku, comic strip, diary, instructions, lyrics, fairy tale, gothic story) is considered unfit for use in an educational context. Especially, when they think the students would LOVE IT.

This speaks to a wider problem with comedy. Alexi Duggins, writing in the Guardian, notes, “essentially, there is no good reason for comedy’s inexplicable historic lack of recognition as high culture.” Aristotle didn’t help. He wrote the first works of literary theory. One on tragedy and one on comedy. At some point, the one about comedy was lost. It’s almost laughable.

If funny books are somehow considered lesser in the schoolroom and by the general public then it’s likely that belief will be passed on to the next generation. But, let’s remember funny books are ENJOYABLE books. They contain JOY. If we want children and young people to read for ENJOYMENT, then surely funny books should be a significant part of that programme?

Tickle your funny bones with The Brothers McLeod’s latest book, Knight Sir Louis and the Sinister Snowball, available from October 26th 2023!

Guppy Open Submission Update!

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted to our competition – we had well over 400 entries, which is amazing! We’ve been reading away and slowly whittling down to a longlist, which will be announced on TUESDAY 25th JULY. So do keep your eyes on the Guppy Twitter account and we’ll make sure the longlist is posted on here first thing.

The standard has been incredibly high this year and it has been such a pleasure to read so many good stories. And that makes our job of longlisting very hard indeed! I hope those of you who don’t make it on to the longlist are not too disappointed – and thank you again for entering.

The Guppy Open Submission competition for middle-grade writers is back!

In April, we were over the moon that Nadia Mikail’s YA novel, The Cats We Meet Along the Way, won the Waterstones Overall Children’s Book Prize 2023 – it was a huge accolade for Nadia and shows the great love that booksellers have for her beautifully original book. And it came from the very first Open Submission Competition we ran here at Guppy Books in 2020. It is an extraordinary novel and was chosen from nearly 400 submissions.

The winner of the 2021 middle-grade competition was the incredible James Dixon with The Billow Maiden which we published in 2022, a critically acclaimed and beautifully evocative novel, and 2022’s worthy winner Olivia Collard’s YA novel will be published by Guppy in spring 2024. Not before a runner-up in the 2021 competition, Carrie Sellon, has her book Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions, published in June this year by Guppy. All these talented writers submitted for this competition and we are very grateful that they did!

And now, we are throwing open the portholes again… Between 12th and 16th of June 2023, we ask all unpublished and unagented middle-grade writers to submit their novels for consideration in the competition. We strive to be as open as we can be with as few barriers to entry as possible, and encourage all aspiring writers to apply.

Please email your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk between 9am GMT on Monday 12th June and 6pm GMT on Friday 16th June 2023.

To submit, please include the first 2000 words of your middle-grade novel (or thereabouts – if it’s a bit less or more due to chapter breaks, that’s fine), plus a synopsis. Please don’t worry too much/spend much time on the synopsis – we want to see it in order to get a sense of what happens in your story, but your writing itself is much more important.

Please email as a Word document. ONE SUBMISSION PER PERSON. Any enquiries, please email submissions@guppybooks.co.uk.

A winner will be announced in the autumn of 2023, after whittling down to first a longlist and then a shortlist – please keep an eye on social media and the Guppy Books website for updates along the way.

All shortlisted authors will be offered an editorial meeting with Bella Pearson. The winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books (with no obligation to accept).

We do not charge an entry fee, though we would invite all entrants to buy a book published by Guppy Books if they can (available from all bookshops and online retailers as well as the Guppy shop).

Nadia Mikail and THE CATS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY not only won the Waterstones Older Reader’s Prize but the overall children’s book prize!

We are SO thrilled that Nadia’s incredible debut novel, acquired during the pandemic in 2020 and published in February 2022, has won both the Waterstones Older Reader’s Prize 2023 and the Overall Children’s Prize! Incredible – and what a deserving winner Nadia is, having created a book that is both original, kind and beautiful in one go. Set against an apocalyptic backdrop, the story of Aisha and her family making amends during a roadtrip across Malaysia is not only a tender love story but also about mothers and daughters, about moving on from the pain of the past, and hoping for the future. Congratulations Nadia, we are so proud of you and so lucky to you be your publisher!

The Cats We Meet Along the Way shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award!

We are over the moon that Nadia Mikail’s incredible book has been shortlisted for the Older Readers’ category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Award – what an accolade and so thoroughly deserved. The Waterstones Children’s Book Award is designed to support new writers and is chosen by the booksellers themselves, so it’s a very special one to be shortlisted for. Don’t miss this book! As one of the booksellers says: ‘A beautiful testament to family, friendships and what you choose to value when everything is ending. Think They Both Die at the End meets Jenny Downham.’

THE CATS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY IS LONGLISTED FOR THE BRANFORD BOASE AWARD!

The Branford Boase Award is unusual in that it celebrates the role of the editor as well as the author. It is awarded to a debut author and their editor – and we’re thrilled that CATS has been longlisted. This moving and thrilling YA novel about a family mending themselves before the imminent ending of the world has had such a wonderful response from readers, and it is so good to see it getting the recognition it deserves. Congratulations to Nadia and Bella! You can order it here.

GUPPY OPEN SUBMISSION COMPETITION 2022 WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

We are thrilled to announce that OLIVIA COLLARD and her fantastically funny, bonkers, original novel NOT WITH A BANG has won the 2022 Open Submission Competition!

And the worth 2022 runner-up is HANNAH EKEKWE with the emotionally truthful and utterly engaging GUM.

The judges and I agreed that these two novels were so strong and so impressive – NOT WITH A BANG is fierce and intelligent, and made us all laugh out loud, impressing us with its zing, originality and glee; GUM carried us along on an emotional journey with such a strong and compelling young adult voice. Two budding authors of the future to watch out for… congratulations to both Olivia and Hannah!

A huge thanks to the panel of judges: Linda Sargent and Adamma Okonkwo, two brilliant editorial brains who have judged this competition for three years now; Caroline Fielding, librarian extraordinaire (and ex-Carnegie judge) and Peter Simmonds, bookseller at The Bookshop on the Green and creative writing student. Their contributions have been invaluable, and I’m very grateful to them all.

And thank you to all the shortlistees for their brilliance and also their patience during the judging process.

Two stunning titles out in October!

We are proud to be publishing two very different but equally brilliant books this month – firstly Ghostlight, an upper middle-grade/early teen thriller, perfect for those who love Ghostbusters or Stranger Things – a fast-paced ghost story that will have readers on the edge of their seats! And Louisa Reid’s latest verse novel, a stunning and essential novel tackling the subject of sexual abuse and what can be done about it – unmissable.

GHOSTLIGHT by Kenneth Oppel

‘With a high-stakes premise, harrowing growing pains and moments as chilling as midnight ocean spray, Oppel plays his readers’ nerves like an out-of-tune harp’
New York Times

ACTIVIST by Louisa Reid

‘An exceptional story of courage and faith.’ Lovereading October Book of the Month and Staff Pick

‘A raw, unflinching verse novel for 14+ filled with white-hot, justified rage.’ Guardian



AVAILABLE IN ALL BOOKSHOPS OR DIRECT FROM GUPPY THROUGH THE SHOP

GUPPY OPEN SUBMISSION – shortlist announced!

It has been an extremely difficult job, but we have whittled the longlist down to a fabulous shortlist of eleven. Thank you so much to all who submitted such a dazzling array of stories – they were all such a high standard and hugely enjoyable to read. Now it’s the judges turn to agree on a winner – watch this space for more news in the autumn…

The shortlisted authors and their books are, in no particular order:

Hannah Ekekwe, GUM

J L Bleakley, EVERMIST

Catharine Johnson, SACRIFICE

Mel Green, CONTROLLERS

Olivia Collard, NOT WITH A BANG

Jonathan Sellars, THINGS HARRY OLIVER KNOWS

Tasmia Tahia, UP, RISING

Monique Turner, THE ISLAND OF INFLUENCERS

Ellen Haggan, THE WATCHERS

Charlotte Comley, POOKA

Sammy Chen, AND ALL SIMILAR THINGS

Huge congratulations to these eleven fabulous writers!

Announcing the Guppy YA Open Submissions Longlist 2022!

In May 2022, Guppy Books opened its portholes for unpublished and unagented young adult writers – and we had an amazing response! With around 220 entries, it was exhilarating to see the talent and creativity demonstrated. We have managed, with difficulty, to whittle down the entries to a longlist of 24, as listed below.

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for sending in your entry for Guppy’s open submission window. I was so impressed with the standard of writing, the original ideas and the incredible energy that went into all the submissions. It was a hard task to choose the longlist, and it’ll be harder still to choose the shortlist. I’d also like to say thank you to six graduates of Oxford Brookes who provided some invaluable help.

Huge congratulations to those who made the longlist! You will hear more about the next stages individually by email.

For those who didn’t make it: during my career, I have said no to SO many books that have gone on to do great things; so if you don’t find yourself on this list I hope you don’t feel too disappointed. It was a pleasure to read all the submissions; the standard of writing this year was particularly high, and I was really impressed with the level and commitment to writing for young adults. If you didn’t get through, please take heart – there were so many that very nearly did and it was a tough choice.

Thank you again for your participation.

With all best wishes

Bella Pearson

Publisher
Guppy Books

GUPPY OPEN SUBMISSION LONGLIST 2022

In no particular order:

Sorrel Shamel-Wood OFF TRACK

Aerin Apeltun TWELVE COFFINS, SEVEN LILIES

Hazel Compton THE DROWNING TOWN

Charlotte Teeple-Salas CHIMERA MOON

Jo Baker CITY OF DARK INK

Sammy Chen AND ALL SIMILAR THINGS

J L Bleakley EVERMIST

A D Stuart FIRST LOVE CAN BE MURDER

Lou Renn CLICK

Rebecca Perkin HALF UNDONE

Catharine Johnson SACRIFICE

Jonathan Sellars THINGS HARRY OLIVER KNOWS

Ellen Haggan THE WATCHERS

Bibi Anisah Mohamoodally NO ORDINARY GIRL

Olivia Collard NOT WITH A BANG

Tasmia Tahia UP, RISING

Mel Green Controllers

Julie Farrell We are Fractals

Hannah Ekekwe Gum

Monique Turner The Island of Influencers

Jo Howard Legal Walls

Andrea Hutchinson One in Fire

Charlotte Comley, Pooka

A NEW LOUISA REID NOVEL IS ON THE WAY!

We are over the moon to be announcing the publication of a new young adult verse novel by the acclaimed Louisa Reid – ACTIVIST. This is a stunning, powerful and hard-hitting tale of hidden abuse, secrets and lies set in a secondary school, out on October 12th 2022.

Louisa says of the book:

In June 2020 when survivors of rape culture began to tell their stories via the website, Everyone’s Invited, I, like many, was aghast. How in the 21st century were young people being failed so badly by their society? I channelled the anger I was feeling into writing my latest verse novel, Activist. 
The title of the novel makes it clear that this is a story about rising up. I’ve seen first-hand the incredible force for good that our young people are; their energy, empathy, resilience and creativity are a continued source of amazement and inspiration.  I wanted to ensure this story showcased the determination with which young activists are ready to challenge the multiple inequalities of our world. As Cassie, my brave and bold protagonist says: the war’s not won. But with characters like the activists I have imagined ready to stand up and fight, I truly hope it could be. 

We are also reissuing her first two Guppy novels, with a brand new matching cover look: Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week and Empathy Day Book, GLOVES OFF.

And court-based drama and 2022 Empathy Day book, WRECKED.

Out on October 12th 2022!

The Guppy Open Submission Competition for YA writers is now open!

The portholes of Guppy Books are open to all unagented and unpublished YA writers who have a novel to share!

Please email your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk between 9am Monday 6th June and 6pm Friday 10th June 2022 (GMT).

Please include the first 2000 words of your young adult novel, plus a synopsis, preferably as a Word attachment. Entry is free, although we would ask you to support Guppy Books as an independent publisher by buying a Guppy book from any bookshop or online store.

We will be announcing a longlist in early July, a shortlist in late July, and a winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books in the autumn. Please keep an eye out on social media and our website for confirmation of future dates.

Nadia Mikail, winner of the Guppy Open Submission YA Competition in 2020 with THE CATS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY, said:

“Winning the first Guppy YA competition meant the world to me. The competition was so easy to enter – the moment I saw it I knew I wanted to be part of it, and everything turned out way better than I expected! Working with Bella on the book has truly been the biggest blessing; she is delightful in every way and it has been such a fun, exciting, life-changing process. I learned so much and I still can’t believe I got to publish my book – I just feel incredibly grateful for it all!”

The Cats We Meet Along the Way has received incredible reviews including one from the Guardian, and will be published in the US by Macmillan in 2023; Nadia is working on her second book and it has been an absolute joy to be her publisher.

THE 2022 GUPPY OPEN SUBMISSION COMPETITION FOR WRITERS OF YA FICTION IS BACK!

The portholes of Guppy Books are once again open to all unagented and unpublished writers who have a young adult novel to share! We are looking for the very best in YA writing; a story that captures the imagination, that reflects the world we live in and characters who leap from the page. Our first YA winner in 2020 was the extraordinary writer, Nadia Mikail, whose THE CATS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY was published to acclaim in February this year.

Bella Pearson will be running an ‘Ask the Editor’ Twitter chat on Tuesday 24^th May from 6.30 to 7.30pm GMT to support and answer questions from aspiring writers. Do join us then!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTRY:

Please email your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk between 9am Monday 6th June and 6pm Friday 10th June 2022 (GMT). We will accept only one submission per person.

Please include the first few chapters of your young adult novel (up to 2000 words), plus a covering letter and synopsis, preferably as a Word attachment. If your work is longlisted, we will ask for a full manuscript.

We will be announcing the longlist in July and the shortlist in early August, at which point a panel of judges will read over the summer and choose a winner (to be announced at some point in the early autumn). The winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books.

Entry is free, although (if you can) we suggest that you support Guppy Books as an independent publisher by buying a Guppy book from any bookshop or online store, or borrowing a Guppy book from any library. Please keep an eye out on social media and our website for confirmation of future dates and further information.

TSUNAMI GIRL SHORTLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL!

The Carnegie Medal (for writers) and the Greenaway Award (for illustrators) are like the BAFTAS or Booker of the children’s book world – so to have a book on this illustrious shortlist is a huge honour. We are so thrilled for author, Julian Sedgwick, whose powerful book Tsunami Girl has stolen hearts and minds alike – a beautifully-told story that is illuminated with incredible manga spreads by artist Chie Kutsuwada.

This is a story of a fifteen-year-old’s recovery from loss and trauma, through creativity, the ghost world and sheer courage. We are so proud to be its publisher – never before has a book containing manga been shortlisted for the Carnegie, and the originality and beauty of the writing shines through.