We were amazed, thrilled and only slightly overwhelmed by the incredible response to the open submissions window for YA writers at Guppy Books. And having looked at 377 entries, we have whittled them down to 41 which was such a hard job! See the attached for the list of winners, as well as more information on feedback. Thank you all! And good luck with the next round.

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for sending in your book for Guppy’s open submission window last month. I was so impressed with the standard of writing, the original ideas and the incredible energy that went into all the entries. It was a hard task to whittle 377 down to 41, and it’ll be harder still to choose just one.

I have listed the longlisted authors here, and they have all been contacted. Please don’t be dispirited if you don’t appear – there was such tough competition and just because you might not have got through this round doesn’t mean there’s not a home for your book around the corner. It is an incredibly subjective thing, and I’m the first to tell you that I’ve said no to many books that go on to do great things!

I will try and respond to everyone individually in the next few weeks – as you can imagine, as a small indie publisher time is not really on my side so please be patient, I will get to you eventually! But I feel that it’s an act of courage to submit a manuscript for consideration so I want to respond properly to everyone!

Please do keep writing, and also keep an eye on the Guppy Aquarium on YouTube where we will be posting advice for writers, as well as readers. It has been a pleasure to read your work, and thank you again.

I hope you are all managing in these difficult times, and take care.

Very best wishes,
Bella Pearson
Publisher
Guppy Books

LONGLISTED AUTHORS in no particular order

Sarah Dawson
Mae Gaynor
Nadia Mikail
Elin Heron
Rose Marie Miller
Amanda Addison
Alex Ivey
Lois Johnson
Katharine Grimshaw
Rachel Faturoti
Simon Bailey
Heather Davey
Tim Burbage
Sara Waymont
Jenny Ireland
Elva Hills
Paul Wade
Priyanka Kaveramma
Alison Allen
S Fahima Begum
Vikki Gemmell
Tomi Nyong
Sian Chaney-Price
Heidi Shamsuddin
E Ashley
Paul Ian Cross
Maria Pigada
Harriet Worrell
Gill Mullin
Nikki Giant
Onndewala Makananise
David Renton
Zoleka Mazibuko
Lily Rose Harris
Charlie Ogden
Aoife Doyle
Caroline Evans
George K
Beatrice Anobah
Annie Harris
Lex Aloro