Following the huge success of last year’s Guppy Young Adult Open Submission – where we had over 350 entries, a shortlist of 11 and finally chose the magnificent winner, Nadia Mikail, whose book we’re publishing in the spring next year – we are now holding a similar competition but this time for middle grade writers.

We are throwing the portholes open to all unagented and unpublished authors between 7th and 11th June 2021. We are looking for a new and exciting voice in middle-grade writing. We are casting our net far and wide, and especially encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

Please email your submission to submissions@guppybooks.co.uk between 9am GMT on Monday 7th June and 5pm GMT Friday 11th June 2021.

To submit, please include the first 2000 words of your middle-grade novel, 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 the writing itself is much more important!

Please email as a Word document. One submission per person. Any enquiries, please email submissions@guppybooks.co.uk

We will shortlist down to a list of ten by early July and a winner will be announced in September 2021. All shortlisted authors will be offered an editorial meeting with Bella Pearson. The winner will be offered a contract with Guppy Books. We do not charge an entry fee, though we would invite all entrants to buy a book published by Guppy Books (available from all bookshops and online retailers as well as the Guppy shop), but only if they can!

Please see the press release below.