It’s that time again – where we get ready to open the portholes here at Guppy Books and welcome submissions from unpublished and unagented authors for our annual competition.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!