2017 Judge: SALLYANNE SWEENEY

We are delighted to announce Sallyanne Sweeney as Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017 Judge. A former director of Watson, Little Ltd, Sallyanne joined Mulcahy Associates in 2013 and is Chair of of the Children’s Agents Circle. Her growing fiction list ranges from the literary to the very commercial including clients such as Juno Dawson, Steve Lenton, Jon Walter and Bath Children’s Novel Award winner Lucy Van Smit. Sallyanne is looking for “a fantastic hook and outstanding writing” and shares her submission tips here in this 2017 JUDGE’s Q&A

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As well as offering a £2,000 prize, we are also known for our track record in helping writers find literary agent representation. These are some of the MG & YA novelists who have received offers after reaching our shortlist, and you can read more about Bath listed writers’ success stories here

Entry and Eligibility

To submit a novel for the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017, please first read the award rules (below), then pay the entry fee of £25 per novel via one of three options:

Bank transfer: account number 22562591 (“The Bath Novel Award”) Sort Code 60-24-77 (Natwest Bank, Bath), referencing your novel’s title
Cheque/postal orders (£GB only) payable to “The Bath Novel Award” and sent to: The Bath Novel Award, PO Box 5223, Bath, BA1 0UR, England, UK
PayPal payment or Debit/credit card via the below ‘Buy Now’ button. (For debit/credit card payments select the “Check out as Guest” option underneath the PayPal log in option)

Then submit your novel by one of the two below options:

ONLINE: Save your novel extract (up to the first 5,000 words) and synopsis (one page) together in one pdf, .docx or Word doc, titled the name of your novel, then email to entries@bathnovelaward.co.uk with your novel’s title in the subject box. In the text of your email, please state your name, address, telephone number, novel title, genre, word counts for your extract and full manuscript , plus your method of entry fee payment, mentioning if payment is made under a different name. Online entries are acknowledged by return email within 24 hours.
POSTAL: Mail your novel extract (up to the first 5,000 words) and synopsis (one page) to: The Bath Novel Award, PO Box 5223, Bath, BA1 0UR, England, UK together with a covering page stating your name, address, telephone number, novel title, genre, extract and approximate full manuscript word counts, plus your method of entry fee payment. (Please enclose an SAE if you would like acknowledgement)

Rules

The Bath Novel Award is a competition open to novelists, of any nationality, who have yet to sign a traditional publishing deal for a novel
For the purposes of this competition, a “traditional publishing deal” is defined as an offer of publication which includes an advance payment
Self-published novelists are eligible
Novels which have been published without an advance payment in the author’s contract are eligible
Novels can be in any genre written for middle grade or young adult readers. Picture books are not eligible
The winner of the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017 will receive £2,000
One shortlisted writer will receive a £500 voucher from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy which may be exchanged for editorial reports and / or mentoring hours to the value of £500 in either of Cornerstones’ US or UK houses. There is no cash alternative to this prize
Shortlisted writers will also be offered the opportunity to be introduced to an individually tailored list of literary agents by email or other means. This is an entirely free and optional service
Entries will open from May 2nd 2017 until 23:59 (GMT) at the close of November 19th, 2017
Submissions should include (up to) the first 5,000 words of your novel, double-spaced in a size 12 font. Your synopsis should be one page, single spaced in a size 12 font
As entries are read blind, your name should NOT appear anywhere in your extract/synopsis document
The entrance fee is £25 per novel and you may enter as many novels as you wish
Longlistees will be contacted in December 2017 and invited to submit their full manuscript for the final judging stages.
Shortlisted novels will be announced in January 2018
The winner of the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017 will be announced in February 2018
Novels must be your original work and in English
There are no minimum or maximum word count restrictions, however as a guide, we recommend 6-10,000 for a chapter book, 40-60,000 for middle grade and 50-70,000 words for YA (or longer for fantasy novels)
Entrants must be 16 years or over
The winner agrees to an interview which may be published on our site and in any media for publicity purposes
Entrants retain full copyright, however by entering, all shortlisted entrants give permission for us to post an extract of up to 5,000 words on our site
Entrants may be agented, but should not be represented by either the judging agent or any agent at Mulcahy Associates
Employees of the Bath Novel Award, Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and Mulcahy Associates are not eligible
Submissions may not be altered after entry
Entries which do not comply with the competition rules may be disqualified