A few people have asked about when feedback and competition results will be available. Feedback will issued piecemeal in February and March - it's just a matter of chance if you get yours at the start or end of that period. Winners will be announces in early April. Good luck all!

Congratulations to all those who entered the prize. We had over 533 entries, which is significantly more than last year (which was our first). Judging & feedback will proceed in line with the schedule on our website.

What’s the one thing stopping you from finishing your current WIP right now? Procrastination? Perfectionism? That endless research rabbit hole? We are have something - share yours below.

Hi all. Thanks for suggestions helping me with my MG Historical issue. I even considered ageing my MC up to YA, but I didn't want to. However, I've just realised that my historical novel is actually a literary novel, set in historical times. I have always ignored the MG Literary tag, but actually my taste in MG has been shaped by 23 years of teaching English and History to 6-13 yr olds. It turns out that when I write something that is the same style as a book I would use to teach with, that makes it literary! 🤣 So now I'm remarketing it as MG Literary, set in 1915. Hopefully more agents will be interested in MG Literary then MG Historical, particularly when it really is literary. Has anyone else had to re-genre their manuscript?

My latest WIP is another MG Historical, while I query my first ms. I've had a few rejections from agents, with a couple kindly stating that "MG Historical is a hard place right now." Does anyone know of any agents/indie publishers that might be interested in this area, so I'm not banging my head against a brick wall? It is with Penguin WriteNow and a couple of competitions, as I really do believe in this one, but I'd like to get an agent one day!