About The 2024 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition is now open!

Having just announced the 2023 winners, we’re so excited to share that the submissions portal for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2024 is OPEN!

We can't believe it's that time of year again – we're so excited to see all of the bright ideas that have flourished over the last year. Here's the low-down on the two prizes up for grabs this year …

The Times/Chicken House Prize

The prize you already know and love – a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a £10,000 advance (subject to contract) for a complete fiction manuscript of any genre for children aged 7 up to YA. The winning entry will be the novel that, in the opinion of the judges, demonstrates the greatest entertainment value, quality, originality and suitability for children. The winner will also be offered representation by Lydia Silver of Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency.

The Lime Pictures New Storyteller Award

We are bringing back the Lime Pictures New Storyteller Award, a bespoke prize sponsored by leading TV production company Lime Pictures, awarded to the submission which shows the greatest TV development potential and chosen by Chicken House Publisher Barry Cunningham and Lime Pictures’ Tim Compton. The winner will receive a £7,500 publishing contract plus an offer of representation.

The good news is, you don’t need to do anything extra to be considered for the Lime Pictures New Storyteller Award; simply enter the competition as normal and our expert team of readers will do the rest. Simple!

The competition is open RIGHT NOW and the deadline is 1st June 2024 at 11.59pm GMT. So absolutely NO EXCUSES - grab that manuscript, or a completely fresh slate, and get writing – we can't wait to read all of the brilliant stories that are just waiting to be read.

For more details on the competition, both prizes, and instructions on how to enter, please visit our submissions page. Good luck, writers!

About And the winners of the 2023 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition are …

Yesterday was a very exciting day for the Chickens – not only did we host our Big Breakfast event (in which we introduced our industry pals to our 2024 authors) but we also hosted the Times/Chicken House Competition judging panel … AND announced the winners!

The judges meeting resulted in some fantastic, thoughtful feedback from our panel, which consisted of chairman and publisher Barry Cunningham, The Times reporter and children’s book critic Lucy Bannerman, Co-Head of Lime Picture’s Kids and Family Tim Compton, agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch, author Frances Hardinge, scout and festival organiser Jane Churchill, Bounce sales rep CJ Gajjar, and Waterstones Children’s Team campaigner Lucy Jakes. A huge thank you to each one of our judges for their time and attention on our seven shortlisted manuscripts – you are all stars!

Well, the time has come …

DRUMROLL PLEASE!

The winner of the Times/Chicken House Competition 2023 is …

Marisa Linton with THE POUKA KING

And the winner of the Lime Picture’s prize is …

Asli Jensen with LOVE ON SIGHT

Many congratulations to you both – we can’t wait to start working with you on your stories!

Congratulations, too, to the rest of our shortlist for reaching the final seven – any two of you were capable of winning and debate among the judges was very healthy! We’ll be providing all of you with detailed feedback based on the panel’s thoughts.

Watch this space for details of the 2024 competition, which we’re planning to open in December.

About OMG! Create a window spectacular with Chicken House and Maz Evans

This autumn, we’re offering you the chance to get involved in an epic adventure with Maz Evans! We're celebrating the release of Oh Maya Gods!, the first instalment in Maz Evans' Who Let The Gods Out? spin-off series, by asking booksellers to put their best foot – and window displays – forward! 

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About An interview with: Lindsay Galvin

There's less than one week to go until Call of the Titanic hits the shelves ...

And to celebrate, best-selling author Lindsay Galvin shares what inspired her to write about the Titanic, and gives her best advice for aspiring middle-grade writers! Check out our interview below ...

What inspired you to write a story about the Titanic?

Back in 2016 I visited Belfast and the Titanic Experience, an epic museum, built in the size and shape of Titanic. I was fascinated, especially when I head the distress messages the ship sent by morse code, but knew I wouldn’t attempt to write about the infamous disaster unless I could come up with a really fresh storyline. Years later I found a 1912 article about a Newfoundland dog Rigel who was reported to have been on the Titanic but probably wasn’t, and I thought that was a great angle. But it wasn’t until I researched the Carpathia — the ship that raced through the icy night to rescue the Titanic survivors — that I knew I had something original enough. When I discovered the Carpathia’s Captain had made sightings of mythical sea serpents, I had all the elements to write Call of the Titanic!

How has writing this book felt different than writing your others, if at all?

Writing this book was a more intense experience than my others. The sheer amount of information, fiction and film about Titanic, made it feel quite daunting to research. I knew I wanted to make the scenes about the Titanic sinking to be as factual as possible so I based it on multiple survivors testimonies and they were so moving and sad to read! It also has a tight timeline, with much of the action taking place over 24 hours. I followed this to the letter as I've used the actual distress messages sent out by the telegraph operators on board. But right at the end of the process I had to rejig the timeline as I discovered 'Titanic Time’ was different from ’New York time’ and my sources used both! That took a bit of wrangling, to make sure it was as authentic as it could be, but I got there in the end with a bit of a hand from my publishing team.

What character would you say you relate to the most?

It would have to be Clara, mainly because I love my dog as much as she loves hers! She’s quite flawed, a bit spoilt, but really brave and forthright. She was delicious fun to write, and hopefully to read — which is important, as she is on the Carpathia, and the mischief she gets up to with Rigel the dog plus her involvement in the rescue mission is the uplifting side needed to hopefully balance out the darkness of the disaster.

What advice do you have for budding middle-grade historical fiction writers?

Choose something to write about that you are fascinated by, your enthusiasm will filter to your readers. Two main things to avoid are confusion and boredom so simplify, be clear and make sure every scene moves the story forward or develops character — ideally both.

But most importantly, don’t listen to any advice that makes you want to write less, only to that which inspires you... there’s absolutely no right or wrong way to write any book!

Please sum up Call of the Titanic in three words.

Only three? Disaster, Survival, Friendship.

To learn more about Lindsay Galvin, click here.

To buy Call to the Titanic, click here. 

About May: New Reads

We've got THREE amazing new titles this May ...

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About April: New Reads

April brings not only the Easter bunny, but TWO brand new titles ...

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About New Reads: March 2023

March is here, and with it comes three brand new adventures ...

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About Can you solve The Housetrap?

We are so excited to be launching Emma Read's first fantastic story for middle-grade readers: THE HOUSETRAP!  (more…)

About New Reads: January 2023

We're starting the new year with THREE unmissable reads ...

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About New Reads: November 2022

This month, we're bringing you TWO unmissable reads ...

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About A post-apocalyptic rom-com? Sign us up

Chicken House is thrilled to announce acquisition of MY LOVE LIFE AND THE APOCALYPSE by Melissa Welliver: a post-apocalyptic rom-com, perfect for fans of Adam Silvera! 

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About New Reads: August 2022

With August comes TWO brand new Chicken House titles ...

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About New Reads: June 2022

With June comes THREE brand new Chicken House titles ...

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About An Interview with Lindsay Galvin - author of MY FRIEND THE OCTOPUS!

The release of MY FRIEND THE OCTOPUS is just around the corner ...

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About New Reads: May 2022

With May comes THREE brand new Chicken House titles ...

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About Introducing: My Friend the Octopus by Lindsay Galvin

We're very excited to announce a new middle-grade novel from the bestselling author of Darwin's Dragons, Lindsay Galvin: My Friend the Octopus!

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About New reads: October 2021

Happy October one and all!

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About New reads: September 2021

New books time!

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About READY, SET … OPEN COOP!

Do you wish you had a professional editor on board to help you develop your children’s novel? Well, this opportunity might just be for you! (more…)

About Richard Pickard’s Journey to Publication

I first became aware of Chicken House in late 2015, in a bar at the National Theatre.

I was there to celebrate my friend Sam’s birthday, and many of his colleagues from the theatre were there too. One of those colleagues was MG Leonard, who Sam was excited to introduce as the soon-to-be-published author of Beetle Boy.

At this point I’d only just begun to secretly tinker with an idea for a children’s novel of my own, doodling an inky picture of a dilapidated pier, cut off from the land and swaying in the tide on four stilt-like legs. The image had come to me from my love of Brighton’s West Pier, and the thought of who might make a home in such an inhospitable environment ... a boy who is part-fish, of course!

I’d never met a real-life children’s author before those fateful drinks at the National. I had loved the idea of becoming one as a kid, and had developed into a voracious reader in my teen years. But like those other childhood dreams of going into space or running off to join the circus, being an author was not something that had ever seemed realistic. And yet, here was a children’s author soon to be published by Chicken House. Sitting at the same long table as me and my friends.

Despite having only a few chapters of my secret novel on the page, I couldn’t resist looking at the Chicken House website to see how, one day, I might be able to get their attention myself. Like most other publishing houses, Chicken House doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts, but I was intrigued to find details of The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. I made a mental note and promised myself that one day – when I finally had a finished novel – I would enter.

That day came over three years later, once I’d finally found the time to finish a draft of my story, then called Something Fishy. I knew the competition was a longshot but in early 2019, as I went to read the entry requirements for the umpteenth time, I was happy to find that my chances had been doubled by the addition of a second prize – the Chairman’s Prize – which would be awarded to a work that required slightly greater editorial input than the overall winner. I knew that if I had any chance of winning a publishing deal, this might be it.

I was sitting at my desk at work a few months later when an email came through from my now-Editor, Kesia, telling me I was longlisted for the prize. I didn’t think my heart would ever beat that fast again, until a few weeks later an unknown phone number based in Somerset popped up on my screen. I knew immediately it must be Chicken House, and when Barry Cunningham’s voice came down the line to tell me I’d made the shortlist I almost exploded.

So, it was with a great amount of nerves and excitement that, along with five other talented writers, I descended on London’s Zetter Townhouse for lunch with the judging panel. This esteemed group, including the author Nikesh Shukla and Waterstones buyer Florentyna Martin, had spent the morning discussing our novels. After the main course, Barry Cunningham stood to announce the winner – Children of the Quicksands, by Efua Traoré, followed by the recipient of the inaugural Chairman’s Prize ... me!

My entire journey to publication has felt incredibly surreal. From that chance meeting at the National Theatre, to the time I scanned a middle-grade section of a bookshop and found a literal space on the alphabetised shelf where a novel by someone named Pickard would sit. Two years on from winning the Chairman’s Prize and I’ve spent the last few weeks visiting bookstores to see The Peculiar Tale of the Tentacle Boy filling that very same space. Copies have been piled high on tables, face-out on shelves, and even sitting proudly in several windows – the cover’s blue foil glinting in the sun.

If you’re reading this and have a novel in progress, or perhaps a finished draft gathering dust in a drawer, then take a chance and enter the competition when it next opens in October. For me, it provided the end goal I required to keep moving forward with my draft as year after year I saw successful entries popping up in bookstores. I couldn’t have asked for a better home for my novel, and from working on the edits, to seeing my beautiful cover by Maxine Lee-Mackie for the very first time, the entire process has felt like a waking dream. 

Now, I’m overjoyed to be drafting my second novel for Chicken House and am thrilled I get to ride this most-fantastic merry-go-round all over again.

Find out more about submissions here.