ENTRIES WELCOME: Writing for Children Competition 2019 

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: MAY 31, 2019

CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) is pleased to announce the 22nd annual Writing for Children Competition, and welcomes entries by unpublished writers. The entry deadline is May 31, 2019.

A goal of the Writing for Children Competition is to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of children’s literature across Canada. The Writers’ Union of Canada initiated the Competition in 1996, and in 2014 CANSCAIP took on this initiative.

Five writers will each be awarded $500 for the winning Picture Book, Early Reader,  Chapter Book, Middle Grade, or Young Adult entry. Two finalists in each reading age category will also be selected. 

All writers receive evaluation feedback for their entry. The feedback is generally a few sentences or a short paragraph, and is a unique benefit of entering the Writing for Children Competition. The readers and juries who evaluate the entries are all published CANSCAIP Members, experienced in the reading age category they are evaluating. 

CANSCAIP submits the winners and finalists to publishers Annick Press, Kids Can Press, and Scholastic Canada for their consideration. Some Writing for Children Competition winners and finalists have been published.

A goal of the Writing for Children Competition is to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of children’s literature across Canada. The Writers’ Union of Canada initiated the Competition in 1996, and in 2014 CANSCAIP took on this initiative.  

ELIGIBLE WRITERS

• Unpublished writers* who have not been professionally published, in any genre or for any age, and who do not currently have a contract for a future book
• Self-published writers whose book has sold fewer than 200 copies  
• Writers must be over the age of 18
• Writers must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents 

*Writers with stories, articles, poems etc. published in anthologies, textbooks, magazines, journals, etc. (publications with content by multiple writers) are eligible.

ELIGIBLE ENTRIES

• Fiction or non-fiction, text only, no illustrations 
• Maximum 1,500 words per entry
• 12-point font, double-spaced 
• Word document or PDF attached to email (printed entries not eligible)
  
• NOTE: Entries for a previous Competition can be re-submitted 

READING AGE CATEGORIES

PICTURE BOOK (age 2 to 6): Picture books generally have a few lines of text (or less) per page, and an illustration on every page. Adults often read picture books aloud to children.

EARLY READER (age 5 to 8): Early readers are essentially advanced picture books with longer text per page, and an illustration on every page. Stories are longer and more complex than in a picture book.

CHAPTER BOOK (age 7 to 10): Chapter books have short chapters, with a few illustrations in each chapter. For kids who can read completely on their own. 

MIDDLE GRADE (age 9 to 12): Middle grade books have longer chapters, with no illustrations. For kids who are ready for more complex stories. 

YOUNG ADULT (age 13 and up): Young adult books are usually shorter than adult novels, but can also be longer. For teens who are familiar with mature concepts. 

EVALUATION PROCESS  

• Readers and juries are CANSCAIP Members with published books in the reading age categories they evaluate. 
• A group of first-round readers evaluates all the entries, and selects the entries that will proceed to the second-round readers. 
• A group of second-round readers evaluate those entries, and selects the longlist of entries that will proceed to the jury. 
• The jury evaluates the longlist of entries and selects the finalists and winners. 
• The finalists and winners are submitted to three Canadian children’s publishers (Annick Press, Kids Can Press, Scholastic Books Canada) for their consideration.

TIMELINE FOR 2018 COMPETITION

• MAY 31: Deadline for submissions
  
• JUNE: First-round readers evaluate entries
  
• JULY: Second-round readers select longlist of entries
  
• AUGUST: Juries evaluate longlist of entries 
• SEPTEMBER: Longlist announcement sent to entrants
• OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: Winner and finalist announcement sent to entrants   
• DECEMBER: Reader feedback sent to entrants