CYA Writing & Illustration Competition

Does your child always have their nose in a book? Have they ever wanted to write their own book?

The CYA Hatchling Writing & Illustration competition for kids and teens of all ages invites them to get creative and write the start to their fantastic book.

If your kids are more artistic, they can create a picture book. If they have more of a gift for words, they can write a chapter book for early readers, or a fiction novel for teens.

Guidelines & categories

These are the types of entries the CYA is accepting into its kids writing and art competition:

Picture books

• Open theme
• 500 words
• For preschool or primary school kids

Chapter books

• Open theme
• 1000 words
• For early primary school kids
• No more than 600 words synopsis

Middle grade books

• Open theme
• 1000 words
• For older kids
• No more than 600 words synopsis

YA fiction books

• Open theme
• 5000 words
• For teens in high school and young adults
• No more than 600 words synopsis

Make sure to read the full submission guidelines via the link above.

How entries will be judged

Picture books and chapter, middle grade & young adult books are judged in two separate categories.

For young adult fiction entries, there are two rounds of judging:

1. First 1000 words and synopsis
2. Whole 5000 words

Prizes

• First prize - $100
• Second prize - $60
• Third prize - $40 
• All shortlisted entries will be read by at least one publisher of children's books.

The winning entry and short-listed finalist will be also judged by a publisher of children’s books, however there is no guarantee of publication.

The competition is open until 3 April 2022. Kids and teens aged 8 to 18 years old can submit an entry following the category guidelines in the ‘Details’ section. Entry is free and the author retains copyright to their work.

Don’t forget to read the submission guidelines and submit your entry via the link above.