2023 Novel & Picture Book Awards Longlists
We’ve had an intense, but enjoyable, few weeks reading the entries for this year’s WriteMentor Novel and Picture Book Awards. Thanks again to everyone who submitted their work.
The readers were fairly unanimous that the standard had improved again this year – this is represented in the drop of entry numbers. People are perhaps seeing this as a competition to only send in their very best work and that was reflected in what we read overall. This is one advantage of removing the feedback element for all.
The novels listed below will be sent onto our brilliant panel of commissioning editors, librarian, and bookseller, to be read and a shortlist selected.
But before we reveal the longlist for the awards, a huge shoutout and thanks to our early round of author readers, who read a LOT of entries to help identify the strongest entries for our list.
Emma Finlayson-Palmer, Carolyn Ward, Piu DasGupta, Jodi Herlick, Julie Marney Leigh, Clare Harlow, Philip Kavvadias, Aoife Doyle, Amy V Borg, Polly Owen, Meredith Vigh, Donna David, Becky Wilson, Sophia Payne, Clare Helen Welsh, Maureen Tai, Fiona Barker, Priscilla Mante, Alice Hemming, Ellie Lock, Sue Cunningham, Tess James-Mackey, Emily Randall-Jones, Melissa Welliver
With a total of 816 entries, we had a wide range across all age categories, but with a majority in the Picture Book age range. Teen and Chapter Book were again the least numerous, though higher than previous years. We expected to see an uptick in Young Adult entries in line with current industry trends, but this didn’t materialise. However, we did see a big drop in Middle Grade entries.
Here are the fulls stats, followed by the longlists:
Picture book longlist
| A Moo and a Poo |
| Big Pink |
| Billy’s Big Brothers |
| Don’t Let The Night Go |
| Down The Drain |
| Dung Beetle Doug |
| Every Cloud |
| Fatima & Nani – Best Friends Forever |
| Hares Versus Tortoises |
| Harry’s Monsters |
| Hey, Artist! This Bear’s In The Wrong Book |
| I Hate Halloween! |
| INVISIBLE WINGS |
| Labracadabrador |
| Malcolm’s Maaarvellous Fleece |
| Medals for Marvin |
| Norah and the Lost North Dragon |
| Oh Drat! I Smell a Rat! |
| Rocktopus |
| Ryan versus Lion |
| Story Trees |
| Strictly Dog Dancing |
| The Dinocorn |
| The Fibs |
| The Hermit Crab Shell Swap |
| The Lemur Who Loved To Win |
| The Monster Train |
| The Simple Tale of Slug and Snail |
| The Tale of Slygo the Slow Worm |
| Trick Insect |
| What’s That Smell at the Dinosaur Hotel? |
| Who Ate My Cheese? |
Novel longlist
| A Time of Hares and Serpents |
| Blood of Gods and Girls |
| Curse of the Possum O’Hair |
| Firebird |
| Forever Island |
| Girls Can’t Be Highwaymen |
| Guardians |
| Hazel and the Last Sea Dragon |
| Heirs & Heiresses |
| High Achievers |
| Inky’s Island |
| Living the Game |
| Maisie and the Space Catapult |
| My Favourite Psychopath |
| Nan Crabapple is Spellbound |
| NOW |
| Ruby Madder’s Field Guide to Poisonous Plants |
| Sea-Born |
| The Alpaca Kidnapper |
| The Cipher Engines |
| The Dreamcatcher’s Apprentice |
| The Eco-Warrior and the Princess |
| The In-Spectres |
| The Magic of Science |
| THE MARK OF THE GODS |
| The Nighthawk Detectives |
| The Other Side |
| The Time-Consuming Adventures of Harper Smedley |
| THE UNQUIET ONES |
| When a Star Dies |
Readers Favourites
| Blackheart |
| Firebird |
| Forever Island |
| Hazel and the Last Sea Dragon |
| Mark of the Gods |
| Nan Crabapple is Spellbound |
| Sheep Number 4 |
| Strictly Dog Dancing |
| The Daring Misadventures of Hiroto Okami |
| The Dinosaur Next Door |
| The Fibs |
| The Time-Consuming Adventures of Harper Smedley |
| The Unquiet Ones |
| What’s That Smell at the Dinosaur Hotel |