The premier award for debut novelists of middle-grade and young adult books

1 Apr 2020 | Hardie Grant Egmont

Hardie Grant Egmont is pleased to announce that the Ampersand Prize will be open for submissions from Wednesday 1 July to Friday July 31. We’re on the hunt for brilliant young adult and middle-grade manuscripts by debut authors; from mystery to contemporary to adventure and everything in between, we want your words!  The winning author will receive a publishing contract with an advance against royalties, and full editorial development to bring their book to market.  

'We believe that now, more than ever, it’s important to create opportunities for emerging writers,’ says Publishing Director Marisa Pintado. ‘The Ampersand Prize is the most exciting award in the country for debut novelists, and we hope it offers a spark of hope for those at home with time to work on their personal projects.’   

This year, the Ampersand Prize is also expanding to partner with the Emerging Writers Festival. We hope this partnership will help us reach a broader, more diverse group of writers across the country, and spread the Ampersand call out far and wide. If you’re an EWF supporter, be sure to keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks and months.  

Since its inception in 2012, the Ampersand Prize has launched the careers of numerous successful authors who have gone on to become valued members of the local #LoveOzYA and #LoveOzMG literary communities. Previous prize-winners include Melissa Keil (Life in Outer Space), Erin Gough (The Flywheel), Cally Black (In The Dark Spaces) and Rhiannon Williams (Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt). Our latest winner, Frances Chapmen, will be releasing her debut YA novel Stars Like Us this July.    

For more news, be sure to sign up to our newsletter, and subscribe to the Ampersand socials on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We’ll be bringing you news, posts and interviews over the year to keep the creative spark alive.  

Please view more about the prize and submission guidelines here.


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