Idea Idol

WriteMentor‘s new competition for award-winning book ideas judged by a literary agent

Do you have an award-winning book idea?

Introducing WriteMentor’s brand new competition for ideas right from the early concept stage, judged by agent Deirdre Power from David Higham Associates.

Open internationally to any unagented writers of Picture Books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Teen, and Young Adult fiction fiction of any genre.

All you need is a pitch and a first page (or 3 spreads for Picture Books!).

Entry is £5, or for only £9 extra you can receive feedback from our team of experienced authors about both your entered pitch and page to give you some guidance before you grow your idea into a full-length book. You can enter as many times as you want, across all age groups.

If you reach the final 20 shortlisted, then we’ll ask for a full Picture Book or 3 chapters to help our judge – but don’t panic if you haven’t quite finished those yet, we’ll give you a week to get it together for us.

What can I win?

Finalists will all receive individual feedback on their entry from our agent judge in addition to their feedback from our team of experienced authors.

The runner-up will receive one year of membership to the WriteMentor Hub, our online membership platform for children’s writers.

The winner will receive six months of WriteMentor mentoring and one year of WriteMentor Hub membership.

Please read the rules below before you enter. Once you’ve paid for your entry, you will receive a link via an email confirmation to upload your entry. Good luck!

Meet the judge: Deirdre Power, agent at David Higham Associates

I started my career at Curtis Brown as an assistant, and since then I’ve worked in children’s editorial at Simon & Schuster and Usborne Publishing. I joined David Higham Associates in January 2023 to assist Caroline Walsh on her phenomenal list. Prior to working in publishing, I attended Trinity College Dublin for my BA in English Studies and MPhil in Children’s Literature, and previously worked as a bookseller on Grafton Street in Dublin.

In Young Adult, I’m mostly looking for contemporary stories of any genre – swoony romance and romcom with any blend of rom and com, gripping thrillers or mysteries, drama, and I’d especially love something heisty. I always love fiction that explores a difficult area of life or important topics for teenagers today, so I love hard-hitting fiction that tackles family dynamics, illnesses, relationships and relationships, especially toxic or complicated friendship dynamics, and I’d also really like to see texts that explore social media and being online, issues of privacy and sharing online. I’m also really keen to see stories that are centred around teenagers performing or competing a really high level – think Olympic-level sports or worldwide competitions, conservatoires for classical music, national or international competitions for performing arts, or chess, or parkour, or video games, or anything else you can think of. Quiet YA is really valuable to me as a quiet kid, stories about teenagers who are just trying to figure it out and are going through what everyone goes through. I’m also interested in dystopia and more sci-fi based than fantasy stories, with a solid plot and strong character dynamics, morally grey characters and tough decisions. 

I’m actively looking for manuscripts in the ‘in-between’ spaces, for tweens, in any genre or world setting – I’m thinking manuscripts that are aimed at the 12-14 age group, and incorporates the experiences (painful or otherwise) of that transitional age. The best ones for me are the ones that blend a strong story that might fit in either teen or middle grade with that awkwardness of growing older and ordinary life looking different outside of the main plot. I find that anxiety is a huge factor in this early teen space, so I think anything that can bring a light-hearted touch to that – books like Geek Girl or Dork Diaries or Emma Nash, but updated for the newer audience coming, and also a similar approach aimed more towards boys and non-binary readers. 

In middle grade, above all else I’d love to see something that pays homage to the Lemony Snicket books and their sense of self-awareness, with that sort of atemporal and macabre feel to it. I love anything that is a bit weird and displaying a degree of irreverence for conventions, anything that has a meta approach or “breaking the fourth wall”. If it’s quirky and different, I want to see it. I love to see anything that features a popular topic for young children (like space, dinosaurs) that feels like a natural graduation for them. I’m always looking for adventure and sweeping fantasy for middle grade. In adventure stories, I’m more interested in finding a really pulsing plot with momentum than meeting certain requirements for the kind of story or the kind of world that’s being built, so if it’s fast-paced and juicy, I’m excited to read in any genre or subgenre. I think some dream books would be adventure outside of fantasy – spies or explorers. I’m also really looking for quieter stories about difficult experiences for this age group, that deals with something seriously but sensitively. As with YA, I’m aiming to build a list that contributes to giving every child the ability to see themselves in it, so I’m interested in the “smaller” stories that might feel real and resonant to readers. This doesn’t always have to be heavy, and instead could be new challenges, discovering a new hobby, changes in circumstances.  I also love a slightly darker adventure story, along the lines of Dave Rudden or Derek Landy, and something with a slight steampunk vibe would be great. 

On the younger end of the ‘in-between’ spaces, for 5-7s who are graduating from picture books, I’d love to see laugh-out-loud, quirky, outright ridiculous stories with some heart to them. Self-contained stories that don’t necessarily have to be read in order but make up a cracking series with familiar (outlandish) characters is my sweet spot. In this field, I’m also always on the lookout for more reluctant readers who may not be ready for the dense middle grade fantasies – in the same vein as Wimpy Kid, Liz Pichon, Adrian Mole. 

In picture books, above all else I’ll be drawn to something that’s just got a lot of heart at its centre, and a powerful message. I think I err on the gentler side of stories, but I’m open to the wackier, funnier and sillier side here. I’m hugely interested in voice here and especially a sense of rhythm in the writing as they’re going to be read aloud, so I’m always looking for that really strong ‘storytelling’ flair that makes them a joy to read aloud and really involve this age group in the reading experience. I also really enjoy high-concept or meta-piturebooks, something like I SAY OO YOU SAY AHH where there’s a direct call and response and conversational aspect to it. Anything that plays with the form and takes advantage of the format and the act of reading is absolutely delightful. 

I’m especially interested in stories across all age groups that deal with grief and loss. For picture books, I’d like to see a fresher take on this but I’m open to anything.  On that note, mental health is also a really important topic for me – I like to see it incorporated into normal life and its portrayal not always being the focus of the story, but equally open to stories where mental health is the main driving point of the story. 

I’m also really excited to see mysteries or detective stories for all age groups, especially something a bit spoofy and not always really high-stakes (although that’s fine too.) 

I don’t mind horror, but I’m interested more in the uncanny and spooky, just a little to the left of centre-stage for scary things. I think I prefer to be unnerved rather than terrified, but atmosphere is everything. 

Originality is key, and I think the prose I like best is the kind that makes you feel like you’re being wrapped in a blanket.  Across all age groups and genres, I really love being surprised by something I wasn’t expecting or searching for, so I’m always waiting for something that isn’t on my wishlist to drop in my inbox and make me fall in love!

Rules

• Entries do not need to be complete but you should have a solid idea for the story and have begun work on it.
• Open worldwide but entries must be in English.
• You can also enter, even if your novel/PB text is complete.
• We are accepting only PB/CB/MG/YA entries of any genre.
• You cannot be agented.
• To clarify, self-published novels are eligible. 
• Independently published writers, without an agent, may enter, but not with the published novel (as your publisher holds the rights).
• Entries should comprise of a pitch (no more than 50 words) and a first page (of no more than 250 words or 3 spreads for PBs).
• Enter the first page (250 words or 3 spreads of a PB) and a 50 word pitch (at the start of the document).
• Name your document with your manuscript/idea title. As we use google forms, your name will appear on your confirmation email, but please note we do read blind.
• The form will have a section to indicate genre and age category, so no need to include this in your pitch.
• Any comp titles should be included within the 50 words on your pitch.
• Please do not include illustrator notes or illustrations on your PB entry. We are only judging the text.
• All announcements will happen via the site, so do sign up to receive alerts of new blog posts and to our mailing list, as well as Twitter account.
• Those under the age of 18 are ineligible due to safeguarding reasons. If you are younger than 18 and wish to enter, please ask an adult to do this on your behalf.
• You may enter as many ideas as you wish, but will need to enter and pay for them separately.
• All entries will be sent digitally. We are committed to being green and want to keep costs for writers down, so mail entries will not be allowed.

Enter Here