Teen Author Development Prize

Kick-start your author career by entering Rhiza Books Teen Author Development Prize.

The basics:

• Submit a manuscript and a cover letter. The cover letter should outline what you hope to achieve as an author in Australia.
• Selected manuscripts will be shortlisted and will receive an appraisal.
• Up to two manuscripts each year will be taken through into a mentorship/development process.
• Those manuscripts will then be considered for our publishing list and hopefully published.

Open to:

• Authors aged 13 to 19 who are Australian citizens or residents.
• Teens truly interested in kick-starting their author career in Australia.

Publisher Rochelle Stephens at Wombat Books / Rhiza Edge loves helping to develop author careers with aspiring and emerging authors. To provide more opportunities for young writers, Wombat will run an award each year specifically for teen writers who want to kick-start their careers.

This will be open to teens who are up to 19 years old at the time of submission and who are serious about starting careers as an author. In Australia, becoming an author is a difficult task. Getting published and building a brand takes a lot of work and young people may find it overwhelming.

Most other competitions for children in Australia are for inclusion in anthologies or in short works online. The Rhiza Teen Author Prize is open to complete works of fiction — from picture books to YA novels. The winners will receive an editorial mentorship with publisher Rochelle Stephens with the intention of moving the story to publication.

Publication is not guaranteed but it is the hope of the mentorship to have a completed publication.

Entry fee: $25.00 per manuscript.

Prize: There will be a shortlist of manuscripts, which will all receive a full appraisal worth up to $400.

Up to two winners will be chosen out of the shortlist.