SLUSH PILE CHALLENGE - January 2023 Results

 

 

Charlotte Colwill of Colwill and Peddle Literary Agency set and judged the January 2023 Slush Pile Challenge.

 

 

 

Charlotte wanted to read a story for either young readers (6-9) or middle grade readers (9-12) that spotlighted the relationship between a child and an adult, this could have been fantasy or contemporary. Think Charlie and his Grandad in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She loved humour, adventure and feels. She requested a synopsis and the first 750 words.

 

 

We received 36 entries from members across the British Isles and Europe for this competition. As agreed with the SCBWI BI team, Charlotte agreed to read 15 submissions. This is what Charlotte told us when announcing the results:

 

“My winner was Spooky Luke and the Definitely, Completely Not Haunted Hotel (though I'd probably tweak the title!) by Catherine Rosevear. I really liked that it was a father son relationship and that it was a close and clearly joy-filled relationship, and truly the centre of the story. It came across as original and lots of fun, and the writing was of a high standard. It had a real mystery in its plot which gave me confidence that readers would find it compelling as well.

 

My runner up was entry Stargran: Attack of the Alien Grandmas by Mario Ambrosi which also foregrounded the relationship between a child and a grandparent, and seemed to have plenty of adventure and humour in it.”

 

 

Congratulations to Catherine Rosevear from all of us at Words & Pictures. We hope you are well on your way towards getting your writing published.

 

Well done to Mario Ambrosi for being a runner up.

 

Thanks to everyone who entered. Keep writing and we hope you will be encouraged to try your hand at appropriate competitions.

 

 

Charlotte Colwill, literary agent at Colwill and Peddle is looking for adult fiction and children’s fiction and non-fiction.

 

In children’s books I am open to both fiction and non-fiction for all ages, from picture books to Young Adult. At the moment I am really looking for a funny and engaging author/illustrator with a fresh new series for young readers (5+), middle grade fiction with a new hook, brilliant world-building and characters we haven’t seen before, and in YA I’m looking for homegrown fantasy fiction, high concept contemporary stories and books about unusual relationships. In children’s non-fiction I’d love to see books that tackle curriculum subjects in a brand new and super engaging way, and real life stories for middle grade and YA readers.

 

Colwill & Peddle is a new, independent literary agency with a difference.

 

Founded by Charlotte Colwill, a former bookseller, and Kay Peddle, a former editor, our agency draws on that respective industry experience to find and nurture a new generation of writers who break the mould.

 

Drawing on our years of experience in publishing, bookselling and agenting we’re focused on finding new voices and untold stories, helping authors turn their ideas into books and supporting them at each point in their writing career.

 

We are proud to represent a diverse range of writers who are talented, passionate and who write with real purpose. Working closely with our authors from the inception of their ideas, through to submission, publication and beyond, we help them turn their dream of writing into a long, happy and successful career. Publishing can be a bewildering industry and we’re passionate about making it as inclusive and open as possible so we strive to demystify the publishing process for first-time writers.

 

Led by our editorial instincts, we enjoy working closely and collaboratively with all our authors both on and off the page. We pride ourselves on finding authors the perfect home for their work, negotiating the best possible deal and helping to build a strong team behind them. We also work with a number of foreign, film & TV co-agents to sell the rights to our clients’ work internationally, in all formats and mediums.

 

We’re looking for writers with passion, creative flair and an original voice. If you’re a writer with a big idea just starting out, a publishing grad looking to break into the industry or an editor looking for the next project – get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

Elaine Cline has been a SCBWI member for over eight years and loves to write picture books, chapter books and middle-grade. She lives by the sea and has a dog. Elaine is a member of the Words & Pictures’ editorial team, managing The Slush Pile Challenge for writers. Connect with Elaine on Twitter: @elaineccline