The Scott Stuart Literary Prize reserves the right at any time to reject entries that do not comply with these conditions. The prize coordinator’s decision in this regard is final.
- The Scott Stuart Literary Prize will be awarded to an unpublished picture book manuscript that explores themes of identity, belonging and self-expression.
- The manuscript must be a work of fiction or non-fiction of up to 1,000 words and suitable for children.
- The manuscript must be written primarily in English.
- An author may submit one entry only.
- Authors retain copyright for their work.
- Only the author of the work may submit an entry to the prize.
- The author must live in Australia or be an Australian resident.
- The manuscript may contain illustrations (there is no advantage to including illustrations with your manuscript).
- Unpublished means that the work is not, and has never been made, commercially available, which includes self-publishing. The work also must not be on submission or under contract to a publisher.
- By entering this prize, the author warrants that the work:
- is wholly original
- is not defamatory
- does not infringe on any existing copyright or laws
- was not generated by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
- All prize entries are to be submitted electronically, and should follow the formatting instructions below.
- The author’s name SHOULD NOT be included anywhere on the manuscript or on an attached illustration file.
- Text files should be saved in Microsoft Word format or PDF format.
- The manuscript title should be used as the file name.
- All entries should include the manuscript title and page numbers in the header or footer.
- Text should preferably be double-spaced, in 12 pt font.
- Illustration notes may be included in the manuscript, but do not count toward the final manuscript length.
- Illustrations, if included as part of the prize entry, can be created in any medium or format as long as they are uploaded as a single .jpg file or a PDF file, no larger than 10MB.
- The Scott Stuart Literary Prize will not share personal information or entries beyond the scope of these terms and conditions or with any third parties. For further information, please read the Privacy Policy.
Deadlines
- The timelines for the entering the prize are:
- Prize opens: 9.00am AEST March 15th, 2025
- Entries close: 5.00pm AEST April 15th, 2025
- Shortlist announced: May 30th, 2025
- Winner announced: June 15th, 2025
Judging
- The judging of the prize is anonymous, meaning that the judges will not know the name of the entrant.
- All entries that comply the submission criteria will be reviewed by at least one industry professional to form a shortlist of entries.
- The judging panel consists of three children’s publishers, who will select the prize winner from the shortlist based on both literary merit and the manuscript’s authentic representation and celebration of identity, gender and self-expression.
- The judges’ decision will be final and no further correspondence will be entered into.
- Feedback on individual entries will not be provided.
- The winner will be notified in writing, and will be listed on website https://scottstuart.co/lit-prize/.
Prize
- Award: $1,000 Cash Prize
- Mentorship: Exclusive publishing industry mentoring opportunities
- Visibility: Get your manuscript reviewed by professional publishers
- The prize does not include a guarantee of publication.
How to Submit
- Complete our online entry form by 5.00pm AEST April 15th, 2025.
- The Scott Stuart Literary Prize accepts no responsibility for entries which are uploaded incorrectly or are incomplete or corrupted.
- The Scott Stuart Literary Prize accepts no responsibility for any damage, loss, liabilities or injury incurred as a result of entering the prize.
Promotion
- The prize winner and shortlisted authors agree to allow The Scott Stuart Literary Prize to use extracts and/or title from their manuscript, an author biography and photo to announce the prize winner and promote the prize in the future.