And that’s a wrap!

Update: We closed to applications at midnight, 31/08/23. We’d like to give our warmest thanks to everyone who applied. Our first impressions are of a very high standard of applications – we’re excited!

If you applied, you should have received an email confirming receipt. If you have not, contact us and let us know.

What happens now?
The judges will meet at the end of September so you will hear whether you have a place on the mentoring scheme in very early October, and would meet your mentor as soon as possible after that.

If possible, we’ll let those who have got a place in the Community group (the first 60 applicants to apply) know during September. You can read about Community here: https://megaphonewrite.com/megaphone-mentoring-community-2023/ – scroll down to download a document with full details about what’s on offer, including dates of events so you can plan to attend.

We do offer feedback, and will be in further touch about this once the mentees have been selected.

Thank you for applying! We’ll be in touch soon.

Arts Council England logo
This scheme relies on funding from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants


Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society
We are sponsored by the ALCS

We close to applications at midnight TONIGHT

It’s your last chance to apply for mentoring in 2023 – 2024! People of colour in England with a passion for children’s or YA literature: work 1-1 with a published author to bring your book to the best possible point, learn the ins and outs of the industry from editors and agents, and get your writing to their attention.
Please see the website for full details and to apply.

Get that post-submission glow: unpublished writers of colour, send us your books for kids 8+ before midnight tonight!

We close to applications tomorrow!

Folk, it’s nearly your last chance to apply for this round of Megaphone mentoring – we close to applications at midnight on 31/08/23. Thank you so much to everyone who has applied already, we are really enjoying reading the applications – there is a lot of talent out there! If you haven’t received an acknowledgement of receipt, do get in touch, just in case your application has failed to reach us for some reason – we would hate to miss it.

Finally, a special shout-out of THANK YOU to Community member Maritsa Grey who has produced our gorgeous graphics such as the one below, and helped us with getting the word out to press!

Information: Megaphone submissions are open. Apply now until midnight on 31/08/23 for 1-1 mentoring as a children's writer. Full details are on our website.
You can apply now for mentoring in 2023 – 2024

Have you received an acknowledgement for your application?

Our application period closes in a few days. If you have sent in an application you should have received an acknowledgement from megaphone.writeATgmail.com . If you have not received an email to this effect, please check your junk email folder (gmail addreses sometimes get filtered out) and if you can’t find one, please email me so I can double check we have received your application – we’d hate to miss it!

One week left to apply for Megaphone mentoring

Applications close on 31/08/23 at midnight. We’re looking forward to reading your writing! For full details see our website.

“I want to say a huge thank you to both of you as without Megaphone I
would have not have got to this point!” (signing with ASH Literary Agency)  “The scheme helped me so much with my writing and also having access to agents via the scheme and the open door session in the Community helped me to make this decision with some prior knowledge on what to look out for in an agent. “

Abimbola Fashola, Megaphone Mentee (2022)

Just over two weeks left to apply for Megaphone Mentoring!

We’re excited to read your application and to discover some wonderful new voices in children’s literature! The first 60 applicants will get also free career and writing development workshops over the course of a year, so there’s nothing to lose by applying for mentoring. For all the information you’ll need, have a look at the FAQs page and the Resources page. You can read more about the background to the scheme in this article I wrote for The Asian Writer: https://theasianwriter.co.uk/2023/08/10/megaphone-why-i-set-up-a-scheme-for-childrens-writers-of-colour/

The closing date is midnight, 31/08/2023 .

You have until the end of the month to apply for mentoring!

Get your applications in now if you’d like a year of 1-1 mentoring from amazing published children’s authors. The first 60 applicants will be offered a year of free writing workshops and more.
For all details and the application form, see our website: https://megaphonewrite.com/megaphone-mentoring-community-2023/ – we have mini-videos too, to help you get the best out of the year: https://megaphonewrite.com/resources-for-you/ . Can’t wait to read your writing!

You can apply now for mentoring in 2023 – 2024

Recent mentee Nazima Pathan to be published by Simon & Schuster!

We are absolutely delighted that another of our mentees has secured a great home for her books. DREAM HUNTERS, a magical middle-grade adventure set in a world where dreams and nightmares can be manipulated, was represented by Chloe Seager at the Madeleine Milburn Agency and acquired by fiction editorial director Michelle Misra, along with senior editor Arub Ahmed, at Simon and Schuster Children’s Books.

Nazima Pathan was mentored by Maisie Chan. Her writing stood out to us right from the application stage for strong, exciting concepts that were perfectly pitched for the age group, but this well-earned success also represents a LOT of Nazima’s hard work and time and intelligent self-editing over the mentoring year and beyond, to get a manuscript in the right state to catch the eye of a great agent and publisher – WELL DONE NAZIMA!

For the full story in The Bookseller:
https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/ss-childrens-pre-empts-pathans-magical-middle-grade-adventure-series

You can apply now for mentoring in 2023 – 2024

Our new mentoring scheme opens to applications from 5/7/23!

@MegaphoneWrite is launching a new mentoring scheme from 5/7/23! Unpublished people of colour writing for children or teenagers, submit 2,000 words at http://www.megaphonewrite.com Funded by @ALCS_UK @ace_midlands. Closing date 31/8/23

We are delighted to announce that, thanks to generous funding from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, we are offering 8 places on our mentoring scheme, plus free writer development support to the first 60 applicants, in 2023 – 2024. Applications are accepted via the website from 5th July 2023 till midnight on the 31st August 2023.

The scheme is for unpublished people of colour who want to become a published author for children or teenagers. You’ll need to submit 2,000 words of writing. We can’t wait to hear from you! Check the website for full details or the buttons below.

About the mentors
About the judges
About the scheme
Apply for mentoring
ALCS

Second former Megaphone mentee wins Jhalak Children’s and YA prize!

It never rains but it pours GOOD news, apparently! I’m thrilled to hear that Danielle Jawando – whose first novel was also widely celebrated – has gone on to win the Jhalak Prize Children’s and YA section with her wonderful second novel for teenagers, When Our Worlds Collided. Amazingly, last year the Jhalak Prize was also won by one of our former mentees: Maisie Chan! Both were on the very first Megaphone back in 2016 and it’s been amazing to see their careers hit the ground running and just keep going!

This feels like a great moment to shout out to our funders and core supporters who have made the Megaphone Writer Development scheme possible over the past few years: Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants, The Publishers’ Association, Usborne Publishing, Writing West Midlands, and in 2023/4, the Authors Licencing and Collecting Society. Not to mention the individual authors, editors, agents and other who have donated either money or time to make it all happen. THANK YOU!

https://www.jhalakprize.com/childrens-ya

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