New Voices Award

LEE & LOW BOOKS ANNOUNCES THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL NEW VOICES AWARD 

LEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children’s books, is pleased to announce the seventeenth annual NEW VOICES AWARD. The Award will be given for a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color.

Established in 2000, the NEW VOICES AWARD encourages writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. Past NEW VOICES AWARD submissions we have published include The Blue Roses, winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People; Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story, a Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist selection; and It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Honor. 

Eligibility: 

1  The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States, 18 years or older at the time of entry, and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published.   

2   Writers who have published work in other venues and genres, including children’s magazines, young adult, and adult fiction or nonfiction, are eligible. Only unagented submissions will be accepted.   

3   Work that has been published in any format, including online and self published, is not eligible.   

4   Manuscripts previously submitted for this award or to LEE & LOW BOOKS will not be considered. 

Submissions: 

1   Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color by providing stories with which they can identify and relate, and which promote a greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities may also be included.  

2  Submissions may be FICTION, NONFICTION, or POETRY for children ages 5 to 12. Stories with anthropomorphic animal characters will not be considered.  

3   Manuscripts should be no more than 1500 words in length and accompanied by a cover letter that includes the author’s name, address, phone number, email address, brief biographical note, relevant cultural and ethnic information, how the author heard about the award, and publication history, if any.  

4   Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on 8-1/2” x 11” paper. A self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage must be included if you wish to have the manuscript returned.  

5   Up to two submissions per entrant. Each submission should be mailed separately.  

6    Submissions should be clearly addressed to:

        LEE & LOW BOOKS 
95 Madison Avenue, suite 1205 
New York, NY 10016 
ATTN: NEW VOICES AWARD  

7    Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers, mentorship contests, writing contests, or to LEE & LOW’s general submissions while under consideration for this award.

 8  LEE & LOW BOOKS is not responsible for late, lost, or incorrectly addressed or delivered submissions.

To read about dates for submission, prize and announcement of the award visit https://www.leeandlow.com/writers-illustrators/new-voices-award