Fiction

The quality of the winning manuscripts was high. Draft stories were engaging and compelling, and their statements demonstrated a clarity of purpose; and all should be encouraged to keep working on their projects.

Across all the submissions the quality of the writing was generally solid, but where many submissions fell down was in committing to genre projects (romance, fantasy, historical fiction) that limited scope, constrained originality or resulted in cliched execution of ideas.

For example, there were many submissions of fantasy/speculative fiction in which basic elements of the genre such as world-building required more work to be properly engaging, and where characters tended to be flat or underdeveloped.

– Debra Adelaide

 

Non-fiction

This year’s non-fiction applications brimmed with vulnerable bravery, incisive and insightful takes on topical issues, and creative approaches to the form. While all were commendable in their commitment to truth-telling, some proved to be a cut above the rest in terms of their rigour and mastery of expression, and in their articulation of how a mentorship could propel their work forward.

As we face troubling times in which veracity becomes a more precarious commodity, it is exciting to see these writers and the ASA stand for robust, inspired non-fiction storytelling.

– Adolfo Aranjuez

 

Young adult & children’s fiction

There were many impressive and stand-out applications in this category and I applaud all writers who put themselves and their writing out there for such an assessment – that is the first (vulnerable) step towards publication. 

The passion and commitment of each applicant was evident, even if there are still development areas with their work. It was particularly good to read the statements of those who have clearly researched and therefore understand the contemporary market they are writing in, which will be an asset when eventually pitching work to publishers.

There was so much originality and diversity in the ideas – from ’90s slasher film inspiration to on-trend topics such as climate change. I was delighted to read Australian settings and references, which keeps stories relatable for Aussie kids/teens. 

I look forward to seeing the winner of this category on bookshelves one day.

– Samera Kamaleddine 

 

Illustrated works (children’s picture books)

It was wonderful to read the diverse, creative submissions from the applicants in this category. I would like to thank the applicants for their thoughtful stories, which often reflected the author’s working career and/or passion for the subject.

Overall the style of writing was wonderful, with varied themes and lengths, as well as unique concepts for this category. It was exciting to see some illustrated submissions included.

Several of the stories have overt moral messages – this is often avoided by publishers, who prefer messaging for young readers to be delivered in a more subtle way (perhaps the most famous example is the classic Where the Wild Things Are, taking the reader primarily on a wild adventure, with gentle/subtle undertones of anger, boundaries and safety.) There were also several stories that could be edited to half their length and still deliver the same narrative once their book had been illustrated. For these submissions, I suggest providing short illustration notes if required, and keeping picture book word counts to around 500 words or less. 

The stories that I believe will be most successful with the guidance of a mentor were fresh ideas that could develop further through the process, and would pique the interest of future publishers. I hope all applicants enjoyed the process of creating their submission and I wish them all the best in their writing and illustrating goals.

– Jess Racklyeft