With great power comes . . .
too many decisions (and some regrets about this year already)
Week Four from my mammoth judging of the Branford Boase Award
Hello and welcome to Making Crime Pay! I love being a bestselling children’s author, but I also have a yearning to write crime for adults. So I’m sharing my creative paths here and posting useful things I’m learning on my journey.
I’m always ready to encourage a love of reading or offer creative writing help. I like taking some of the mystique out of writing and making it more fun! I visit schools. I read way too much and review my favourites so you can enjoy them too.
You can also find me mentoring bookshops, as I’ve worked with the bookshop community for nearly twenty years (!) And I’m a regular wildlife volunteer in all sorts of local organisations.
Thank you for being part of my journey and community. Thanks to everyone who is reading this and everyone who kindly supports me and my writing.
Nicki
Reading a shortlist of 20 . . . in six weeks
I don’t know why I thought I would rattle through reading a shortlist of 20 books in less than two months!
I don’t know why I thought I would have the time or be any good at being decisive about which ones make it to the shortlist. Or that it would be fun!
It doesn’t seem to matter how much time I’m giving over to reading at the moment, I still have too many on my Not Even Started pile.
Even worse, I have way too many on my This Could be the Winner pile! This is rapidly turning into a very difficult task I have set myself.
Judging children’s books is particularly hard (I’ve decided)
How incredibly difficult it is to judge awards for writing for children. Entries range from knockabout comedy for 8+ to serious fiction at the upper end of YA that is going to appeal just as much to adults as to children.
What makes a winning book?
So far, I have not decided.
It is great to see such depth and quality of writing
I had felt I read a lot of children’s books, but this award is making me read all the best of the latest writers and it is making me appreciate just how good children’s writers have to be to stand out.
The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author and editor of the year’s outstanding debut novel for children and is the only award to highlight the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.
It’s also interesting to see what those editors have been buying and trends in what writers are writing about (post-Apocalypse / Handmaid’s Tale is very big in YA).
I also took a look at past winners and felt even more pressure to make smart choices in picking out the best of future talent. Because winning an award really helps an author’s career (just look at the past winners who have gone on to great success).
Even being shortlisted is an achievment
Here’s a list of notable shortlisted authors who did not win including:
Lesley Parr, Elle McNicoll, Jenny Pearson, Katya Balen, Holly Jackson, Sophie Anderson, Peter Bunzl, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Ross Welford, Ross Montgomery, Holly Smale, Phil Earle, Patrick Ness, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Philip Reeve.
Routes to publishing
Reading the acknowledgements I’m finding informative too. Popular routes to publishing success for children’s writing appear to be:
already having previous success as a writer (eg poetry, screenwriting)
the Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa
working in the industry
prizes / scholarships / awards
My team of judges need to pick a shortlist of six. We do this over lunch and presumably without bloodshed.
If you want to read along with zero chance of bloodshed and you buy your own sandwiches, I have a list on Bookshop.org
Which is another chance to plug a great initiative to support children’s reading:
I will be keeping you posted here when I am allowed to say more!
This is proving to be a very difficult start to this year!
For those who are interested, here is a list of previous winners:
2024: Steady For This, Author: Nathanael Lessore, Editor: Ella Whiddett and Ruth Bennett, Publisher: Hot Key Books
2023: Ellie Pillai is Brown, Author: Christine Pillainayagam, Editor: Leah Thaxton, Publisher: Faber: YA
2022: Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths, Author: Maisie Chan, Editor: Georgia Murray, Publisher: Piccadilly Press: 9+
2021: Orphans of the Tide, Author: Struan Murray, Illustrator: Manuel Sumberac, Editor: Ben Horslen, Publisher: Puffin: 9+
2020: Bearmouth, Author: Liz Hyder, Editor: Sara Odedina, Publisher: Pushkin Press (12+)
2019: I Am Thunder, Author: Muhammad Khan, Editor: Lucy Pearse, Publisher: Macmillan (YA)
2018: Kick, Author: Mitch Johnson, Editor: Rebecca Hill & Becky Walker, Publisher: Usborne
2017: Beetle Boy, Author: M.G. Leonard, Editors: Barry Cunningham and Rachel Leyshon, Publisher: Chicken House
2016: Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, Author: Horatio Clare,Editor: Penny Thomas, Publisher: Firefly Press
2015: Leopold Blue, Author: Rosie Rowell, Editor: Emily Thomas, Publisher: Hot Key Books
2014: Infinite Sky, Author: C. J Flood. Editor: Venetia Gosling, Publisher: Simon and Schuster
2013: A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, Author: Dave Shelton, Editor: David Fickling. Publisher: David Fickling
2012: My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece, Author: Annabel Pitcher, Editor: Fiona Kennedy, Publisher: Orion
2011: Out of Shadows, Author: Jason Wallace, Editor: Charlie Sheppard, Publisher: Andersen Press
2010: Stolen, Author: Lucy Christopher, Editor: Imogen Cooper. Publisher: Chicken House
2009: The Traitor Game, Author: B. R. Collins, Editor: Emma Matthewson, Publisher: Bloomsbury
2008: Before I Die, Author: Jenny Downham, Editor: David Fickling and Bella Pearson, Publisher: David Fickling Books
2007: A Swift Pure Cry, Author: Siobhan Dowd, Editor: David Fickling and Bella Pearson, Publisher: David Fickling Books
2006: Fly By Night, Author: Frances Hardinge, Editor: Ruth Alltimes, Publisher: Macmillan
2005: How I Live Now, Author: Meg Rosoff, Editor: Rebecca McNally, Publisher: Puffin
2004: Keeper, Author: Mal Peet, Editor: Paul Harrison, Publisher: Walker
2003: Martyn Pig, Author: Kevin Brooks, Editor: Barry Cunningham, Publisher: Chicken House
2002: Cold Tom, Author: Sally Prue, Editor: Liz Cross, Publisher: OUP
2001: Floodland, Author: Marcus Sedgwick, Editor: Fiona Kennedy, Publisher: Orion
2000: Song Quest, Author: Katherine Roberts, Editor: Barry Cunningham, Publisher: Chicken House
Thanks for reading!
Nicki