1. THE PROMOTER
a) The Macmillan Prize for Illustration (the “Competition”) is awarded for an unpublished children’s picture book.
b) The Competition is run by Macmillan Children’s Books. Macmillan Children’s Books is an imprint of Pan Macmillan, which is a trading division of Macmillan Publishers International Limited, a company registered in England with registered number 02063302 and registered office at Cromwell Place, Hampshire International Business Park, Lime Tree Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8YJ (“Macmillan”). Macmillan is the promoter of the Competition.
c) By entering the Competition, you are accepting these Terms and Conditions.
2. ELIGIBILITY OF ENTRANTS
a) To be eligible for the 2026 Competition, you must:
b) Entrants who have entered the Macmillan Prize for Illustration in previous years are eligible to enter this year’s Competition, provided that they enter a new entry which hasn’t been entered before and otherwise satisfy the eligibility requirements at the point of entry.
c) Entrants may only submit one entry.
d) There can only be one named entrant per entry and joint entries are not permitted. Where an illustrator collaborates with a writer, it is the illustrator who is eligible to enter the Competition and win a prize and not the writer.
e) Macmillan reserves the right to verify the eligibility of the Competition entrants.
f) There is no fee to enter the Competition, although entrants are responsible for all costs associated with preparing and submitting their entries.
3. ELIGIBILITY OF ENTRIES
a) Entries to the Competition must comply with the submission criteria set out in these Terms and Conditions.
b) Entries, or any part of an entry, must not have been:
4. DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES
The Competition is open for entries until 17:30 on Friday 24th April 2026. Please ensure you allow yourself plenty of time to complete your submission before this deadline, as we will not accept entries after this time for any reason.
5. THE BRIEF
a) All entrants must submit:
b) Entrants should bear in mind and focus on what is appropriate for the child reader.
c) There is no overall theme for the competition.
6. THE FORMAT
a) Length: Picture books should be between 24 – 32 pages long; this includes the front and back endpapers, a title page and a copyright page. The cover is not included in this page count.
b) Format: Although submissions are digital only, we can accept books with novelty elements (e.g. flaps, fold-out pages), and these should not exceed 24 pages. Pop-up books should not exceed 6 double-page spreads. Novelty entries should be scanned artwork. Photographs to demonstrate novelty elements may also be included but should be part of the PDF.
c) Size: The page size of the finished book should not exceed 300mm in width or height.
7. THE TEXT
a) The text may be fiction or non-fiction. The entrant may:
b) The text may be typed or clearly handwritten and must be in the English language.
c) Text generated wholly or in part by generative AI technologies is not eligible and should not be used.
d) For the avoidance of doubt, a published text that is in copyright would not be eligible and should not be used.
8. THE ARTWORK
a) Size: Artwork may be prepared either to the same size, or up to 30% larger than the page size of the finished book. Corner marks to show the trim (i.e. the edge of the final printed page) should be clearly indicated outside the area of the actual artwork.
b) Bleed: Allow at least 5mm extra (after reduction) outside the trim if the artwork is to come to the edge of the printed page. Avoid putting important details within 5mm of the edge of the page, or where illustration crosses the spine.
c) Medium: Any medium may be used, but it is advisable to avoid luminous paint, fragile collage or other media that will not reproduce well.
d) Lettering: Any lettering should be in black, please incorporate it as part of the page design and make it as legible as possible.
e) Artwork created wholly or in part by generative AI technologies is not eligible and should not be submitted.
9. WHAT THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR
a) The Competition is for a series of outstanding illustrations that show that the artist understands how to match pictures to text. The pictures should also demonstrate the entrant’s grasp of narrative, pacing and characterisation.
b) The judges will focus on the quality of the illustrations rather than the standard of the writing. Good stories are welcome, but the text will not be the main criterion for judging.
c) Some entries will be clearly aimed at a very young child, and others might be more sophisticated, or even work on different levels, but it is important to remember that the main audience for the book is a child.
d) Entries should clearly show how the style and layout of the illustrations contribute towards the development of the story and characterisation. It is important that a child reader can follow a story through the pictures, including, for example, what is happening in the story, or what a character might be feeling. Any characters should be recognisable throughout the book. The pictures may illustrate exactly the words of the text, or they might offer an alternative or enlarged understanding of what is being said. It is important to avoid monotonous layouts with little contrast in composition or colour. Too many words can overwhelm the illustration.
e) The judges are ultimately looking for high-quality illustrations suitable for children’s books, which are considered to be an original contribution to the field.
10. GENERAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
a) The judging of the Competition is anonymous, therefore each entrant must not include their name or any of their personal details in the entry itself. Entrants may only identify themselves on the first page of the PDF submitted, as set out in paragraph 11 of these Terms and Conditions. Any names or personal details included in the entry itself will be removed before the judging.
b) All artwork must be the entrant’s own original work, must not be copied (including copying from AI generated images) and must not contain any third-party materials which you do not have permission to use. Third party materials incorporated into the artwork may only be used with the prior written consent of the copyright owner. Macmillan may require entrants to produce evidence of such written consents.
c) Where an entrant collaborates with a writer, the entrant must obtain the writer’s written consent prior to submission of the entry. Macmillan may require entrants to produce evidence of such consents. As outlined above, a previously published text that remains within the term of copyright would not be eligible and should not be used.
d) Entrants are required to immediately notify Macmillan if they become aware of any claim made or threatened that their entry (or any part of their entry) infringes the rights of any third party and entrants agree to cooperate fully with Macmillan in relation to any claims that might arise from Macmillan’s use of the entry and hold Macmillan harmless in respect of any such claims.
e) Entries must not breach any applicable legislation or regulations or contain any defamatory, offensive or any other unsuitable material. Entries must not reference commercial brands.
f) Macmillan reserves the right to verify the eligibility of entries. In particular, where Macmillan reasonably suspects that an entry has been created wholly or partly using generative AI technologies, it may request that the entrant provide evidence of their creative process. This evidence may include, without limitation, preliminary sketches or original digital source files containing visible layers. If such evidence is not provided to Macmillan’s satisfaction within three (3) working days of being requested, Macmillan may disqualify the entry in accordance with paragraph 10(g).
g) Macmillan reserves the right to disqualify an entrant and their entry, and to withhold or withdraw any prize awarded, where it considers, in its sole determination that:
In the event a prize is withdrawn in accordance with this paragraph 10(g), the entrant agrees to repay the prize money to Macmillan immediately upon request.
11. SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES
a) The submission criteria is as follows:
b) Macmillan accepts no responsibility for any entries which are uploaded incorrectly, are incomplete, illegible, corrupted or fail to reach Macmillan by the closing date for any reason. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.
c) Please note that prize winners and highly commended entrants may be asked to supply the original artwork or a high-quality print-out version of their entries suitable for exhibition at their own cost. The relevant deadline for any such requests will be later confirmed by Macmillan, depending on whether an exhibition can go ahead. The artwork will then be framed by Macmillan. Prints submitted will not be returned.
12. SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS
a) The judging panel will comprise members of the Macmillan Children’s Books publishing team as well independent guest judges from the children’s books industry. The names of the judges will be announced prior to the judging.
b) All the entries that comply with the submission criteria and pass an initial review process will be considered by the judging panel who will select the first, second and third prize winners and will also identify a selection of highly commended entries. The panel will make these selections by reviewing the entries on an anonymised basis.
c) The prize winners and highly commended entrants will be notified on or before 27th May 2026.
d) Prize winners will be notified by phone and by email and highly commended entrants will be notified by email.
e) Entrants who have not won a prize or been highly commended will also be notified by email by 27th May 2026.
f) Prize winners and highly commended entrants are requested not to post on social media or publicly announce the fact that they have won or been highly commended until after prizes have been finally awarded, i.e. following the prize reception, or otherwise on any date that Macmillan confirms to them that they may disclose these details.
13. THE PRIZES
a) The prizes for the winners of the Competition consist of:
b) In addition to the cash prize the First, Second and Third Prize winners will each receive an individual feedback session with members of the Macmillan Children’s Books team. The session will be tailored to each specific winner to discuss their winning entry and their wider portfolio, and will also include general insight into the children’s book publishing industry. The sessions will last for no less than two (2) hours. We intend to hold the feedback sessions at our offices in London in Summer 2026 on mutually convenient dates, or remotely via video conference if preferred by the relevant winner. All travel, accommodation and other costs associated with attending an in-person session are the sole responsibility of the winners.
c) Highly commended entrants will not win a prize but will be invited to the prize reception in London where their work will be exhibited.
d) Prizes are non-transferrable and the judges reserve the right:
e) The judges' decision will be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to it.
f) Feedback on entries will be provided solely at the discretion of individual judges and the prizes do not include feedback on the entries or portfolios of winners or highly commended entrants.
g) If a winner does not respond to Macmillan within 5 days of being notified by Macmillan, that winner’s prize will be forfeited and Macmillan shall be entitled to award the prize to an alternative winner, chosen in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
h) The winners and highly commended entrants may be required to participate in reasonable post event publicity (including on Macmillan’s website and social media pages) at no cost.
14. PRESENTATION OF PRIZES
a) Prizes will be awarded by way of bank transfer. To receive their prize the winners will be required to provide proof of their bank details and submit an invoice to Macmillan using a template which will be provided. The amount of the prize will be paid within 30 days following receipt of a valid invoice.
b) The prize-winners, plus the highly commended entrants, will be invited to a reception where the winners’ and highly commended entrants’ work will be exhibited.
c) We will confirm details regarding the prize reception nearer the time. We intend to hold the reception in London in the summer. All travel, accommodation and other costs associated with attending the reception are the sole responsibility of the attendees.
15. OWNERSHIP AND USE OF ENTRIES
a) Entrants shall retain all intellectual property rights in their entries (including copyright).
b) By entering the Competition, all entrants grant Macmillan a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free licence to store, exhibit, communicate to the public and reproduce their entries in whole or in part for the purpose of administering the Competition, promoting the Competition this year and in future years and for archiving purposes for the full period of copyright in all media formats whether now known or devised in future (including without limitation on websites and social media channels) and to sub-license the same, provided that nothing in these Terms and Conditions will oblige Macmillan to use or exhibit an entry and in the event that Macmillan decides not to use or exhibit an entry, the entrant shall have no claim for loss of opportunity to enhance the entrant’s reputation or for any other reason whatsoever.
16. SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES ELSEWHERE AND PUBLICATION
a) By submitting your entry, you agree that from the point of submission until the confirmation of the winners and highly commended entrants on or before 27th May 2026 you will not submit your entry, or any part of your entry, to any other book, magazine, journal, comic book, or graphic book publishers for consideration for publication in print or digital form, or to any other illustration awards or competitions, nor enter into any negotiations regarding the publication of your entry. After this date and if your work is not selected as a winning or highly commended entry, you are free to submit your entry elsewhere.
b)If your entry is selected as a winner or a highly commended entry, Macmillan will have an exclusive option to acquire the publishing rights in any picture book derived from or based on your entry (the “Option”). The Option will be valid for a period of four (4) months following confirmation on or before 27th May 2026 of your work winning or being highly commended (the "Option Period"). During this Option Period, the submission and negotiation restrictions set out in paragraph 16(a) shall continue to apply.
c) Macmillan may exercise the Option by contacting you in writing within the Option Period. If Macmillan exercises the Option and an offer to publish is made this would include an advance against royalties to be earned, which would be in addition to the prize money. An entrant who accepts an offer to publish will be required to enter into a separate publishing agreement with Macmillan.
d) If Macmillan confirms in writing that it does not wish to exercise the Option or if the Option Period expires without Macmillan exercising it, you will be free to submit the entry elsewhere.
17. DATA PROTECTION
Please note that all personal information which we process in connection with your entry will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Notice which is available at: www.panmacmillan.com/privacy-notice. Please refer to the section of the Privacy Notice entitled ‘Entrants to the Macmillan Prize for Illustration’ for specific information about how your personal information will be used in connection with the Competition.
18. GENERAL TERMS
a) Macmillan accepts no responsibility for any damage, loss, liabilities, injury or disappointment incurred or suffered by an entrant as a result of entering the Competition or accepting any prize, including in respect of loss or damage to entries, provided that nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall exclude the liability of Macmillan for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence.
b) Events may occur that render the Competition itself, or the awarding of the prizes, or holding of the prize reception, impossible due to reasons beyond the control of Macmillan and Macmillan may, at its absolute discretion, amend these Terms and Conditions or change a prize (to one of equal or greater value) as required by the circumstances.
c) The Competition and these Terms and Conditions will be governed by English law and entrants submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
19. CONTACT DETAILS
If you have any questions about the Competition or how to enter, email us at: macmillanprize@macmillan.co.uk
Privacy Notice
If you enter the annual Macmillan Prize for Illustration, we will collect your name and contact details, a copy of your entry as well as details of how you heard about the competition.
We collect this information so that we can judge and administer the Macmillan Prize for Illustration and so that we can correspond with you about your entry.
We do not use entrant’s contact details for marketing purposes. The competition is judged anonymously, although please be aware that entrants’ names may be shared with the external judges after the judging has taken place and that names of the prize winning and highly commended entrants will be publicly announced.
Further details about the Macmillan Prize for Illustration are available here.