Robinson to host the New Voices Award 2026

Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf is running the New Voices Award for its third year to help discover unpublished psychology writers from Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, as well as those who are disabled, gender diverse, part of the LGBTQIA+ community or from cultural or religious minorities.

For 2026, the prize will be hosted by Robinson, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, and we are looking for works of commercial non-fiction, aimed at general readers, on any topic within any branch of psychology.

KEY DATES

24th April 2026 – Submissions open

31st July 2026 – Submissions close

1st September 2026 – Shortlist selected

31st October 2026 – Winner announced

WHAT IS THE PRIZE?

The winner will receive an offer to publish with Robinson including an advance against royalties of at least £5000, plus:

A detailed letter from a Robinson editor giving feedback on their entry, and a follow-up online mentoring session

An introductory meeting with at least one literary agent

HOW TO ENTER

Click here to enter your submission.

By entering the competition, you agree to the terms and conditions.

You can find more information on how we will process your personal data in our privacy notice.

CRITERIA FOR ENTRY

Entrants must be unagented and previously unpublished, aged 18 or over, resident in the UK and from a Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage or Minority Ethnic background, or must identify as disabled, gender diverse, part of the LGBTQIA+ community or from a cultural or religious minority.

Entry requirements are a brief description and overview of the proposed book of up to 500 words, a detailed chapter overview and a sample chapter of between 4000 and 5000 words to be submitted by 31st July 2026.

THE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE JUDGED ON:

The originality of the thesis or concept

The logic and credibility of the argument

The rigour of the research

The clarity and accessibility of the writing

The relevance of the topic to general and/or non-academic readers

The usefulness of the advice

Full terms and conditions are available here.

THE JUDGES

Daksha Hirani (winner of the New Voices Award 2024)

Kate Russell (expert psychologist at the University of East Anglia)

Amandeep Singh (literary agent at Graham Maw Christie)

Lisa Moylett (literary agent at Coombs Moylett Maclean)

Andrew McAleer (Editorial Director, Robinson)

Aimee Kitson (Head of Marketing, Little, Brown Book Group)

Valentia Adarkwa-Afari (co-chair of Hachette’s THRIVE network)

ABOUT ROBINSON

The Robinson Psychology list publishes the very best evidence-based titles by expert authors in the fields of self-help and popular psychology. Its range of popular psychology books focus on providing proven benefits to the reader, best embodied by Carol Dweck’s phenomenal bestseller Mindset.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does unpublished mean?

For this prize, unpublished means you have never had any book previously published by a publisher (and are not under contract to have your work published). Self-published writers are eligible to enter the competition, provided that if they are offered a publishing contract they are willing to remove the relevant work from any retailers where it is currently selling.

Am I eligible?

You are eligible for this prize if you are aged 18 or over, a UK resident and are from a Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage or Minority Ethnic background, or you identify as disabled, gender diverse, part of the LGBTQIA+ community or from a cultural or religious minority. You must also be unagented and unpublished at the point of submission. Full terms and conditions are available here.

Please contact thefuturebookshelf@hachette.co.uk for any queries.

Good luck!

#RobinsonNewVoices