HarperCollins opens Author Academy applications

HarperCollins has opened applications to its Author Academy, from which 200 aspiring authors have graduated since January 2021. Applications open today (7th February), and close on Monday, 24th February. The six-week course runs from 9th May.

The academy is now lead by Ken Wilson-Max, publisher of HCCB imprint Kumusha Books, and offers free training to writers and designers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to help them "gain the knowledge and skills to succeed in fiction, non-fiction and children’s books".

In previous years students have learnt directly from the experience of authors through a series of Q&As including Jamila Gavin, Sarah Morgan, June Sarpong, Rebecca F Kuang and Charles Cumming. After the course, students will be mentored by members of the HarperCollins team and join the Author Academy alumni network. They also have the opportunity to submit a manuscript for consideration by HarperCollins’ editorial team.

Previous students have gained agency representation, win awards and sign book deals. They include Nadine Cowan, writer and illustrator of 12 books for Collins Big Cat; Maxine Nwaneri (The Future is Greater, HQ); and Elle Machray, who was named an Observer Top 10 debut novelist for 2024 (Remember Remember, HarperNorth).

Most recently, Daisy J Hung, a graduate of the first Academy cohort in 2021, signed with HQ to publish I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese in March 2025.

Wilson-Max said: "I am delighted to open applications for what will be the seventh cohort of the HarperCollins Author Academy. We have some fantastic mentors signed up and we are all looking forward to meeting our new students and helping them to build their writing career and achieve the success they seek."

Full information on the Academy can be found here.