Genre/Submission Type Definitions

for Scholarship Applications

Here are some very basic definitions the genres and book types listed on our scholarship application.  They are not meant to be comprehensive, but are meant to help you determine what to select for your submission if you are unsure.

Please note: page and word counts vary greatly per project, so we are not referencing them here.  Our definitions are generally based on the type of role each genre/type plays in the children’s literature landscape.  Your work may fall outside these definitions, and that’s ok!  Please choose what fits your work most closely, and if you have questions, feel free to contact us at scholarships@highlightsfoundation.zendesk.com.

Picture Book: A relatively short work that combines words and pictures in its finished form.  It can be written and illustrated by the same person, but is often authored and illustrated by two different people.  Draft picture book manuscripts should not include pictures in this submission.

Poetry: This is a broad category; can include any type of poetry.  However, if your work is a novel in verse, please select that instead.

Illustration: Stand alone pictures/illustrations, or those intended to accompany words in a picture book.

Early Reader: The first type of book children learn to read independently.  It may or may not have chapters.  It may or may not have pictures.   Draft early reader manuscripts should not include pictures in this submission.

Chapter Book: A transitional type of book that helps newly independent readers move onto longer and more complex works, like novels.  It includes chapters.

Middle Grade Novel: A novel generally written for children in the “middle grades” (generally between 8-12 years old).

Young Adult Novel: Novels meant for children 13 years and older.

Graphic Novel: Works that use sequential art to tell a story, like a comic strip does.  The “novel” aspect indicates a longer work, but it can be fiction or nonfiction.

Novel in Verse: A longer work that follows a novel structure, but is told in poetry (not prose).

Nonfiction: A work of any length that is not fiction.