SelfMadeHero is a leading independent graphic novel publisher, based in the UK, publishing ground-breaking and beautiful work by authors and artists from across the globe, from the quirky and humorous to the political and profound. We are proud to bring readers graphic novels and visual narratives that provoke, entertain, inspire and inform. Our recent Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP) provided a mentoring and publishing programme bringing attention to the talent of UK-based emerging graphic novelists of colour.

The Cartoon Museum is a London museum of British editorial cartoons, caricatures and comic strips from the 18th Century to the present. We have a collection of over 6,000 original cartoon & comic artworks, and a library of over 8,000 books and comics. The Cartoon Museum’s Learning Programme provides a range of exciting and unique workshops that encourage people to explore their creativity and be inspired by the works in the Museum’s collection. Our shop features work by independent comic artists, cartoonists, and small publishers.

The bks Agency, sponsor of the £500 prize for the winning entry, is a Literary Management Agency which now represents over 100 authors, having placed them with publishers all around the world. The agency offers a global reach for sales with decades of knowledge in selling rights across domestic, foreign, audio, film, television and other markets. Projects span a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. The bks Agency is part of Midas, the award-winning Books & Arts Communications agency.

The Thought Bubble Festival is a celebration of all things comics, held across Yorkshire, featuring exhibitions, workshops, screenings, social events and lots more. The Thought Bubble Comic Convention currently takes place mid-November at the Harrogate Convention Centre where over 500 comic creators will exhibit, alongside publishers and retailers, and guests, signings, panels and Cosplay parade.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, often referred to as LICAF, is an annual comics art festival in the Lake District. Established in 2013, the not-for-profit festival takes place for a weekend in October each year, currently in Bowness-on-Windermere. LICAF has been generous supporters of the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competitions, providing substantial partnership in 2018 and 2020.

The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) supported the 2023 First Graphic Novel award with a generous grant. Started by authors, and owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. It represents over 120,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £650million to writers.

Myriad started publishing under its own imprint in 2005, growing from a packager of infographic atlases to a publisher of literary fiction, graphic novels and feminist nonfiction. From the start, its aim was to uncover and nurture emerging authors. In 2012, under its former Creative Director Corinne Pearlman, it established the First Graphic Novel Competition, a biennial programme that saw four competitions and ten debut graphic novelists published by Myriad, with several others published elsewhere.

LDComics is the largest women-led comics forum in the UK, open to all. We believe in the transformative potential of the comics form to offer wellbeing through making and reading. We plan to unleash the power of comics by providing a platform & opportunities for comic creators to share their work.

VIP Brands Ltd. is dedicated to expanding graphic novel horizons. Through its consulting, translating and agency services it works to have more graphic novels cross borders, in front of readers, circulate in bookshops so that there are more graphic novels in the hands of more people around the world.

Leading bookseller Waterstones supports the First Graphic Novel Award by hosting the award ceremony at Waterstones Piccadilly and by promoting the award on its blog and in key branches by disseminating flyers advertising the callout.