Tag Archives: novel writing competitions

Enter the Bath Children’s Novel Award

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Roman Baths by Judy DarleyThe Bath Children’s Novel Award invites submissions of books for children or teenagers from unpublished, self-published and independently published authors worldwide.

Previous winners include Struan Murray for the manuscript of Orphans of the Tide (published by Puffin in 2020), Lucy Van Smit for The Hurting (Chickenhouse, 2018) and Matthew Fox for The Sky Over Rebecca (Hachette, 2022).

Longlisted submissions are whittled down to a shortlist chosen by Junior Judges aged seven to seventeen years. Those Shortlisted manuscripts will then be judged by Jessica Hare, who runs the Children’s Books department at The Agency where she represents authors writing for every age and genre, as well as illustrators.

Deadline: 30th November 2023
Prize: £3,000, plus the coveted Minerva trophy.
Entry fee: £29 per manuscript with sponsored places available for low income writers.

Initial submissions are up to the first 5,000 words plus one page synopsis of novel or chapter book manuscripts for children, novels for teens, or up to three entire picture book texts with summaries.

Entries should not include any photographs, maps or artwork.

Shortlistees win a compilation of award readers’ comments on their full manuscript and all listees win feedback on their opening pages and synopsis from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy’s Editorial Director and Head of Scouting Monica Chakraverty.

The writer of the most promising longlisted novel will  win a place worth £1,800 on acclaimed online course Edit Your Novel the Professional Way from longlist prize co-sponsors Professional Writing Academy and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.

Find full details and enter here: https://bathnovelaward.co.uk/childrens-novel-award/ 

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Enter the Orna Ross Green Stories Prize for eco-novels

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Arnos Vale light in the canopy. Photo by Judy Darley
The Orna Ross Green Stories Novel Prize is seeking adult novels showcasing what a sustainable society might look like.

The deadline for entries is 30th December 2021, making this the perfect chance to end the year on a positive, eco-friendly note!

There is a cash prize of £1000 for the winner and £500 for the runner up.

Green Stories aims to create a cultural body of work that entertains and informs about green solutions, inspires green behaviour and raises awareness of the necessary transformations towards a sustainable economy.

A particular aim is to use fiction as a way to reach an audience beyond those who already strive to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, and to support winning authors to translate their stories into published books.

Entry is free, but entrants must show they have read at least one chapter from successfully published pieces from the Green Stories project that provide an example of entertaining mainstream fiction that meets the criteria of showing green solutions (not just problems) that readers can engage with.

This year the book is Habitat Man by D. A. Baden, an eco-themed rom-com and murder mystery written specifically for the Green Stories project. The submission survey will include a short easy quiz to demonstrate that you’ve read the extract.

Length: Submit three chapters* (minimum of 4000 words, maximum 10,000 words) of a 70,000 – 95,000-word novel as one document that must include the following:

  • the first chapter
  • another chapter that best showcases how your novel meets the green stories criteria
  • a third chapter (suggest the final chapter if possible)
  • a synopsis between 500 and 1000 words (name and contact details optional – we can identify via submission page) that covers genre, plot, characters, and details of how it meets the green stories criteria of showcasing positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story.

You can submit more than three chapters if you need to, in order to make up to 4,000 words. If you reach the shortlist, Green Stories may request more chapters or the full novel from the best entries to help them choose a winner.

Eligibility

Open to all adults (18+) of any nationality, as long as the submission is in English and has not been published elsewhere.

All submissions must conform to the green stories criteria of showcasing positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story.

The competition is open to novels that are either:

–          Partially complete (at least 50%) in the first draft phase
–          Fully complete and unpublished (between 70,000 and 100,000 words).

Prizes

£1000 for the winner and £500 for runner up, plus the following: 

A half-price manuscript appraisal by established literary consultancy Daniel Goldsmith, worth £300 to £400, will be available to the authors of the top three entries.

Winners will also have the choice of either a one-to-one mentoring session with the winners (at their office in London or virtually) with literary agency Redhammer Management, or a package of self-publishing support from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) set up by Orna Ross including a year’s membership of ALLI and a free pass to the Self-Publishing Advice Conference.

Publishing is just half the battle, to help winners achieve sales we will promote the winning book (once published) via our networks.

Submission

Find the full details of how to submit your novel excerpt entry here: https://www.greenstories.org.uk/upcoming-competitions/adult-novel-deadline-dec-2021/.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Enter the Big Issue’s crime fiction competition

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Inside a Bristol Bridge by Judy DarleyThe Big Issue magazine has launched a competition looking for the next big name in crime fiction.

The author of the winning entry will be awarded a two-book deal to be published as  paperbacks under the Avon Books UK imprint by HarperCollins. Only one overall winner will be chosen from all submissions.The deadline for entries is Friday 31st May.

The competition is open to authors seeking their big break with a crime novel that’s complete or close to completion.

“We’re delighted to announce the launch of this competition,” says The Big Issue editor Paul McNamee. “Everybody is said to have a book in them but people frequently don’t know how to get their great ideas to the right people and into print. Working with such a legendary publishing house is a way to make somebody’s dream become reality. We’ve assembled a terrific panel to help uncover Britain’s best new, as yet undiscovered, crime writer.”

To enter the competition, submit:

  1. Your synopsis of no more than 100 words
  2. Your full and complete manuscript. The text must be double spaced and typed in Times New Roman font, point size 12 and must be the entrant’s own original work
  3. Your contact information including telephone number, email address and any social media handles

“It is with great excitement that we launch the search for the UK’s next big crime writer, and we couldn’t wish for a better publication to do this with than The Big Issue,” say Helen Huthwaite, publishing director at Avon. “With the help of some of the best talent in the business, we will be scouring the length and breadth of the country for an author who can deliver heart-stopping writing and nail-shredding suspense. This is a life-changing prize for one talented winner, and we can’t wait to see what the entries have in store for us.”

The judging panel includes The Big Issue’s books editor Jane Graham, literary agent Julia Silk, author Katerina Diamond, and editor and author MJ Ford.

The shortlist will be announced in September, with the winner’s announcement to follow in October. All terms and conditions can be found on bigissue.com or avonbooks.co.uk