The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2024 Launches Today

We are thrilled to announce the launch today of the Book Edit Writers' Prize 2024, an initiative dedicated to discovering and promoting talented, unpublished novelists.

A Platform for Emerging Talent

The eight winners of the competition will get to present their work at an online Zoom showcase in front of invited industry guests, with an anthology of their work and a recording of the showcase featured on The Book Edit’s official website. They also will have the opportunity to train and rehearse for the showcase event, and all participants will receive guidance on other options including mentoring, editing and courses.

As an added benefit this year, we will also record and spotlight the shortlisted entries to create exposure for more writers.

“It was an honour to win last year’s Book Edit Writers’ Prize. It kickstarted my career as a writer. I’d recommend that any aspiring writer of colour apply.”
— Pavan Amara, 2023 Winner

Writers’ Prize Judge 2024 Lara Haworth

Meet our Judge, Lara Haworth

We’re delighted to welcome Lara Haworth as the judge for this year’s prize. Lara is an artist and novelist, and author of the acclaimed Monumenta.

“I am honoured to judge this year’s Book Edit Writer’s Prize. The talent of the shortlisted writers over the last four years demonstrates both the strength of the competition and the continued need to carve out a space for writers from marginalised groups to thrive on their own terms. As a queer writer, the obstacles to success have been many. It is a real privilege to be part of a prize that works to remove some of those barriers, and I can’t wait to read the submissions”
— Lara Haworth, Writers' Prize Judge

What the Prize Offers

The Book Edit Writers' Prize is more than just a competition. It's a launchpad for emerging talent, offering:

  1. Industry Exposure: Eight winners will have the opportunity to showcase their work to top industry professionals.

  2. Publication Opportunity: A chance to be featured in our anthology, putting your work in front of a wider audience.

  3. Expert Feedback: Personalised feedback from Lauren Wolff-Jones, Commissioning Editor at Legend Press.

  4. Networking: Connect with fellow writers and industry insiders.

“Winning the Writers’ Prize was a real boost to my self-belief as a writer...With the renewed confidence that I gained after winning the prize, I applied for other competitions and was long listed, shortlisted and selected as a winner in some of them. Just go for it. You never know what might happen.”
— Rosalind Yarde, 2023 Winner

Key Dates

  • Submissions Open: September 1, 2024

  • Submission Deadline: October 15, 2024

  • Rehearsal for winning writers: 13th November 2024

  • Online showcase event: 20th November 2024

  • Anthology of winners’ readings published on The Book Edit website:

    27th November 2024

How to Apply

For full details on submission guidelines and to apply, please visit our website.

“Winning the Book Edit Writers’ Prize winner was a real affirmation that Tapha (now At the Pine House) was interesting to others and might be able to make it as a book and not just my own project...the Prize opens something that continues; it isn’t just a one-off event. It’s easy with writing (for me at least) to sit on a project for years on end and not propel it out into the world, and the Book Edit Writers’ Prize has been important in invigorating me to believe in the possible wider resonance of my work. So I’m very thankful and will definitely be following this year’s Prize.”
— Emily Abdeni-Holman, 2023 Winner

Minimum Effort, Maximum Output, the debut memoir by Bhavini Kalaria

Bhavini Kalaria published her debut memoir, Minimum Effort, Maximum Output, earlier this year. A contemplation on grief and loss, the book tells the story of the year after her husband died, and how she survived. We were privileged to find out more about her remarkable journey.


1. Can you tell readers a bit about yourself and what you do for a living?

I am a solicitor, specialising in resolving disputes. My professional life revolves around helping clients navigate the legal system and it’s often demanding processes. It often requires both analytical thinking and empathy.

2. How did you come to write this book?

After my husband passed away in 2022, I found that the process of writing helped me immensely in processing my grief and making sense of what had happened. I wanted to find a way to record his memory and give voice to my own experience. The book started organically and evolved, sometimes with and sometimes outside of my own grief. It became a channel through which I could both feel and examine my emotions and keep his memory alive.

3. What was the process of writing the book like?

The process was cathartic and sometimes demanding. It required me to take a step back from it, especially when it became a piece of work designed to allow others to consider their own grief and loss. Writing served as both a healing tool and a way of learning to carry my grief.

4. What were the challenges you faced in writing the book?

The biggest challenge I faced was how to order the book so that it had a coherent flow. Structuring the narrative in a way that made sense to readers while still honouring my personal journey through grief was a delicate balance to achieve. It was a pleasure working with The Book Edit team to structure the book, and to ensure that there was still a creative and narrative arc to the story telling. I found their help and advice invaluable.

5. How has the process of getting the book published been for you?

I have loved the process of publishing—figuring out how the book will look and how to make it beautiful and accessible. It was important to me that the book was something my husband would have appreciated. The entire experience of bringing the book to life was fulfilling and exciting.

6. What advice would you give to others who are looking to self-publish their work?

I found a very helpful website, Publish Yourself, which guided me through the essentials of self-publishing. Before starting, I had no idea about the need to register the book, send it to the British Library, or how to market it. My book is a limited run, and I chose to share it in intimate settings with people and communities for whom the subject of loss and grief is relevant. My advice to others is to thoroughly research the self-publishing process and understand the various steps involved to avoid being overwhelmed.

7. How does it feel to know you have completed this project and you have a book to show for it?

It feels amazing. There is something truly exciting about holding a finished book in your hands, knowing it encapsulates a part of your journey and can potentially touch others who read it.

8. What are you working on now?

I am currently working on a thriller, which is very different from my previous book. It’s a fictional piece, much longer, with a complicated plot. This new project comes with its own set of challenges, particularly regarding structure, which has always been a tough part for me.

9. Anything else you'd like us to know about your writing process and future ambitions?

I feel like I am just beginning to understand my process and learning what works for me. I often take long breaks and come back to my writing with renewed energy, leading to intense periods of activity. Looking ahead, I hope to continue exploring different genres and refining my craft, always aiming to create works that resonate deeply with readers.

Author. Bhavini Kalaria

Thank you, Bhavini. For more about Bhavini and her work, visit her website here. And to buy a copy of her beautiful book, visit here.

Dr Rosa Rogers joins The Book Edit as a mentor

We are delighted to have added another mentor to The Book Edit’s stable. Rosa Rogers is a Doctor of Philosophy in The Contemporary Novel: Practice as Research, and an experienced writing mentor and workshop facilitator.

A talented author in her own right, Rosa’s debut literary novel, Composition, was completed as part of her PhD at the University of Kent. Her short fiction, poetry and visual art have been published and/or exhibited in The Menteur (Paris), Stirred Press, Northern Quarter, East Street Arts, The Media Centre and Vortex Gallery, and she has performed her work across France and the UK.

Not content with her own creative output, Rosa is also a creator of multiple community projects, e.g. Poetry etc. and Tales of a Town, and is the former Co-Director of Vortex Gallery.

Rosa currently works as an assistant lecturer in Creative Writing in Canterbury, City, University of London, and Nantes where she receives outstanding feedback from students on her warm, generous and inspiring approach to teaching.

We are thrilled to announce she will now also be one of The Book Edit’s fiction mentors, working side-by-side with emerging writers to help develop their work and their confidence.

Welcome, Rosa!

Portrait of Rosa Rogers, Book Edit Writing Mentor

Living Inside Raindrops: Luke Butler on his path to publication

Luke Butler’s debut novel Living Inside Raindrops

Luke Butler’s debut novel Living Inside Raindrops

When Luke Butler chose to work with The Book Edit, we were thrilled. Passionate about his subject and a born storyteller, it was clear he had huge potential. We were very happy to hear news of his publishing deal and delighted when he agreed to tell us more about his path to publication.

Living Inside Raindrops: On the Road to Publication by Luke Butler

“Writing can often be the easy part, it’s just you and your subjective assessment of your own work. It is what follows that can be all so difficult. 

I started writing as a form of therapy. I lost my dad suddenly at a young age and subsequently, and somewhat subconsciously, this event threaded its way into my debut novel: Living Inside Raindrops. 

Spanning four years; a proposal, a marriage, a house move and the birth of my first child, the book was ready for the world. Or so I thought.

At completion, I believed I had created a great paean for generations of readers and scholars to dissect and debate, the apotheosis of my life thus far. Then I opened the door. Knowing very few avid readers, I discovered The Book Edit.

Feedback is as essential to the process as having ink in your pen. It shone light on my novel as readable art, not just a journey in my head. After receiving my developmental edit from The Book Edit, I was challenged and I adapted my work dramatically. Yet another year passed, but this time I was actually ready for the world to have my book. 

The romanticism to be published always outweighed my inclination to self-publish. Partly due to a fantastical belief someone else could share a passion in my novel, and partly because having a printed paperback copy in a dusty bookshop, one that could live on beyond my own lifetime, was an ideal too great to forgo. It also somewhat naively puts you amongst titles created by your great idols and predecessors.

So, with self-publishing on the back burner, I purchased the latest edition of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook and spent nights making a shortlist spreadsheet of all those with an interest in Historical Fiction, as well as those willing to take unsolicited material. Given my book was set during WW1 I thought up the notion of emailing my shortlisted publishers and agents as the clock chimed 11:11.

Having prepared my individually personalised query letters, along with the first three chapters (where requested) I sent the emails out in unison, subtly referencing in each one that 11:11 had been a constant haunting reminder for me over the years to complete my manuscript!

Another naïve belief I had at the time was that given I am a filmmaker (I run my own company; Nirvana Studios), I could awe publishers with the book trailer I had created, blinding over my writing faults. I must have sent fifty or more selective emails across the course of that week, prepared for the rejection and often templated denunciations that I would soon receive. 

  

Days, weeks and months past and my spreadsheet was mostly covered in red rows of rejection and amber rows glinting with promise (those who had responded and requested my full manuscript). I gave thanks for every returned email because I imagined the sheer number of they must sieve through each and every day. 

Standing out from the noise is tough but it only takes a subjective receiver to be hooked, just like the reason you started writing in the first place. 

The day finally came when three of those amber rows were turned green and I had an interest from direct publishers. They were not the household names writers fantasise about, plastering their book cover across platform billboards, nevertheless they were three publishers with an interest in printing copies of my book. 

I received the necessary paperwork and opted for the publisher I felt most passionate and best suited to settle my marketing and distribution requirements – they had specified all the major bookshops, and this immediately turned my eyes rosy! 

During this time, I joined the Society of Authors who helped dissect my contract and ease my rights of screenplay concerns. Coming from a background in video and largely writing my manuscript with a cinematic head, this was an important factor for me.

I couldn’t yawp from higher rooftops how accommodating and flexible The Book Guild were throughout the publication process. They were true to every word, from allowing me to submit my own cover artwork, to distributing my title across Waterstones, Foyles, Amazon, WHSmiths, and many more independent bookshops around the country! 

I still have to pinch myself most mornings, when I receive messages from friends and family members who are physically holding copies of my book. My Book, usually read against rain mizzled windows or sun soaked poolsides, far removed from the therapy sessions of five years ago when I administered myself a daily dose of writing!”

Rebecca Ley to publish debut novel with Orion Fiction

Portrait of author Rebecca Ley

We were so thrilled to hear about this one.

Journalist and author, Rebecca Ley, has sold her debut novel, For When I’m Gone, to Orion.

Rebecca came to The Book Edit last year and was matched with one of our editors for a full developmental edit. With the feedback she received, she was able to rework the novel and to secure an agent, Sophie Lambert at Colville and Walsh. Within a few months, she had sold the book to Orion.

Publishing Director at Orion, Clare Hey, has said “Rebecca’s writing is full of hope and joy as well as sadness and loss and I am so excited to be bringing this wonderful novel to readers."

Speaking of her experience with The Book Edit, Rebecca has said “I found it brilliant. It was invaluable to have an experienced editor look at my work before trying to find an agent. the suggestions she made were extremely perceptive and useful in the redrafting process.”

A novel about love, grief and living, For When I’m Gone looks set to make everyone’s heart break next year. Congratulations, Rebecca!