The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2024
Chosen from a writing competition for British and/or UK-based, unpublished novelists from backgrounds and communities currently underrepresented in UK publishing, The Book Edit Writers’ Prize is open for submissions. The aim of the Writers’ Prize is to help talented writers, who might not otherwise have access to the industry, get their work in front of an audience of top literary agents.
This is our fourth year of running the prize and the second year in partnership with Legend Press. Judged this year by acclaimed novelist and artist Lara Haworth, the competition will select eight writers to read their work at a live Zoom showcase event for invited industry guests taken from The Book Edit’s wide industry network. After the event, an anthology of the readings and recordings from the showcase will be published on The Book Edit’s website.
“The Book Edit Writer’s Prize was the first writing prize I ever entered, so winning gave me so much confidence that I can actually pursue writing as a career. The community aspect of the prize is also invaluable. I’m still in touch with the girls who also won and we keep up-to-date with each others’ progress and successes. Off the back of the prize, I had two agents get in touch with me... and since winning the prize, I received a scholarship to the Faber Academy for one of their novel writing courses...my novel has improved a lot in the last 12 months, in no small part due to the confidence and validation from winning the prize.”
The winning writers will also be given training on reading their work aloud with an online rehearsal one week before the showcase. The training and event hosting will be provided by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone who has been involved in reading events for over fifteen years and who currently runs City Writes and hosts The Novel Studio Showcase at City, University of London.
As a result of our continued partnership with with Legend, this year’s winners will have the added bonus of submitting the first chapters of their novels to Lauren Wolff-Jones, commissioning editor at Legend, followed by an hour’s Zoom mentoring session during which she will provide feedback and guidance.
“Winning, with seven other writers, 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. It was wonderful to meet other writers: we’re still in touch and sharing updates. I feel invested in my cohort as well as trying to take my own work forward, and that was definitely also down to Rebekah and Emily’s encouragement of all of us and enthusiasm about our writing. I think 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.”
This year we are also offering the opportunity for all our shortlisted writers to have their entries recorded and spotlit on our website along with an email campaign and social media boost to promote their work to a wider audience.
Completely free to enter, it’s a competition you can’t lose: all entrants will be offered advice on other options including mentoring, courses and editing. All you need to submit is the first 1,000 words of your novel, a (500 word max) synopsis and a brief note on your writing experience to date. See below for the full details.
Competition Details:
For your opportunity to be one of The Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize winners, reading at The Book Edit Agent Showcase and seeing your work published in an online anthology, you will need to submit your entry and additional information via our online form by 17:00 on the 15th October 2024. No late submissions will be read. Please make sure you have read the rules and our list of dos and don’ts before you submit.
Key Dates:
Competition opens 1st September 2024
Deadline for competition entries: 15th October 2024
Final eight winners of competition informed: 9th November 2024
Zoom 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.*
*Please note all these dates are a guide to the expected timetable but are subject to change at short notice should unforeseen circumstances occur.