Submit the opening 3000 words of your novel. To be eligible you must not be a conventionally published novelist.

Entries can be on any subject and in any style or genre.

First Price: £1,100. Ten shortlisted entries will receive written feedback from Patrick Gleeson. 

Worldwide copyright of each entry remains with the author.

The lead judge is Patrick Gleeson, pictured here, author of Hattie Brings the House Down, published in 2024 by Bedford Square Publishers.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.