Primadonna Prize
The Primadonna Prize for unsigned and un-agented authors will, for the first time, offer the winner a book contract with HQ with an advance of £7,500 for world English rights.
The winner of the competition will also work with Alice Lutyens from Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing to develop their shortlisted piece into a publishable book. There is a cash prize of £100 for the runner-up, as well as a mentoring session with a member of the Primadonna team, which includes authors Kit de Waal and Catherine Mayer, agents Elise Dillsworth and Cathryn Summerhayes, and publisher Lisa Milton.
To enter the Primadonna Prize simply write 500 words of new writing (fiction) on the theme of ‘renewal' and email them, along with proof of payment of your £8 entry fee, to primadonnaprize.submissions@gmail.com.
Milton said of the prize launch: "We're incredibly proud to offer one brilliant writer the chance to go from unsigned to published through our fiction prize. Average annual earnings for UK authors are around the £6,000 mark, so the winner will already be a step ahead when they sign their contract. It's really exciting for us to enable raw talent to come through in this way: it's what Primadonna is all about."
This year's judging panel comprises Milton and Lutyens, alongside author Andi Osho, associate director of Ed Public Relations Shona Abhyankar, founder and chief executive of New Writing North Claire Malcolm MBE and writer Elissa Soave, who won the inaugural Primadonna Prize in 2019 and whose debut novel Ginger and Me was published by HQ in July 2022.
The Primadonna Prize comes from the team behind the Primadonna books festival, which will take place from 28th to 30th July 2023 at the Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk.
