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Writing Opportunities 2021

The 2021 Page Turner Awards

Information
Closing date: 
30 May 2021
Entry: 
Open to all writers over 18. Entry fees £20 for entries received by 28 February and £30 after that
Prize: 
£10,000 prize fund

New Writing and Book Awards Aims to Change Writing Careers

The Page Turner Awards were created to change writing careers with success stories from the most impressive first 10 pages submitted.

Five different awards aim to help writers and authors to get discovered with possible literary agency representation and potentially taking a published book from page to film.

The Page Turner Writing Award offers writers and authors the chance to enter the first 10 pages of a completed, unpublished fiction or non-fiction manuscript, where a group of literary agents will read the work with a chance to get it published. Submissions are open until 30 May.

The Five awards include:

The Writing Award

Young Writer Award

Screenplay Award

Writing Mentorship

Book Award

The award welcomes both emerging writers and all genres for fiction and non-fiction from any English-speaking country across the world.

The prestigious judging panel, made up of successful award-winning authors, literary agents and publishers, is looking for vivid, cinematic writing with captivating characters and unique voices.

Winners of the Writing Award may receive representation by a literary agent.

The £10K prize fund includes a wide range  of prizes.

For more details

 

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2020

Information
Closing date: 
15 May 2021
Entry: 
Unpublished and unagented writers of children’s fiction suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. No entry fee
Prize: 
A worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus an offer of representation from a top literary agent

Enter The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition

We no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts, but we do offer unpublished and unagented writers of children's fiction the chance to submit their work to the annual Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. We're looking for original ideas, a fresh voice, a diverse range of entries and stories that children will love! We'd particularly like to encourage entry for BAME writers and others from underrepresented backgrounds. The competition will close for entries on 1 February 2021 at 11.59pm GMT.

The Times/Chicken House Prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus an offer of representation from a top literary agent.

This year we're delighted to introduce an exciting new prize, sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), who are celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2021. The IET 150 Award will be awarded to a complete fiction manuscript for children aged 7 up to Young Adult that broadly explores or celebrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

By entering the competition, your manuscript will automatically be considered for both prizes by our expert team of readers. To enter, you must have written a completed full-length novel suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. By full-length we suggest a minimum of 30,000 words and ask that manuscripts entered do not exceed 80,000 words in length (please note these are suggested word counts). Read on for more details!

• About The Times/Chicken House Competition
• Barry's Tips
• Competition FAQs
• Competition Terms & Conditions

See also Top Writing tips from Managing Director Barry Cunningham

More details

 

Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize

Information
Closing date: 
3 May 2021
Entry: 
International entry. No entry fee
Prize: 
Adult Fiction prize and a Young Adult /Middle Grade prize. First Prize Publication contract offer from Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms Press with advance against royalties, Second Prize $150 and critiques

Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize

*Open for submissions until May 3rd*

The first Leapfrog Fiction Prize was established in 2009 as an additional means of discovering new writing. This year, we have rebranded the contest the Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize and have split the competition into two, providing both an Adult Fiction prize and a Young Adult /Middle Grade prize.

What to Enter

This year we have expanded to two awards for Adult novels, novellas, and short story collections, and Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) novels. Minimum word count: 22,000. Individual stories in a collection may have been published in journals. Books that have been self-published will be considered "unpublished" if fewer than about 200 copies were printed.

We look for literary fiction and mainstream fiction, including science fiction. Generally we are less interested in strict genre fiction, but if a manuscript is good and grabs our attention, we don't care what the genre is.

Judging

All manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two Leapfrog and/or Can of Worms editors, and those that go to the second round of judging may be read by editors at other small presses as well.

Prizes

First Prize: publication contract offer from Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms Press, with an advance payment against royalties, plus the finalist awards (see below).

Finalists: $150 and one or two critiques of the manuscript from contest judges; permanent listing on the Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms contest pages as a contest finalist, along with short author bio and description of the book.

Semi-Finalist: Choice of a free Leapfrog and Can of Worms book; permanent listing on the websites.

Honourable Mention: listing on the Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms Press websites.


More details