Novel and Novella Competitions

Booktrust. Prizes and awards that cover a wide range of genres and themes for both children and adults.

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Crime Writers’ Association ‘Debut Dagger’ Competition. An international competition for a debut crime novel. Submit the opening of a crime novel (not exceeding 3,000 words) and a synopsis of upto 1,500 words.

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Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award. Initially 5,000 to 8,000 words plus a 300 word synopsis. If long listed you submit a total of 15,000 words, including your original word count. If shortlisted, submit a total 30,000 words. Cash prizes and mentoring.

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Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize. Award for unpublished female authors.

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Cinnamon Press. Cash prizes for poems, flash fiction, short stories, novels and novellas. Entry fees.

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Exeter Writers. International novel and short story contests. Cash prizes, with extra awards for writers living in Devon.

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Flash 500. International competitions in flash fiction (quarterly), humorous verse (quarterly) and novel first chapter and synopsis (annual). Cash prizes and publication (for short story and verse). Entry fees.

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Malahat Review. International short fiction, novella, and long poem competitions. Cash prize and publication.

The Somerset Maugham Awards. Awards given for a published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the UK and under the age of 35.

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McKitterick Prize. Given annually to an author over the age of 40 for a first novel, published or unpublished.

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Mslexia Magazine. International women’s short story, flash fiction, novel and poetry competitions. Cash prize and publication.

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North Street Book Prize. Awards for self-published or hybrid-published books.

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The Paul Cave Prize for Literature. Various award including a £100 prize  for a novella up to 10,000 words.

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Rubery Book Awards. International annual competitions for self-published novels (including ebooks) and short stories. Cash prizes, publication of short story, and more.

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The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award. £10,000 awarded for a full-length published or self-published (in book or ebook formats) work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, by a British or Irish author aged 18-35 years.

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The Betty Trask Prize and The Betty Trask Awards. Prizes for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a traditional or romantic style.

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Wells Festival of Literature. Annual international competitions for poetry and short stories. Cash prizes and more.

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Women’s Prize for Fiction. A novel competition open to women writers. There’s also ‘First Chapter’ competition.

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Writers Online. A wide range of short story and poetry competitions. Some contests are open only to subscribers. Cash prizes and publication.

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The Yeovil Literary Prize. Annual international competitions for novels (first chapters and synopsis), short stories and poetry. Additional awards for authors in Somerset or Devon. Cash prizes.

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The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Cash prizes for historical fiction novels with an addition competition for young writers between 11 and 19.