Daily Mail PRH First Novel Competition 2018
The Daily Mail and Penguin Random House have launched the third year of their nationwide competition to search for a new writing talent.
The winner will receive a £20,000 advance and publishing contract with PRH imprint Century and the services of literary agent Luigi Bonomi.
Entrants are invited to submit the first 3,000 words of their novel, along with a 600-word synopsis. Submissions can be of any adult genre except for saga, science fiction and fantasy. Entrants must not have had a novel published before.
The competition will be judged by a panel of experts: author and TV presenter Fern Britton; Bonomi, managing director of LBA Literary Agents; crime writer Simon Kernick; the Daily Mail's literary editor Sandra Parsons; and Selina Walker, publisher for Century & Arrow.
Walker said she would this year be looking for "authors who can tell stories that pull you into a world that feels more real than the one around you, who can create characters you care about, who can shape a narrative you absolutely can't put down". She added: "It's hard to find a writer who can do all three - but when you do, it jumps out and bites you on the nose."
