2013 WOMEN’s Novel Competition

1ST PRIZE: £5,000

Judging Panel:

Kirsty Lang, arts journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4′s Front Row
Val McDermid, award-winning novelist, journalist and short story writer
Novel Competition 2013Charlotte Robertson, literary agent at Aitken Alexander Associates

The three finalists will be offered free professional feedback by The Literary Consultancy.

The 12 shortlisted authors will be invited to meet literary agents and editors at a special networking event in London.

The competition is open to unpublished women novelists writing in any genre for adults, including literary fiction, women’s fiction, young adult fiction, science fiction, fantasy, chick-lit, crime fiction, thriller, historical fiction… but not nonfiction or fiction for under 13s. To constitute a novel, your book must total at least 50,000 words.

Closing date: 23 September 2013

Please note: This is NOT an annual competition. The next adult novel competition will not be until 2015 (TBC).
Please make sure you have read the rules THOROUGHLY before submitting

YOUR NOVEL
•Your novel can be in any genre, but must be for adult or young adult readers. Nonfiction and fiction for children under 13 is not eligible. To qualify as a novel, your book must total at least 50,000 words.
• You may submit up to 5,000 words, which must be the first 5,000 words of the novel. Any preface is included in your 5,000 words. There is no need to submit a synopsis.
• Please complete your novel before entering. Shortlisted entrants will be asked to submit a full manuscript and synopsis for the final stages of the judging process. Entrants unable to comply will be disqualified.
• Please submit your work typed, double-spaced on A4-sized paper, single sided, with pages numbered and your novel’s title on every page.
• Your novel will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on the pages of your novel. Use a separate cover page with your name, address, telephone number and email address, plus the title of the novel you are submitting.
• No alterations may be made to a novel extract once submitted.
• Your submission will not be returned, so please keep a copy. If you want confirmation that we have received your postal entry, please enclose an SAE labeled ‘Acknowledgement’. Sorry, we do not send copies of the result to entrants.
• The winner will be contacted in February 2014 and announced in the Mar/Apr/May 2014 issue of Mslexia.

ELIGIBILITY
•This is a competition for unpublished novelists. Women who have had a novel published commercially, for any age group, in any country, are not eligible.
• Women who have had other types of books published (e.g. poetry, memoir, nonfiction), but have not had a novel published, are eligible.
• Self-published manuscripts are eligible.
• Novels should be in English (or English dialect) and should not have been published or accepted for publication by a commercial publisher.
• Novels should not be a translation of another author’s work.
• You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia to be eligible, but you do have to be a woman. We will accept novels from women of any nationality from any country.
• Employees of Mslexia are not eligible.

HOW TO ENTER
•Send your novel extract by post or enter online at http://www.mslexia.co.uk/novelcompetition.
• If entering by post, mark your envelope ‘Women’s Novel Competition’ and send it postmarked no later than 23 September 2013 to Mslexia Publications Ltd, PO Box 656, Freepost NEA5566, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1BR. We regret FREEPOST is not available for entries from overseas, so please make sure you attach the relevant postage to your envelope.
• If entering online, be sure to follow the instructions on the website carefully. Novel extracts and cover sheets should be sent together as a single attachment.
• The entry fee of £25 allows you to enter an extract from one novel. You may enter as many novels as you like, provided each novel extract is accompanied by the £25 entry fee.
• Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. If you want to use a different currency, please pay online on our website via PayPal, which will convert your fee automatically into pounds sterling.
• You can pay by cheque (payable to Mslexia Publications Ltd) or by debit or credit card (phone +44 (0)191 204 8860 with your details). You can also pay online via our website, but in this case you must include with your entry a note of the date on which you paid, and the email address you used, so that we can trace your payment.

Good luck!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy