Unpublished author contract competition

[thaddeus6th]

Not sure if this is the right place, so feel free to move it, but there's a competition for unpublished authors in the Daily Mail. (Unpublished is broadly defined to mean no novels, including self-published ones. Unsure about short stories).

Essentially, submit (via post) 5,000 words to arrive by 16 April. If you get the nod, the novel needs to be finished by 30 October.

Pretty tight timescale and the postal submission is a shade archaic. However, you do get a £20,000 advance.

Not sure if it's open to overseas people (the Mail's UK-based, so perhaps not).

Obviously, I'm not eligible and many others here aren't, but if you are and won't (self-)publish for months, why not submit? If you don't get it published, you lose nothing, and if you do you get £20,000, at least.

As always, check the terms and conditions closely so that you know you're eligible, and so that you comply with the guidelines when submitting.

Your chance to become a bestselling novelist!

 

[BDFiala]

Only for UK and Ireland residents... But, it's worth a try for those who are eligible!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Aye, the conditions are a bit tight, but a £20k advance is pretty juicy.

 

[BDFiala]

I'd be writing day and night to finish the manuscript on time, so I don't have to return that advance!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

The winner of our competition will receive a £20,000 advance fee, the services of a top literary agent — and guaranteed publication by Penguin Random House UK.
Your story can be a romance, a thriller, a sci-fi adventure, a contemporary tale or an historical one, as long as it is aimed at adults (not children) and is previously unpublished.
Entrants must never have had a novel published before (in any format, including ebook or self-published) and must be 16 or over — but don’t worry, there’s no upper age limit!
And we don’t need the finished novel — just the first 5,000 words plus a 600-word synopsis of the complete work.

Interesting.

HOW TO ENTER
Please read carefully because any entries that do not meet the rules will be discounted. Full terms and conditions, which you must agree to and be bound by, are available online at www.dailymail.co.uk/novelcomp
1. Please submit your entry consisting of the first 5,000 words of your novel in the English language, and a synopsis of the rest of the plot in no more than 600 words. All entries to be printed on A4 paper with double spacing in font size 12 point Times New Roman.
2. Entries are to be posted, couriered or hand delivered (not emailed) to Daily Mail First Novel Competition, c/o Penguin Random House Group, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA by 17.30 GMT on SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2016. Entries received after this date will not be judged. (DO NOT SEND YOUR ENTRY DIRECT TO THE DAILY MAIL.)
3. All entries must include a cover sheet with your full name and contact details (including home and email address). You must also confirm that you have read the full list of terms and conditions available online.
4. Entrants may submit only one entry to the competition. No manuscripts will be returned, so keep a copy of your work.
5. All entries must be original, previously unpublished works of fiction on any subject or genre. Entrants must not have previously published a novel — this includes novels that have been self-published or are available only as eBooks.
6. Entrants must not be currently represented by a literary agent.
7. The winner, when chosen, must complete their manuscript by OCTOBER 30, 2016.
8. The competition, which is free to enter, is open to anyone aged 16 or over who is a resident of the UK or Republic of Ireland, except for employees (and their families) of the Penguin Random House UK group, Associated Newspapers

Well, Gollanz wanted paper submissions in post. It saves on printing costs

Don't forget to download the REAL rules as PDF ...

www.dailymail.co.uk/novelcomp (save as file)

 

[DrMclony]

Interesting. Best of luck to those who enter. I had been starting to see the concept of "Self Publishing as the new apprenticeship." but I guess the daily mail do not agree!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

but I guess the daily mail do not agree!

You mean Penguin don't agree!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Not really a competition or "lottery".

Reading the PDF rules:

Best submission gets choice 10 titles
five runners up get choice 5 titles

There is no other prize. the £20K is really £23K advance on earnings, if a contract is agreed in 30 days of getting full MSS in October AND they want to "award" that to anyone. £3K goes to Luigi Bonomi the Agent you have to have if they deem a MSS is good enough. So being "Winner" in June may only mean "winning" 10 books.

So it's an Open Submission Window till 16th April 2016, for unpublished Authors (in broadest sense, any ISBN OR any eBook made public disqualifies).

They might not publish anyone, or do deals with no agent and no advance.

If they aren't captivated on first page, they may not read the full 5K. Typos, bad formatting, spelling will likely count against any submission.

 

[Serendipity]

O.K. in the t's & c's, they are talking about publication being by the Century imprint - this is the imprint that published Wool by Howard Howey.

 

[Serendipity]

Is anyone considering entering this competition?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I decided it was too restrictive and now I'm not eligible as I have paper ISBN (CreateSpace) and eBook ISBN (Smashwords). It would have meant delaying my plans nearly 6 months.

 

[Nick B]

Same for us Ray. At least 6 months. We aren't waiting until October minimum, just to see if the ludicrously slim chance of winning pops up.

 

[Dan Jones]

I might give it a bash. I certainly have 5K ready to go (though no synopsis yet, and I HATE synopses), and would only have about 20-30K more to write before October. I'd probably even have time for betas and revisions if lucky. Plus the feedback thus far for MOW has been really positive, surprisingly so for a first draft, so who knows?

Eminently do-able if I don't take on any other projects. But I reckon there are a lot of good writers out there...

 

[Ray McCarthy]

ludicrously slim chance

I think "Century imprint" isn't very likely to go for my Fantasy and certainly not for my off beat SF. I'm not getting any younger and most open submissions are only limited to unpublished work, not unpublished authors. The way it's presented is a little misleading too. In theory you'd know at end of June if you were out, but the middle of summer isn't maybe the best time for launching first novel via self publishing, hence my theory it being a six month delay. Actually I've discovered that to to proof paper economically you need to allow 30 days delivery,I've paid far more for two day express (should have paper print this week )

CreateSpace assigns ISBN at start of process.

Also if you want minimum outlay and to check your proof corrections on paper you need about 70 days! That means to have paper edition of 2nd book "The Journeyman's Talent" at same Monday, 22nd August 2016 release as eBook, I need to upload Interior and cover and start "review" at CreateSpace" before the end of April, so as to have time to order 1s & 2nd version proofs at cheap 30 day delivery rate.


I've not decided yet if I will risk just on screen proof of 1st proof corrections for the "The Apprentice's Talent". I might as reviewing the electronic proof I only see so far some very minor formatting issues. The important thing is NO EDITING at this stage, only fix which side of page a chapter starts, or a paragraph in wrong font/size, or very carefully a typo / punctuation (which can mysteriously be in even with super duper grammar plugins, custom dictionaries and annotating proof reading on Kindle/Kobo ... I've not relied at all on paper transcribing. The proof edition will be the first.