Entering any novel prize or competition can be daunting. Putting your work out there is never an easy decision. That’s why we believe that EVERY writer should receive at least a paragraph of personalised feedback as to why they were not long-listed or shortlisted. This feedback is included in the cost of your entry fee of £29. We don’t charge you extra to find out why you were not successful.

Having that feedback can really help writers to realise that not only is reading subjective, but sometimes the reasons for not being long-listed have nothing to do with the quality of the work or the ability of the writer. Unplaced writers are the ones that need it most and that is why we decided to be the first prize to do this.

We accept all genres including memoir, fictional memoir. We do not accept children’s novels but we accept YA for both the children’s prize and the adult prize.

Please do check out our Cheshire Novel Prize Kids prize if you are writing for children: www.cheshirenovelprizekids.com

If you would like to sponsor a writer to enter, please, get in touch. We are so grateful to all of our sponsors.

We pride ourselves on being one of the most transparent prizes out there and we strive to ensure our prize is writer centric.

If you are wondering what your entry fee goes toward, this is how we invest it:

1. Paying for prize money, trophies and judge’s fees.

2. Paying for editors to help collate feedback and for editorial time spent writing feedback.

3. Each year our founder Sara Naidine Cox—along with our generous sponsors— ensures that there are unlimited sponsored places for under-represented writers as long as they meet our criteria. Sara believes all under-represented writers worldwide should have the ability to showcase their work.

4. Sponsored places for under-represented writers for summer school.

5. Platform fees for our card provider and tax.

6. Cheshire Novel Prize admin team.

7. On-going technical support.

8. Advertising.