Cheshire Novel Prize 2026 Longlist
Thank you so much to everyone who entered this year. The standard this year was incredibly high, and this was such a tough decision. However our judges finally decided on 12 standout titles across a variety of genres, and I am now delighted to share our 2026 longlist with you.
1. BEFORE IT ENDS AGAIN - Genre: Crime/Thriller
2. KILLER EXCLUSIVE - Genre: Crime/Thriller
3. EUROPEAN HOME DESIGN- Genre: Book Club
4. THE MARRIAGE BAR- Genre: Book Club
5. SMUT! Genre: Historical Fiction
6. BLACK MOUNTAIN- Genre: Historical Fiction
7. WAKING LEAVES - Genre: Literary Fiction.
8. BALEEN- Genre: Crime/Thriller
9. THE OTHER MRS TEMPLE - Genre: Commercial Fiction
10. THE WORK WIFE- Genre: Crime/Thriller
11. WITH EVERY SECRET THING - Genre: Book Club
12. THE SNOW HAS NO VOICE - Genre: YA.
I am sure you will join me in congratulating the successful writers on this massive achievement. Our judges will now decide the shortlist which will be announced in November 2026 – dates TBC.
The winner and Highly Commended will be announced in December 2026- dates TBC.
Feedback will go out until the end of December 2026. You can help us by adding entry@cheshirenovelprize.com and noreply@noveldash.com to your trusted senders list. If you haven’t received your feedback by end of December, please check your junk and spam folder and if it is still not there, email us with the name of your novel. Please note we cannot search for your feedback without this.
If you are wondering how to execute your feedback, our 6 week writing course will help you to do that. You can find all of the information and book here:
https://cheshirenovelprize.com/writing-workshops
If you made our Top 100, you will receive an email in the next few days and so please do check your junk/spam folder. However we have listed the names of the Top 100 novels along with the pitches on our website.
I often get asked why certain novels made the longlist. Here are a few pointers as to why some novels sailed through and some did not:
1. An immediate strong and compelling voice; we need to know who is telling the story.
2. A strong sense of time, place and setting in the opening chapters plus seasons always help too to add atmosphere.
3. Good worldbuilding particularly for fantasy, dystopia and science fiction.
4. A little bit of status quo so we can see the character as they are now before the inciting incident happens to ignite the engine of the story and change your character’s world as they know it.
5. Conflict.
6. Stakes.
7. Ideally the inciting incident happens in the first 1000 -2000 words.
8. A quest – the journey your characters go on after the inciting incident changes their status quo.
9. Propulsive story – whether that be character driven or plot driven depending on genre. We need something to keep us wanting to turn the pages.
10. Profluence – cause and effect of events that happen. For example instead of having a list of things that happen (this happens and then this happens) we like to see, this happens and then BECAUSE of this, this happens and then BECAUSE of this, this happens etc. This was originated by John Gardner in his book, ‘The Art of Fiction.’
11. Good description that adds depth and texture and moves the story on.
12. Dialogue that moves the story on and feels authentic
13. Questions raised for the reader to keep us reading on!
14. Some questions answered in the first 5000 words and more raised!
15. Does the synopsis start where the story starts?
16. Does the synopsis have a clear plot that is outlined with spoilers and the ending explained?
17. Good character arcs shown in the synopsis?
18. Can you show us in the synopsis how the character has changed?
Finally the famous prologue. Although they do have a great place in fiction when done well and can be used brilliantly to foreshadow plot events or characterisation, try to ensure if using one that it’s not a means to provide tons of background information or exposition to your story (rather than to slowly introduce these elements by weaving them into scenes throughout the book). Prologues also need to fit in somewhere to your main plot and need to be relevant. Sometimes writers use a prologue to throw us right into the middle of the action or tell us the ending of the story before it has begun but if we don’t know the characters yet or their status quo, sometimes it can be hard to care. There are so many examples of writers that use prologues brilliantly. There is a brilliant book called "If on a winters night a traveler" by Italo Calvino which deals with the beauty of prologues and the beginnings of books, and it contains about a dozen of them if you want more information.
Our adult prize will open again on 1st April 2027, and you can re-enter the same novel again next year once you have worked on your feedback. In fact, many of our listed writers and winners have been listed after entering a few times. Also do sign up to our newsletter to continue to receive monthly writing tips.
See you next year!
Happy writing!
Kind regards,
Sara