Goldfinch Novel Award 2025

Overview

• The Goldfinch Books Novel Award is a £500 worldwide prize for manuscripts written in English by emerging novelists writing for adults and young adults, hosted by Goldfinch in partnership with the Alton Arts Festival.

• Winner announcement will be on a date in July to be confirmed.

• The judge for the Award will be announced in advance of the closing date, The judge for the 2024 award was Associate Agent from Mushens Entertainment Literary Agency, Kiya Evans.

• Initial submissions are the opening 3,000 words (+synopsis) of novel manuscripts for adults or young adults which are complete at over 50,000 words.

• A second round of entries will be invited from longlistees comprising the full manuscript of the same novel.

• A final round will comprise the Judge's work to pick the winning manuscript from the shortlist.

• Entry is £10 per novel with sponsored places available for writers on a low income (please email for details).

• Submissions for The Goldfinch Books Novel Award are invited until close of 31st May in the year of the award.

  Detailed Terms

• The Goldfinch Books Novel Award, in partnership with Alton Arts Festival, is a prize for emerging authors who are unagented writers yet to accept an offer of publication for a novel (for any age of readers), chapter book or picture book which includes an advance / pre-publication payment from the publisher. For clarity, novels being published by an independent publisher for an author who is unagented, are eligible as long as the author has not been offered an advance / pre-publication payment from the publisher.

• Entries may be submitted until 23:59 GMT on May 31st in the year of the competition.

• The prize is open worldwide to writers aged 16 or over on the closing date.

• Books can be unpublished, self-published or independently published.

• We accept: YA novels and novels for adults.

• Entries should be your text only, in English, without any photographs, maps or artwork.

• Full manuscripts may be of any length, however as a guide, we recommend 50-70,000 words for YA and 70-100,000 words for adult novels. Fantasy novels are often longer.

• Books must be submitted in English and must be the author’s own work.

• The winner of The Goldfinch Books Novel Award will receive £500. In the event of a joint win, the prize money will be shared equally between winners.

• Prize money will be paid by bank transfer within two weeks of the announcement of the winner.

• Submissions should include one document including (up to) the first 3,000 words of your book, double-spaced in a size 12 font (Arial or Times), followed by a one page synopsis which should be single-spaced in a size 12 font.

• Longlisted entrants will be invited (by email notification) to submit a second entry of the full manuscript of the same book.

• Submissions should be made by email to submissions@goldfinch-books.com with a single attachment and we accept Word docs, docx and pdf

• As entries are read blind, your name should NOT appear anywhere in the document. The submission email will be used to link the attached submission with the entry in a process not visible to the judges.

• The entrance fee is £10 per submission and you may enter as many times as you wish.

• Entrance fees will be used to fund the prizes and the administration of the competitions for the novel award, the young writer award and the mini writer award by Goldfinch Books.

• There are a number of free sponsored entries for low income writers otherwise unable to afford entry fees.

• The winner agrees to an interview which may be published on our site and in any media for publicity purposes, including that of the Alton Arts Festival.

• Entrants retain full copyright, however by entering, all shortlisted entrants give permission for us to post an extract of up to 3,000 words on our site and that of the Alton Arts Festival.

• The longlist and shortlist will be announced (in the form of the novel title only) on the websites and in social media of Goldfinch Books and Alton Arts Festival with longlistees invited by email to submit their full manuscript for the final judging stages.

• Shortlistees will win a short piece of Judges’ feedback on their second stage submission. This feedback will be provided after the winning novel has been announced.

• Entries which do not comply with the competition rules may be disqualified.

• Employees of Goldfinch Books, and the judge’s literary agency, and Directors of Alton Arts Festival are not eligible to win.

• The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning this decision.

• No contest entry fees will be returned

• By submitting, you are agreeing to all contest rules.

• Contest rules may be subject to change.

  Sponsored Entry Place

• Submit your novel in the way as described in the submissions process. In the submission email, please state that your entry is a sponsored entry application.

• Should applications exceed the number of sponsored places, the most promising novels will be selected.

• If you are unsuccessful in applying for a sponsored place, we will contact you by email to offer a chance to enter by paying the normal entry fee.

• If shortlisted, applicants will be contacted and must be able to provide proof of financial eligibility such as: Universal Credit; Personal Independence Payment; Disability Living Allowance; full-time study; full-time carer. All details will be kept entirely confidential.

  Can you support writers on low income?

• The Goldfinch Books Novel Award is solely funded by entry fees. If you are able to sponsor a writer who is unable to afford entry fees then please email gary@goldfinch-books.com. 100% of donations received fund places for writers on a low income.

  FAQ

• Can co-authored books win?

  Yes. We ask that all authors are named and a separate email address given for each in the submission email (with just the lead email given in the entry form). Should a co-authored book be longlisted we ask for formal confirmation of how any prizes would be allocated in the event of a win. To enter a book authored by two writers, please type the first author’s details in the entry form, but also include the second (and third etc) author’s details in the submission email.

• I’ve accepted a publishing deal (with advance) since entering, can I still win?

  Writers who accept a publishing deal with advance payment prior to our winner’s announcement are no longer eligible to win. If your deal arrived after being shortlisted we will honour that listing.

• I’ve signed with an agent since entering, can I still win?

  Writers who sign with a literary agent prior to our winner’s announcement are no longer eligible to win.

• Is it okay to be in another competition concurrently?

  Yes – we recognise that exclusivity is not in writers’ best interests so will never ask you for this.

• Do you accept memoirs?

  Autobiographical novels are eligible to win. We are not the right prize for memoirs aimed at the non-fiction reader.

• My manuscript includes illustrations which are integral to reader’s understanding of the story, can I enter them?

  As we can only consider the text elements of manuscripts, we recommend inserting an alt text visual description in place of any images which are integral to the plot.

• I have not finished my novel, can I still enter?

  No. If your entry is longlisted from your opening extract, you will only have a few days between that announcement and the need to submit your full manuscript. We ask that you do not enter unless you have a full manuscript ready to submit if longlisted.

• I have a different question, how do I get in touch?

  Drop us an email at gary@goldfinch-books.com