Competition launch: 5,000 words to win 5K!

Writers Online are excited to launch the new First 5K Novel Prize, and invite you to enter the beginning of your manuscript to win amazing prizes

Have you always dreamed of writing a novel, and getting it published? For many of us, it’s the ultimate goal – one of the biggest, and most rewarding challenges for any writer.

Our mission at Writers Online is to inspire writers and help them find the creative tools they need to realise their dreams and turn their imaginative worlds into stories on the page. That’s why we’ve created The First 5K Novel Prize – to reward and encourage writers embarking on the exciting and sometimes terrifying journey of writing a publishable novel.

We know that drafting a manuscript and navigating the publishing industry can be daunting, so to motivate you to start that novel and keep going, we’re inviting you to send us the beginning of your novel and a synopsis for the chance to win a hefty cash prize, plus equally significant writer development opportunities. Entering The First 5K offers access to industry experts who will offer professional opinions to winners to help them hone and craft their work to a publishable standard.

The shortlist will be read by two leading publishing insiders who will be familiar to readers of Writing Magazine.

By entering the first 5,000 words of your novel, you could not only win a £5,000 cash prize, but a consultation with our lead judge Piers Blofeld, literary agent at Sheil Land Associates Ltd, and author of the From the Other Side of the Desk column in WM. The runner up will receive £500 and a consultation with Monica Chakraverty, editorial director at Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and the author of WM‘s Ask a Literary Consultant.

The beginning of a novel is where you get to introduce your lead characters, set up the story that will unfold, and bring to life their setting and circumstances. It’s what will – if you get it right – entice a reader to keep turning the pages – and vitally, the opening of your novel is your chance to hook the interest of a literary agent.

This contest, designed to showcase your creativity and gain its winners access to leading industry professionals, is the ideal motivation for you to polish your novel opening so it shines.

Whether you’re an experienced author or a first-time writer, we welcome original, compelling stories in any fiction genre. Any writer, from beginner to experienced, may enter an unpublished novel manuscript. Whatever level you’re at, our First 5K competition is designed to showcase your talent and build your writing profile.

With such great prizes on offer, the 5K Novel Prize is a major addition to our extensive competition programme – the opportunity to submit your best work, inspire readers, and compete with talented writers from around the world. Don’t miss your chance to turn your imagination into a full-length, award-winning novel – enter today! We’re excited to see your work and help you move closer to your publishing goals.

Enter here: https://www.writers-online.co.uk/writing-competitions/the-first-5k-novel-prize/

Novel-writing advice from Piers Blofeld

My five top tips for anyone brave enough to write a novel and who wants to get an agent at the end are:

1. Know your genre
There is hardly a writer alive who doesn’t feel that their book doesn’t neatly fit into a genre box. That’s not the point – publishers and booksellers have to market books and they do so by putting them into streams: genres. Spend some time thinking about how this works and accept that it is unavoidable. It is going to happen so you might as well work with it.

2. Know who you are writing for
This is not the same as genre: it’s about age, sex, gender and identity. Having a clear idea of your ideal reader, up to the point of being able to carry on conversations in your head with them, is a really useful technique and can give your writing a clarity of purpose and tone which is incredibly useful.

3. Good feedback is the hardest thing to get
To be honest I think it is almost impossible: friends will never be really honest, nor will paid-for editorial services – though both can be useful. The best reader you will get (until you get an agent) is yourself – one of the things which distinguishes really successful authors is that they have a truly ruthless inner ear.

4. Know what you are trying to say – and try to say it
At any given point you should know what the scene you are writing is doing, how it relates to the previous scene and the one that comes after. A huge amount of writing is signposting: if you are absolutely clear in your mind what you are trying to say then that confidence will communicate to the reader – and they will like you for it.

5. The synopsis is your friend
Everybody hates synopses – the reason they do is that they expose where your story isn’t working. The old agenting trick is to ask for a 5,000, a 500 and a 50-word synopsis: the 50-word is by far the hardest. If you can’t tell your story to yourself in a simple and clear way, then you’ll have no chance of doing so to a reader and that means that you are not in control of your material.

Top novel-writing tips from Monica Chakraverty, Editorial Director, Cornerstones

I’m the Editorial Director at Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, where I head up the Scouting Programme with director Helen Corner-Bryant. We champion debut authors towards publication by introducing our key writers to agents or publishers, so we need a keen eye for what has literary and commercial merit.

The key, for me, is to find a strong, distinctive voice that feels secure from the outset of the book. However literary the novel, I’m looking for a strong hook that will have me invested in a protagonist up to the very last page. I love a hero who creates conflicting emotions, someone with complex layers that are revealed as the story moves on.

To drill further into genres, which should feel clearly defined in any submission, thrillers need a particularly strong hook to stand out for me, with a memorable twist at the end. Psychological suspense novels continue to dominate bestseller lists. I need to feel that rush of adrenaline within the first few chapters, taking me on a journey that allows a reader to (safely) explore a dangerous world that exposes our innermost fears.

I’m interested in anything with the potential to surprise. Some books can feel a little formulaic but I’m looking for what hasn’t been said, or a character who allows us to see the world in a new light.

Women’s fiction is perennially popular and needs to carry me on a journey that feels intuitive and effortless. I love a good historical novel that evokes a strong sense of place, allowing me to dive into that rich era, view it from the inside, and time-travel into that immersive world.

When times are tough in the world outside, romance and fantasy become even more popular with readers so I’ll be looking out for these genres too, hoping there’ll be something to catch my eye by approaching the story with, perhaps, a surprising approach that keeps me guessing until the end.

For authors, I’d suggest taking time away from the book before submitting. A final read with fresh eyes can really help that final edit. This can help highlight strengths and weaknesses in the plotting and to check the narrative flow.

This also holds true for the synopsis, so focus on something tight, between 500 and 800 words, that follows the key beats of your story. In our book On Editing, by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price, we use the three-act graph to chart those beats within the synopsis.

Finally, a strong elevator pitch is key to being scooped up by an agent and will convey exactly what the book’s unique element is, ideally making them desperate to find out more!

Prizes and rules:

First: £5,000 cash prize plus a consultation with literary agent Piers Blofeld.

Runner up: £500 cash prize and a consultation with Monica Chakraverty, editorial director and head of scouting programme, Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.

Everybody on the shortlist will receive a 12-month Writers Online Membership Plus.

Everybody on the longlist will receive a 12-month Writers Online membership.

Entry is open to any unagented writer of an unpublished novel manuscript in any genre aimed at adult or YA readers. Entries must be original and unpublished in any form, and the entrant must not be currently represented by a literary agent.

The entry package should consist of the first 5,000 words of the manuscript (double spaced in a clear font, ie Arial, Times New Roman, 12pt) and a one-page synopsis (single spaced) in the same document.

There is no limit to number of entries. International entries are welcome. Entrants retain copyright in their manuscripts. The entrant can have been previously published either independently (self-published) or traditionally but the manuscript being submitted must be unpublished.

Manuscripts that have been in any way AI generated are not eligible for entry, but entrants may have used Assistive AI in the writing process.

Entry Fees
Fee for each entry is £27.5 BUT ONLY £24.00 for subscribers to Writing Magazine, Writers Online Membership and Writers Online Membership Plus.

Closing date: 31 December 2026

Have you got a story that deserves to be a winner? Here’s everything you need to know to give your writing competition entries the best chance of success!