“A few months after being selected for the Readers' Pick prize, I signed with my agent, Maggie Cooper, at Aevitas Creative Management. I credit the preparation I did for the First Pages Prize with helping me write a successful query letter and a strong writing sample that was representative of the manuscript as a whole. Winning a prize for my writing was also a major confidence boost for me, as I hadn’t shared my manuscript with many readers prior to submitting to First Pages,” says Zoë Bossiere, 2021 Readers Pick winner.
Discover the 12 shortlisted entries for this year’s First Pages Prize
Read MoreDiscover the longlist of 36 entries for this year’s First Pages Prize. Congratulations to these emerging writers!
Read MoreLast year’s winner, Pip McKay, entered First Pages Prize mere days before the extended deadline closed. She indie published her historical fiction, The Telling Time, and was a finalist for the NZSA Heritage Literary Award. Here she shares her approach to her pages and hard-earned advice on following your gut feeling and giving it your all.
Read MoreAdam McCulloch won the inaugural First Pages Prize in 2018. Two time Pushcart Prize nominee, Emma Sloley’s debut dystopian novel, Disaster’s Children, launched with Little A in late 2019. Together, they share tips on how to give your first pages that spark to hook readers!
Read MoreAmanda Dennis’s debut novel, Her, Here launches in a few weeks with Bellevue Literary Press. As assistant professor of comparative literature and creative writing at the American University of Paris she lives and breathes words and writing. Here she shares her process(es) to write her first pages.
Read MoreUK author, Sarah Lawton writes psychological thrillers and blogs at mumzilla.co.uk. Her debut domestic suspense, All the Little Things (Canelo), launches March 25, 2021.
Read MoreInaugural winner of the Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction (partner prize of First Pages), debut memoirist Allison Hong Merrill shares 5 golden tips on how to keep your writing promises and be part of a writing community!
Read MoreAmerican author, Rachel Kapelke-Dale co-authored a memoir before selling her debut novel, The Ballerinas to St. Martin’s Press. She shares her winning philosophy on voice, flexibility and getting your reader to care about your pages!
Read MoreUK author, Polly Crosby’s debut novel, The Book of Hidden Wonders (The Illustrated Child in the UK) was snapped up in a 48 hour pre-empt. Her second novel, The Women of Pearl Island (The Unravelling in the UK) is out this autumn. Her first pages tips include when to stop self-editing and how structure can come after writing.
Read MoreBestselling author, Samantha Vérant, is an American who’s made her home in France and has landed five publishing deals with her approach to her first pages.
Read MoreDirector of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Lan Samantha Chang will judge the First Pages Prize 2021
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