Zoë Bossiere 2021 Readers' Pick - on having the courage to send your work out into the world
“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.
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Discover the shortlist for First Pages Prize 2021
Discover the 12 shortlisted entries for this year’s First Pages Prize
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Announcing the long list for First Pages Prize 2021
Discover the longlist of 36 entries for this year’s First Pages Prize. Congratulations to these emerging writers!
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2020 winner Pip McKay's first pages tips: 'When I plan too much, I lose some of the magic'
Last 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.
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Winning first pages tips from author-couple Adam McCulloch and Emma Sloley
Adam 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!
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"Playing with different beginnings to find the right moment to enter the story": Amanda Dennis on first pages
Amanda 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.
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"I can't leave an unpolished sentence": James Russell shares first pages tips
Prolific NZ author, James Russell, writes children’s books - picture books and middle-grade fiction - with two adult fiction novels in the works. His prime focus is hooking readers fast from page one - and keeping the stakes high until The End.
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"We rewrote, workshopped, read aloud to consider the beat and flow..." Secrets of selling thrillers from Sarah Lawton
UK 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.
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Writing Promises and Accountability Sisters: Allison Hong Merrill's First Pages Tips
Inaugural 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!
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Set the mood, the stakes, and begin to build the world...
American 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!
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Plunging into the middle of a scene can be a sure winner to hook readers
UK 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.
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