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Comedy Women in Print Prize opens self-publishing category and appeals for funding
Comedy Women in Print Prize (CWIP) founder Helen Lederer has revealed changes to the award, including a new self-published category and more focus on "wit", and is appealing for support following HarperFiction’s withdrawal of involvement.
Lederer, a comedian and author, is asking for financial backing to continue beyond 2025. She has also opened a new category – along with the published and unpublished categories – for self-published authors in association with US publisher Atmosphere Press, as well as support from publisher Fuzzy Flamingo and a recent donation from cosmetics founder Eve Lom.
Lederer spoke to The Bookseller about the inclusion of self-publishing: "Because CWIP has to be pioneering and have its own values apart from other prizes, the autonomy of self-publishing is really important because by enabling writers, we’ve tried to empower through wit, and it’s an empowering thing to publish your own work.
"Through the platform you do find people self-published and published more conventionally because of how they can publish their own work. It’s an empowering thing because they can retain rights in a different way and have a different experience with it.
"There are many ways to publish – and while we genuinely love working with passionate publishers – some authors wish to self-publish their own work alongside their other work, they can retain rights in a different way and have a different experience with it, which all feeds into CWIP’s mission of using wit to get seen.
"Previously, there has been snobbery [about self-publishing]. But the world is changing with BookTok and things like that… We want to praise people who weren’t defeated by closed doors." (The Bookseller itself is running a self-publishing focus on 21st February.)
Lederer, of the recently published memoir Not That I’m Bitter (Mirror Books), said of the prize’s origins: "The reason we were set up was because there wasn’t a parity with male writers’ wit in prizes. That was a reason we set it up and now its got its own legs and we’re moving with that evolution to do things that haven’t been done before."
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The prize’s focus is also gradually shifting to a more nuanced recognition of comedy. "As we’ve shone a light on broader women’s writing, although romantic comedies and erotic fiction have their place, we’ve also found parody, satire and a version of fantasy, crime and other things have come in," Lederer said. "So we welcome different genres but at the forefront it’s the witty narrative that appeals – it doesn’t have to be gag-driven. It’s looking for a witty narrative voice that can lend itself to any one of these wider genres.
"It’s fascinating in how things have evolved. CWIP is playing its part in recognising a wider canvas, seeing wit as a more powerful weapon of getting visibility."
Lederer is urging the industry to help secure the prize’s future through donations following long-time sponsor HarperFiction’s decision to step away after six years of supporting the unpublished category. While she is having conversations with two publishers on possible sponsorship, the future of the prize is not certain. "We would love to partner with someone else for say three years or more," Lederer said. "This would be a positive way to partner with a new organisation to move it forward… Fundraising is an art form and everything helps. For example, we were thrilled to receive support from Eve Lom MBE recently."
“We have evidence of the changes we’ve made… we have real hopes, including working in women’s prisons." There are plans for a "CWIP witty workshop" series with HMP East Sutton Prison this year, as well as CWIP writing salons and the award announcement in November at the recently reopened Groucho Club.
Prize judges have included Maureen Lipman, Joanna Scanlan, Marian Keyes, Lolly Adefope, Susie Blake, Arabella Weir and Llewella Gideon, while the likes of Jilly Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Jo Brand and Sharon Horgan have attended the events or been honoured by the prize.
Lederer first launched the prize back in 2018. In the same year, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize did not run because judges said no entry made them "laugh out loud", leading to author Marian Keyes labelling the award as "sexist", with only three women winning the award in 18 years.
A spokesperson for HarperFiction told The Bookseller: "HarperFiction was pleased to work with the Comedy Women in Print Prize on its Unpublished Comic Novel strand from 2019 until the prize last ran in 2023. Over that time, we acquired four winners, the most recent of which, Homesick by [2023 winner] Silvia Saunders, is published by HarperFiction in hardback this week.
"While we are no longer working directly with the prize, we wish it every success going forward as it continues to celebrate and seek out fantastic female comedic talent." CWIP winner Niloufar Lamakan’s Aged to Perfection (One More Chapter) is also being published later this month.
The opening date for the Comedy Women in Prize 2025 entries will be 14th April. For more information, visit www.comedywomeninprint.co.uk or to donate visit this link.
