Daily Mail runs £20k debut crime novel competition

The Daily Mail is launching a crime writing competition in partnership with Penguin Random House imprint Century, with a prize of £20,000.

The competition is open only to first-time novelists who have never had a novel published before in any format, including self-published or an e-book. To enter, writers should submit 5,000 words of the novel and a short synopsis of 600 words.

The judges will be crime writer Simon Kernick; literary agent Luigi Bonomi who will represent the winner; Selina Walker, publisher of Century and Arrow Books; and Daily Mail literary editor Sandra Parsons.

The competition follows last year's Daily Mail First Novel competition, which was won by Amy Lloyd. Lloyd was awarded a £20,000 publishing deal with Penguin Random House. Her "disturbing" thriller Red River will be published in January 2018.

The newspaper said: “We were so impressed by the quality of the entries that we, and Penguin Random House, are running the competition again this year. However, as most of the best entries last time were crime and thrillers, this year we are asking for entries in that genre only. So delve into the dark and cunning corners of your mind and send us your novels, which can be detective crime, spy thrillers or psychological chillers.”

Further information can be had on the competition's website.