Sphere takes over sponsorship of £20k Daily Mail First Novel competition from Cornerstone

Little, Brown imprint Sphere has taken over sponsorship of the Daily Mail First Novel competition from Penguin Random House division Cornerstone.  

The competition, first launched with Penguin Random House in 2016, offers talented debut authors a publishing deal with the imprint, which publishes authors including Robert Galbraith and Val McDermid, as well as a £20,000 advance and representation by LBA.  

Previous winners and runners-up include authors Louise Morrish, Lesley Kara, Amy Lloyd, Lizzy Barber and Georgia Fancett.  

The judging panel is made up of novelist Clare Mackintosh, Sphere publishing director Ed Wood, editorial director Darcy Nicholson, LBA founder Luigi Bonomi, LBA agent Hannah Schofield and Daily Mail literary editor Sandra Parsons.  

Entries must be written for an adult audience and can be in any genre except science-fiction, fantasy and horror. The contest is for unagented, first-time authors who have not had any work of fiction published before. 

Entrants will have until 1st November 2022 to submit 3,000 words of a manuscript or work-in-progress, along with a 600-word synopsis. The winner will be announced by 1st March 2023 and they will have until 1st November 2023 to deliver the full manuscript. 

Further details can be found here.