First Pages Writing Competition

If you want a reader to buy your book or a publisher to offer you a contract, you need to make a good first impression.

The first pages competition is here to encourage unagented writers make their first impression the best it can be.

What do publishers look for in your first pages?

Don’t waste those first pages with exposition and back story. Publisher’s want a hook and ‘voice’ that grabs them as well as meeting a character they want to spend time with. Here is your chance to polish your first pages to perfection and grab a publisher or editor’s attention.

 

categories

  1. Picture book fiction (PBF) 0-8 yrs

  2. Picture book non-fiction (PBNF) 0-8 yrs

  3. Chapter books (CB) 7-12 yrs

  4. Older readers (OR ) 13-18 yrs

dates

Entries open: 1 June

Entries close: 30 Aug

Longlist announced: 13 Sept

Shortlist announced: 20 Sept

Winners announced: 11 October

prizes

Category winner
Publisher pitch ZOOM, publisher assessment & award certificate

Shortlisted
Publisher assessment & award certificate

Longlisted
Award certificate

eligibility

All unagented published or unpublished Australian holders of a base ticket can enter. The manuscript entry cannot be published or under contract.

You can enter as many times as you like as long as each entry is submitted separately with a new add-on ticket. 

guidelines

Download the First Pages Competition entry guidelines for how to format and submit your entry.