Applications are open for Grindstone Novel Prize 2021. The Grindstone Novel Prize is one of the most prestigious and renowned novel prizes operating in the United Kingdom. Open to entrants from all over the world, our previous winners and shortlists have hailed from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, to name a few, and have gone on to find much success in the publishing industry.

Prizes

Grindstone Novel Prize has the following prizes

• Grand Prize: £1,000 + Full MS Request
• Runner Up: £500
• 4x Shortlisters: £100
• All Prize Winners will receive 25% CBCreative Online Course Discount + Atmos Collections Invitation
• The top 20 entries from the initial judging phases will also be curated into a chapbook and sent directly to the list of agencies below.

Criteria 

• The 2021 Novel Prize is open to unpublished or self-published, un-represented authors working on a novel aimed at Young Adult or Adult audiences.
• To be eligible, the finished (or projected finished) length must exceed 70,000 words. Works in progress are accepted in this competition, and entries may be of any genre.
• Entrants should submit the opening 3,000 words, accompanied by a short synopsis in the same file. Further details can be found below.
• Entrants submitting during the Super Early Bird or Early Bird phases of the prize will receive advanced announcements before the prize ends, informing them of the result of their entries.

Submission

Submit your entry during any entry phase to be considered for the prize.

• Super Early Bird: Submit before midnight GMT on the 1st of April 2021​ (Receive the result of your submission by the 1st of June 2021)
• Early Bird: Submit before midnight GMT on the 1st of July 2021 (Receive the result of your submission by ​the 1st of September 2021)
• Final Submission: Submit before midnight GMT the 1st October 2021 (Receive the final announcement on December 16th 2021)

Authors must have a projected finish time within 6 months of the final deadline to be eligible to enter. Entries must be submitted as PDFs.

Register and Submit