I Am Writing Competitions 2024 Winners

It's announcement time for the I Am Writing Competitions!

This year we created SEVEN fabulous opportunities for your talent to be spotted by industry professionals! Read on to discover the top placements for each of our competitions and, where judges found it difficult to choose, some highly commended places too!

An astonishing 1526 entries were received and broken down by genre as follows:-

I Am Writing Crime / Thriller Competition: 188
I Am Writing Historical Competition: 143
I Am Writing Middle Grade Competition: 228
I Am Writing Picture Books Competition: 430
(Some entries contained 2 texts)
I Am Writing Romance Competition: 115
I Am Writing Sci-Fi / Fantasy Competition: 238
I Am Writing Young Adult Competition: 184


As you can see, we received a record number of entries and we want to express another huge well done to each writer who entered. It is no mean feat sharing your work with a top industry professional and judges worked incredibly hard to compile a shortlist of ten entries for their category, making a total of 70 writers on the shortlists altogether! Each judge agreed the standard was incredibly high and several had great difficulty in narrowing the list down further to pick their top places. But we now have the news you have all be waiting for...

Here we go!!!


Announcing the I Am Writing competition winners!

I Am Writing CRIME / THRILLER Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of crime / thriller novel for adults along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Diana Beaumont

2nd Prize: A 15 minute consultation with Diana Beaumont

3rd Prize: A 15 minute consultation with Diana Beaumont

Judged by: Diana Beaumont, Literary Agent at DHH Literary Agency.


I Am Writing HISTORICAL Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of historical novel for adults along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Liza DeBlock

2nd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Liza DeBlock

3rd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Liza DeBlock

Judged by: Liza DeBlock, Foreign Rights Manager and Literary Agent at Mushens Entertainment.


I Am Writing MIDDLE GRADE Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of MG novel along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Lydia Silver

2nd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Lydia Silver

3rd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Lydia Silver

Judged by: Lydia Silver, Director and Literary Agent at Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency


I Am Writing PICTURE BOOKS Competition

Entrants were invited to submit up to two picture book texts of no more than 600 words each, in prose or verse, that are perfect for sharing with children aged 3-6.

1st Prize: £250, a one-to-one Zoom editorial consultation with the Little Tiger editorial team to discuss the winning submission plus a £50 book token

2nd Prize: Written editorial feedback and £30 book token

3rd Prize: Written editorial feedback and £20 book token

Sponsored and judged by: Little Tiger


I Am Writing ROMANCE Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of teen, YA or adult romance novel along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Megan Carroll

2nd Prize: A 15 minute consultation with Megan Carroll

3rd Prize: A 15 minute consultation with Megan Carroll

Judged by: Megan Carroll, Literary Agent at Watson, Little Ltd.


I Am Writing SCI-FI / FANTASY Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of MG, YA or adult Sci-Fi / Fantasy novel along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Jo Fletcher or Ian Drury

2nd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Jo Fletcher or Ian Drury

3rd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Jo Fletcher or Ian Drury

Judged by: Science-fiction and Fantasy Publisher, Jo Fletcher and Ian Drury, Literary Agent at Sheil Land Associates


I Am Writing YOUNG ADULT Competition

Entrants were invited to submit the first 3,500 words of any type of YA novel along with a one-page synopsis.

1st Prize: £250 plus a 30 minute online consultation with Clare Wallace

2nd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Clare Wallace

3rd Prize: A 15 minute online consultation with Clare Wallace

Judged by: Clare Wallace, Managing Director of Children's and Literary Agent at Darley Anderson Children's Book Agency



Sponsored Entries

We would like to thank all of the kind people who sponsored one or multiple entries to the competitions. Your generosity really does help keep the competitions accessible to those who might otherwise find it financially difficult to enter.

A total of 46 gratis places were offered as follows:
25 donated by the two of us at I Am In Print
21 funded by the wonderful writing community

An additional 23 entries were discounted to 50% by us at I Am In Print


Stay Positive!

We know that some of you will be disappointed not to make it on to one of the lists. We want to reiterate you that you are all very brave to enter and share your work with an industry professional. Take a breath, and when you are ready, continue your writing. You may have been pipped to the post here, but other opportunities may arise. Keep going!


FAQS

Most frequent questions and answers:

Please email us at: competitions@iaminprint.co.uk if you cannot find the answer to your question in the FAQs or the competition guidelines.

The competitions close on Tuesday 28 May 2024 at 13:00 BST. Entries will NOT be accepted after this date and time.

Agented writers may only enter the Picture Book competition as this is not judged by an agent. All other competitions are judged by agents, so in the interest of fairness, the other six competitions are restricted to unagented entrants.

Yes, self-published entries are accepted.

Yes, our competitions are open to international writers. All entries must be in English.

No. Do not include your name on your entry. The judging will be completed annonymously. Please refer to the individual guidelines of each competition for more information.

Each competition entry costs £13. See each individual competition for the rules on how many entries can be submitted per fee. A summary of what the fee covers is answered under the Question “Why is there a fee to enter the competitions?”.

Yes, you can enter as many as you like *!

There are three YA categories, for example, being judged by three different agents. If you think your novel fits Romance, Sci Fi/Fantasy and YA, you can enter the same sample text into all three competitions! Each entry will be charged separately.

You may have also authored different books. If, for example, you are writing two crime / thriller novels, you can include two extracts on two separately paid entries within that category.

And finally, if you are a multi-talented writer who is writing different stories for Picture Books, Middle Grade, and adult Historical fiction, you can choose to enter all three stories in the three different categories.

* Sponsored entries are limited to one free or discounted entry per individual so choose your best work to showcase.

(What we would advise against, is to submit the same book into the same category more than once – this does not increase your chances of success).

No, it does not need to be exactly 3,500 words, but we would recommend getting as close as you can to the 3,500 words without going over or stopping in the middle of a sentence.

The competitions will open on Monday 15 April 2024 at 09:00am BST.

The competitions close on Tuesday 28 May 2024 at 13:00 BST.

The shortlists will be announced on Monday 24 June 2024 on the www.iaminprint.co.uk website and across our social media platforms.

The winners will be announced on Monday 8 July 2024 on the www.iaminprint.co.uk website and across our social media platforms.

The shortlists will be announced on Monday 24 June 2024 on the www.iaminprint.co.uk website and across our social media platforms.

The winners will be announced on Monday 8 July 2024 on the www.iaminprint.co.uk website and across our social media platform.

No. We will only publish the shortlist / winners’ names and entry title, not the actual document.

The one-page synopsis can be single line spaced. Your 3,500 words should be double line spaced.

Yes, you can, but it must be counted within the 3,500 words. It cannot be additional to the specified word count.

No. The title is not counted within the 3,500 words.

No. Your manuscript does not need to be complete to enter, but you do need a one-page synopsis for some of the competitions. Please see the individual guidelines on each competition for more information.

The fee for each paying entry goes towards covering the numerous costs of running the competitions, some of which are detailed below:

  • VAT
  • Competition entry platform fees
  • Credit card / debit card processing fees
  • Prize Money
  • Advertising
  • Agent and administration fees
  • Technical support
  • Sponsoring a limited number of discounted and free entries for underrepresented or low income writers

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