February 15, 2025
The First Pages Prize
First Pages Prize Writing Competition

For new, non-established writers, it can be difficult to find writing competitions that actually focus on unfinished titles and works in progress (which have been given the affectionate nickname of “WIPs”). That’s why we were extremely intrigued when we learned of the First Pages Prize writing competition.

This competition is open to unagented writers worldwide. Yes, being unagented in this case is actually beneficial to you and you can be anywhere in the world! The First Pages Prize invites aspiring authors to submit their first five pages (a maximum of 1250 words) of a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction. From our understanding, the work doesn’t even need to be completed yet, because part of the purpose of this prize is to assist winning writers with mentorship and direction. However, the competition is not only for non-established, aspiring authors. You can have other titles published previously. The main point is that you are an UNAGENTED author.

They do also put an emphasis on keeping your word count as close to the 1250 words as possible rather than a focus on the number of pages. Follow this instruction carefully because if you do submit a word count length that is way above the requested maximum of 1250 words then you will likely be disqualified, as explained in their guidelines.

It’s also important to note that the competition does have an entry fee, however it is relatively low, which you will see below.

THE PRIZE

According to the First Pages Prize website, three winners in each category will receive US $9,000 total in cash awards, developmental mentoringÂto support the completion of their manuscript, and an agent consultation. Cash prizes will be awarded with 1st place receiving US $2,000, 2nd place receiving US $1,500, and 3rd place receiving US $1000.

Entries opened on March 1st, 2024 and will close on April 10, 2024 at 23:59 p.m. Pacific Time. The extended entry deadline is April 24th, 2024 at 23:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

ENTRY FEESÂ

The fee per entry for the normal deadline is US $20 and the fee per entry for the extended deadline is US $35. As mentioned before, not terribly high if you have a few bucks to spare.

For more information on the specific guidelines for entry and any other terms and conditions, please refer directly to the First Pages Prize website that we have linked below.

If you are unagented and would like to submit the first pages of your unpublished longer work of fiction or creative non-fiction, you can click the link below:
https://www.firstpagesprize.com/

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