Submit To The Bath Novel Award 2026 | £5,000

The Bath Novel Award 2026 is a £5,000 international prize for adult and YA novels of every genre.

The Bath Novel Award 2026

The Bath Novel Award 2026 is a £5,000 international prize for adult and YA novels of every genre. The prize is open to unagented writers, who are unpublished, self-published or independently published without advance. Submissions are invited from 1st December 2025 to 31st May 2026.

Writers of every age, gender, nationality and residency are invited.

Also Read: Writing Competitions in 2026 (Open to writers worldwide)

Prizes and Judges for the The Bath Novel Award 2026

2026’s winning manuscript will be judged by literary agent of the year AMANDA HARRIS. The winner will be announced in September 2026 and awarded £5,000 along with our beautiful Minerva trophy, inspired by the iconic sculpture in Bath’s Roman Baths.

One longlisted writer will also win a place worth £1,980 on the 18 week virtual course Edit Your Novel the Professional Way courtesy of Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and the Professional Writing Academy.

The Bath Novel Award 2026 entry fee is £33 per novel, with sponsored places available for writers on a low income. You may enter as many times as you wish and we can’t wait to read your work

Prize Terms for the The Bath Novel Award 2026

• The Bath Novel Award 2026 is a writing competition for emerging authors.
• The closing date for entries is 31 May 2026 at 23:59 BST.
• The winning writer will be awarded £5,000 GBP.
• In the event of a joint win, the prize money will be shared equally between winners.
• The winning writer will be announced at www.bathnovelaward.co.uk in September 2026 along with the names of all listees.
• Longlisted entrants will be notified by email in late June 2026 and invited to submit their full manuscripts for the shortlist judging stages.
• Longlistees win feedback on their 5,000 word extract and synopsis.
• Shortlisted entrants will be notified by email in late July 2026.
• Shortlistees win feedback on their full manuscripts.
• The writer of the most promising longlisted novel, as judged by Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, will win a place on the 18 week online course Edit Your Novel the Professional Way. The prize will be announced in September 2026. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative.
• By entering, the winner agrees to an interview which may be published on our site and in any media for publicity purposes.
• Entrants retain full copyright of their work. By entering all entrants who are shortlisted give us permission to post their opening pages on our site.
• The Bath Novel Awards reserve the right to change the judge and non-cash prize without notice.
• The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning this decision.

Submission Guidelines for the The Bath Novel Award 2026

• Initial submissions should be a single Word document or PDF containing the opening of your novel, up to a maximum of 5,000 words and double-spaced in a size 12 font, followed by a one-page synopsis in a single-spaced size 12 font. 
• As our prizes are judged blind, your name and contact details should not appear in your extract/synopsis document.
• We recommend presenting your novel in industry standard format. If you are unsure what this is, please see our guidance page: industry standard format for novel manuscripts
• Entries should not include any photographs, graphics, maps, artwork or cover images.
• Novels should be submitted in English.
• The entrance fee for each novel is £33 inclusive of standard rate VAT and you may enter as many times as you wish.
• Entries should be submitted using our online entry form
• Sponsored places are available for writers on a low income via our sponsored places application form.
• Submissions may not be altered after entry. Entrants who do not comply with the competition terms may be disqualified.

Eligibility Criteria for the The Bath Novel Award 2026

• For the purposes of the competition, ’emerging authors’ are defined as: unagented writers who are yet to accept an offer of publication (for a novel or children’s fiction book) which includes an advance (pre-publication) payment from their publisher.
• Entrants may be of any age, nationality or residency.
• Novels should be for adult or young adult readers and complete at 50,000 words or more. For novels-in-verse, manuscripts should be complete at 25,000 words or more.
• Submitted novels may be unpublished, self-published or published without an advance (pre-publication) book deal.
• Submissions must be the author’s original work.
• Submissions should not be written or rewritten by Chat GPT or any other AI creation tool.
• Employees of the Bath Novel Awards, Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, the Professional Writing Academy and the judge’s literary agency are not eligible to win.

The official information page.

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