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Our Flagship First 500 Novel Competition is open!
Our writing competitions have launched the careers of some of today’s best loved novelists. Could you be next?
What we are looking for
We’re looking for openings that grab us from the very first line and make us want more! The First 500 Novel Competition is all about your opening 500 words…the start of a story that could go on to captivate readers, agents, and publishers alike.
You can enter any genre, memoir, or non-fiction — as long as it’s your opening 500 words.
A winning entry includes:
- Hint of plot – Even in 500 words, show a story taking shape. Introduce conflict or tension to spark curiosity without giving everything away.
- Quality of writing – We’re looking for writing that flows well, is easy to read, and makes an impression. Clear, confident storytelling will stand out.
- Voice and characters – Bring characters to life and let your unique voice shine. Originality and personality help your story stand out.
- Captivating opening – Hook us from the first lines. Whether through a twist, a scene, or your voice, make readers eager to turn the page.
There will also be an opportunity when entering the competition to upgrade and purchase 250 words of feedback on your first 500 words. Please note, there is limited availability on this upgrade.
Winner’s Prize
The overall winner will receive an incredible package to kickstart their writing journey:
Finalists’ Prize
Even if you don’t take the top spot, being a finalist comes with fantastic rewards to celebrate your achievement and keep your writing journey moving forward:
The Judging Process
All entries are anonymised and first read by the Jericho Writers team. If you’re new to us, you can meet our wonderful team of writers and passionate readers here.
Each entry is read by two reader judges on the team and scored out of 10, taking into account the quality of the writing, how your plot is shaping up, and how captivating your opening is.
Once we’ve narrowed it down to a shortlist of 16 writers, these entries are passed on to our external judging panel to select the 8 finalists.
Meet our agents and publishers
Meet the experts reading the shortlisted entries and joining the live finale!
With years of publishing, editing, and storytelling under their belts, they’re here to spot talent, cheer on great writing, and maybe even fall in love with your words.
Jess Whitlum-Cooper
Associate Publisher • Bookouture
- Bio
Jess has worked with some of the most compelling commercial storytellers in the industry, and her passion has always been to bring their voices to the widest possible audience. Before joining Bookouture, she was a Commissioning Editor at Headline. Prior to that, she began her career at Curtis Brown Literary Agency. She loves stories with memorable characters, an incredibly strong sense of place, and a standout hook that will have her gripped from the first page.
John Baker
Literary & Screen Agent • Bell Lomax Moreton
- Bio
John Baker joined Bell Lomax Moreton in 2019. Alongside building his list of clients, John leads the agency’s film and TV team and is Secretary of the Association of Author’s Agents. He also serves on the Kingston University MA Publishing Advisory Board. John specialises in speculative, sci-fi, fantasy, romantasy, supernatural and horror fiction for adult, YA and new adult readers.
Laura Williams
Literary Agent • Greene & Heaton
- Bio
Laura began her career at Peters Fraser & Dunlop in 2011 before joining Greene & Heaton as a literary agent in 2018. She has reviewed over 275 submission packs through our online Agent One-to-One service alone, and has participated in numerous Jericho Writers live events and festivals. Laura works across genres in adult fiction from literary to upmarket to commercial.
Sam Jordison
Jericho Writers Tutor & Publisher • Galley Beggar Press
- Bio
Sam Jordison is co-director of independent publisher Galley Beggar Press which boasts a list of prize-winning and critically acclaimed authors. Sam provides editorial services for Jericho Writers and is a tutor on our Ultimate Novel Writing Course. He also has experience as a journalist and author, having written several best-selling works of non-fiction. Sam’s work at Galley Beggar has given him experience handling a wide variety of genres in fiction and non-fiction.
Special thanks to our sponsors
We’re incredibly grateful to our Gold Sponsors for supporting this competition and helping make it possible.
Supported by
We’d also like to thank our Bronze Sponsor for their support:
How it works
Unlike other novel competitions, as an entrant, you are also part of the judging process! All entries will be read by two reader judges on the Jericho Writers’ Team. The entries are each given a score out of 10. This takes into account, the quality of the writing, the initial shaping of your plot, and how much your opening captivates the reader.
Once the deadline has passed, the Jericho Writers team will create a shortlist of sixteen entries based on their overall score. These sixteen pieces will be judged by our panel of literary agents and publishers, who will shorten the list to eight finalists.
Finalists will be contacted on 9 December, 2025.
Finalists & Live Event
Finalists will be required to make a video of themselves reading their entry on camera. Please consider whether you are comfortable with this before entering – but do not be put off by your recording abilities as we will help those of you less technical!
All finalists will attend the live online event on 18 December, 2025 at 7pm GMT and have their video recordings played to a live audience. Each finalist will receive feedback from our panel of agents and publishers. The audience will vote for the favourite entries via a live poll. This live poll will decide our winner.
The Rules
Everything you need to know about how to enter without breaking any rules
- Entry is open to all Premium Members of Jericho Writers or those who have purchased an entry. If your Premium Membership expires during the competition period you must either renew your membership or purchase an entry to remain eligible.
- The deadline for entry is midnight GMT on Sunday 30 November, 2025. Late entries will not be considered.
- You may only enter the competition once.
- To give a chance to new writers, finalists from last year are not eligible. Please take this into consideration before entering.
- You must be available to record a video of yourself reading your entry and attend the live online event at 7:00pm GMT on 18 December, 2025.
All entries must:
- Be your own unpublished work.
- To maintain fairness and uphold creative integrity, no AI-generated or AI-written work may be submitted. All submissions must represent the writer’s own original work.
- Be in a word document or PDF.
- Contain the first 500 words of your manuscript in any genre (to the nearest sentence end).
- Not contain your name, as judging is done blindly.
- We encourage everyone to enter the First 500 Novel Competition, no matter your background or where you are in the world. However, if you have already have an agent or are traditionally published at the time of entry, we ask that you leave this opportunity for those who could most benefit from it. This also includes any writer who has a contract with a traditional publisher but their book has yet to be published.
- If you have been previously self-published you are eligible. If you have previously been represented by an agent but are no longer represented, you are eligible for entry.
Buy an entry to First 500
£10.00
- Gains you one entry to the First 500 competition
- Gains you access to the online live final
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One-year pay upfront
- Our best value offering (pay for the year upfront and get 2 months free)
- Free entry to First 500
- Over £1,000 worth of self-paced video courses
- Gain access to out Premium Member library of resources, including over 280 masterclass videos
- Find your dream agent through AgentMatch
- Get your query letter reviewed by our expert in-house team
One-year pay monthly
- Free entry to First 500
- Over £1,000 worth of self-paced video courses
- Gain access to out Premium Member library of resources, including over 280 masterclass videos
- Find your dream agent through AgentMatch
- Get your query letter reviewed by our expert in-house team
- Recurring annual subscription. No cancellation during each 12 month term.
From first words to the finale stage
Last year, over 1,000 writers entered the First 500 Novel Competition and our finalists truly shone.
Hear directly from last year’s writers about their experience, what they learned, and how far those first 500 words have taken them.
Relive the 2024 Live Final
Come and watch last year’s finalists wow us with their first 500 words and find out the style of feedback our agents and publishers give.
It’s well worth the watch if you want the inside scoop on the type of writing that excites us and makes us vote ‘yes!’
Frequently asked
questions
1
Does it have to be from the opening of my novel?
Yes, it should be your opening 500 words. If you have a prologue, it should be the first 500 words of that prologue. When it comes to prologues, we always advise that if it’s not strong enough to enter into a competition and you’d rather enter Chapter One, you should consider whether you need the prologue at all.
2
I bought a £10 entry, but have since joined as a member. Can I get my £10 back?
Yes. As long as the 14 day refund window has passed, we can refund you the £10 entry. You must have an active membership at the time of the live final or you will be disqualified.
3
Will I get feedback on my entry?
You will only receive feedback if you purchase the £49 feedback upgrade. If you do, you will receive 250 words of written feedback from the Jericho Writers team before the end of the year.
4
I haven’t got a finished manuscript. Does this matter?
No, we want to champion writers with strong openings, whether they’re only a few chapters in or at the stage of querying a fully polished manuscript.
5
Who is eligible to enter First 500?
We encourage everyone to enter the First 500 Novel Competition, no matter your background or where you are in the world.
However, if you already have an agent or are traditionally published at the time of entry, we ask that you leave this opportunity for those who could most benefit from it.
This also includes any writer who has a contract with a traditional publisher but their book has yet to be published. If you have been previously self-published you are eligible. If you have previously been represented by an agent but are no longer represented, you are eligible for entry. Please check the rules section for the full details.
6
How does the judging process work?
The Jericho Writers team will judge all entries anonymously, reading the 500 words only with no identifiers. We’ll be judging based on the following criteria:
- Does this opening grab me?
- Does this opening make me want to read on?
- Is this opening well written?
- Does this opening set the scene and introduce us to the protagonist, without info-dumping?
The Jericho Writers team will create a shortlist of sixteen entries based on their overall score. These sixteen pieces will be judged by our panel of literary agents and publishers, who will shorten the list to eight finalists.
7
What are the benefits to joining as a member instead of paying for entry?
Joining as a member not only gains you access to this and other competitions, but you will also gain instant access to 280+ hours of masterclasses, our AgentMatch database, video courses for writers, opportunities for feedback from the Jericho Writers team and our monthly live online writing events.
8
My Premium Membership ends before the competition closes – can I still enter / be shortlisted etc?
No. You must be an active Premium Member at the time of the live final on 18 December, or have purchased a £10 entry. If your membership expires before the final and you have not purchased a £10 entry, you will no longer be eligible, even if you’ve been shortlisted.
9
Can I enter with a memoir / non fiction/ etc etc?
Yes, we will accept entries from all genres including memoir, non-fiction and children’s.
10
When are the key dates for the First 500 Novel Competition?
- The competition opens for entries on Monday 3 November, 2025.
- The competition closes at midnight GMT Sunday 30 November, 2025.
- The finalists will be contacted on Tuesday 9 December, 2025.
- The live finale will be held at 19:00 GMT Thursday 18 December, 2025.
11
What format should my entry be?
500 words in an easy to read font such as Times New Roman, ideally double spaced. You can submit either a word document or a PDF.
12
How do I make my entry stand out?
Take a look at our opening pages resource pack which will provide guidance on writing a winning opening page. This is available for free in the Jericho Writers Vault (you need to create a free account in order to access).
Also, watch the replay of last years final (on this page), for an idea of what has wowed us previously!
13
I want to enter but can’t afford the entry fee. What can I do?
We try to make everything we do as accessible as possible but totally understand that for some people, paying to enter a competition isn’t financially viable. If this is the case for you, please get in touch at info@jerichowriters.com and we will try our best to make things work.
14
I am terrified of speaking on camera, help!
We’ll invite you to a practice session before the live event so you can get familiar with the tech. However, if this still sounds scary, you can submit a pre-recorded video or a member of the Jericho Writers’ team can read your work on your behalf.
15
Will agents and publishers be in attendance?
Yes. Two agents and two publishers will join the panel at the live final. Although they don’t choose the winner (that’s up to the audience) they will give feedback on each finalist’s entry! It’s a great chance to get your work heard by industry experts and hear their feedback.
16
Can I enter the First 500 Novel Competition if I was shortlisted/a finalist for last year’s First 500?
You can enter First 500 if you have previously entered or been shortlisted before, however, if you were a finalist last year you will not be eligible to enter this year to allow the opportunity to other writers.
17
Can I enter the First 500 Novel Competition if I was shortlisted/a finalist for Friday Night Live?
Yes – You can enter the First 500 Novel Competition even if you entered or placed in the Friday Night Live competition at the London Festival of Writing.