First Prize = $1,000 USD

Second Prize = $500 USD

Third Prize = $250 USD

All prizes will be paid via PayPal within 15 days after the prize announcement (you don't need to have a PayPal account to accept the payment).

Please note that critical feedback will not be provided on any entry.

No. This contest is not set up to provide you with feedback on your first page.

If you'd like feedback on your work, you can sign up to work privately with the judge, Joan Dempsey, or you can join the Gutsy Great Novelist Writers Studio (it's free) and get notified when the Write a Gripping First Page online master class is open for new participants (in that class you'll get comprehensive feedback). 

Yes. Winners of the first, second and third prize cash prizes, as well as any honorable mentions, must agree to allow their first pages to be posted on the Page One Prize website. If you are not willing to share your first page on the website, please do not enter the competition. (Posting on the website does not constitute "publishing," and you retain all rights to your work.) 

We do this not only to celebrate the winning work, but also because so many writers who enter the competition care about learning what makes a great first page, and showcasing the winning pages is a great learning opportunity. 

Both previously unpublished and published writers are eligible to submit to the Page One Prize. As long as the page you're submitting is from an unpublished novel, and you meet the other eligibility guidelines, you can submit. 

NOTE that this means both emerging and experienced writers will be participating in the competition. In previous contests of this and the Chapter One Prize, unpublished and published writers won prizes and honorable mentions.  

Click here to read more about what makes a great first page, what to avoid and what to watch out for when you submit your work. You can also read the winning entries from 2020.

There is no word count. 

Please format your submissions as follows: double-spaced, one, single-side 8.5” x 11” or A-4 page, using your favorite 12-point font, 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins all around. Indent however you normally do (no requirements). 

There's no need to leave 4-6 lines of space at the top of the page ... go ahead and put your opening line right at your 1" top margin (1" margins all around). 

If your formatting is not as specified above, your entry won't be considered and you'll forfeit your $20 submission fee. The idea is that this first page (no matter what is on it) should be enough to draw readers into the story so that they want to move on to page two.

Please do not try to fudge the margins or the spacing to get more onto the page—if you do, you're only hurting yourself, since your entry will be disqualified!  

Indent your paragraphs however you normally do (no requirements).

Yes, as the prize title suggests, you'll simply submit only the first page of chapter one of your novel-in-progress. This should be the first page that readers will read in chapter one (not a prologue or introduction). The idea of the prize is to identify those first pages that make readers want to turn to page two.

And yes, a printed, published first page will be different than a manuscript page, but for this contest, you're submitting only the first page of chapter one of your manuscript. No need to leave 4-6 lines of space at the top of the page ... go ahead and put your opening line right at your 1" top margin (1" margins all around). 

No. Please follow the formatting guidelines and format the dialogue as you normally would.

No. You must double-space your manuscript and send only the first page.

Note that when you submit your manuscript to agents, editors or publishers, they will ask for double-spaced pages, so this is standard practice in the industry.

If you're working in Word, there's a setting that automatically puts extra space between paragraphs, and you can change that in your Word settings to get rid of that extra space. If you don't know how to do that, please Google it.

You're welcome to include a single-spaced quote, but your entry is being judged on your writing, not on your choice of epigraphs, so you might want to exclude it and go right to the beginning of page one. Up to you. You won't be penalized for including it.

No need to include that—it's understood that this is chapter one, and the chapter title isn't necessary. If you prefer to include it, though, that's fine.

No. The Page One Prize is only for novels.

Yes, you're welcome to submit if the stories all add up to a larger story. A novel-in stories has characteristics that link the individual stories together on purpose. This purposeful linking is what creates a novel-like arc—even though there are individual stories, they must be consumed as a whole from the start for the stories to make sense. If they're all stand-alone, unrelated stories that do not add up to the arc of a novel, then they're not eligible.

Entries may be in any genre of novel, written for adult readers—this does include young adult novels that adults would typically read, but does not include work for middle-grade (or younger) readers.

Yes. Each entry needs to be submitted and paid for ($20 per submission) as a separate entry.

Yes. Each entry needs to be submitted and paid for ($20 per submission) as a separate entry.

No. This contest is for fiction writers working on novels. 

No. This contest is for novels-in-progress. The novel does not have to be finished. If it is finished, that's fine, as long as it hasn't been published.

No. Published novels, however they have been published, are not eligible. The contest is for novels-in-progress.

Yes. The rights to your work remain fully with you. 

Yes, as long as you're not personal friends with or family members of the judge, Joan Dempsey. Writers who are more casual Facebook "friends" and with whom Joan has worked either in classes or one-on-one are eligible to submit.

Yes. $20 USD paid by either credit card or PayPal.

Yes. You can pay the $20 entry fee by either credit card or PayPal.

Yes. In order to ensure fairness, Submittable has been set up so that the judge does not know the identify of the writer until after the judging has taken place, so please remove any identifying information from the submission itself, and do not use your name when you give the document a name.

Yes. Since this is a contest for unpublished novels, and you've (yay!) received confirmation of publication, you'll need to withdraw your submission, which you can do through your Submittable account. Once you've withdrawn your entry, please reach out to [email protected] and request a refund for your entry fee, explaining why you had to withdraw your work. 

All submissions are made through Submittable. SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR 2021.