Simon & Schuster UK are launching an opportunity that’s exclusively open to un-agented, currently not under contract fiction writers of colour. The winner will receive a two-book UK publishing contract with S&S UK with a six-figure advance.

The potential prize winner will be selected by the Adult Fiction editorial team at Simon & Schuster UK, Silé Edwards, Literary Agent at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, and Nancy Adimora, founder of OtherStories, based on their assessment of the work’s quality and the author’s potential. Initial evaluations will also be made from readers drawn across S&S UK, including members of its Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Council. The final winner will be selected by an independent judge.

Entrants must be able to qualify themselves as coming from a minority ethnic background. S&S UK reserves the right not to pick a winner if all the entry requirements and all the winning criteria (including the Guidelines and Restrictions and/or the Judging Criteria) are not met. The winner must enter into a contract with S&S UK to receive the prize.

Submissions will be open for three months, and authors are required to share three chapters of their novel along with a synopsis. Long-listed authors will be given the opportunity to meet with the publishing team at S&S UK including Molly Crawford, Editorial Director. 

Whilst S&S UK continues to seek works from all authors, this competition is designed to offer an exclusive opportunity to writers of colour, who are particularly underrepresented in commercial fiction publishing.

See below for the Official Rules and full details on how to submit your entry.

The winner must enter into a contract with S&S UK to win and to receive the prizes.

Entrants must be able to qualify themselves as coming from a minority ethnic background.

The Promoter reserves the right not to pick a winner if all the entry requirements and all the winning criteria (including the Guidelines and Restrictions and/or the Judging Criteria) are not met.

Full details can also be found at New Chapter | Simon & Schuster UK

Official Rules
 

1.    This Competition is organised by SIMON & SCHUSTER (UK) LIMITED of 222 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8HB (the “Promoter”). The Promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the Competition or these Official Rules without notice at any time, including, without limitation, in the event of an act of God or any other event outside of Promoter’s reasonable control. The Promoter shall notify all entrants of any such cancellation or amendment. 
 

2.    Only one Submission (as defined below) per person is permitted. The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify any entrant who uses multiple accounts, e-mail addresses or any technologies which permit multiple Submissions and any Submissions which are completed by third parties or in bulk, illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged, or tampered with or are incomplete. 
 

3.    Each entrant must be a resident of Great Britain, and entries originating from any other jurisdiction (including Northern Ireland) are not eligible for entry. Entrants must be able to qualify themselves as coming from a minority ethnic background.  Entrants must also be at least 18 years of age by the date they enter the Competition and have a valid email address. The Promoter may require proof that each entrant is eligible to enter the Competition. Employees of the Promoter or affiliated companies, employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter or affiliated companies, their immediate families or anyone professionally associated with the Competition or its administration and their immediate families, are excluded from entry. 
 

4.    Any entrants that do not meet the criteria to enter the Competition shall be disqualified. The Promoter also reserves the right to remove any Submissions from the Competition it determines, in its sole discretion, to be in violation of these Official Rules or if the entrant’s conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition. If no entrants meet the criteria and/or the Guidelines and Restrictions and/or the Judging Criteria, the Promoter reserves the right not to pick a winner.
 

5.    No purchase is necessary, and there is no charge to enter the Competition:

• Entrants must send an email to [email protected] including submitting three chapters of your work, a bio, a synopsis and a topline pitch (the “Submission”);
• Authors can have been published before/ self-published but must be unagented. Self-published authors are eligible; 
• The Submission must be a commercial fiction novel;
• All Submissions being considered must be new material and should not have previously been submitted to any other Publisher and is not to be submitted elsewhere while being considered for this Competition;
• Each Submission must have an idea for book two that will need to be discussed at the longlist stage;
• Promoter  reserves the right not to  pick a winner if no entries meet all the applicable criteria including the Guidelines and Restrictions and the Judging Criteria.
• Author needs to be able to qualify themselves as coming from a minority ethnic background.

6. By submitting your Submission, you: 

• warrant and represent the following: (a) entrant is the sole and exclusive owner of the Submission and no third parties have any rights to it; (b) the Submission is entrant’s own creation and is 100% original; (c) that you did not use the services of ghost writers, generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, machine learning, or large language models for the purpose of creating content. This is prohibited and may be grounds for disqualification, (d) the Submission will not infringe on any rights of any third parties; and (e) the entrant has not previously had any of their work published by a third party;

• acknowledge that the Promoter will use and store your personal data details as a Data Controller for the purpose of fulfilling the Competition and that all information will be held in accordance with the Promoter’s Privacy Policy in place from time to time (see https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/c/privacy-policy); and

consent to the Promoter publishing and/or disclosing your name and county if you win the Prize (as defined below).

7.    The opening date for receipt of Submissions is 09:00:00 AM 1 May 2025 (British Summer Time “BST”) (“Opening Date”).
 

8.    The closing date for receipt of 17:00:00 PM 31 July 2025 (BST) (“Closing Date”). Submissions submitted after the Closing Date will be invalid.
 

9.    The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any late, lost, or misdirected Submissions regardless of cause, including but not limited to messages not received due to technical disruptions, network congestion, loss in service of online entry mechanisms, computer error in transit or any other reason. The Promoter cannot enter into correspondence with entrants who experience difficulties with entering online. The Promoter will not accept proof of transmission or submission or any other evidence as proof of Submission to the Competition.
 

10.   Each entrant understands and agrees that Promoter’s use of independently developed material similar to or identical with the Submission or containing features or elements similar to or identical with those contained in the Submission will not obligate Promoter to negotiate with entrant, nor will it entitle entrant to any compensation of any kind.  Each entrant agrees and acknowledges that nothing herein shall preclude Promoter from using any material in or similar to the Submission without obligation to entrant, including, but not limited to, if Promoter has or has determined that it has an independent legal right to use such other material, including, without limitation, because such features or elements were not new or novel, or were not originated by entrant, or were or may hereafter be independently created by or submitted to Promoter. 

11.   By entering, each entrant agrees that his or her Submission conforms to the Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Promoter, in its sole discretion, may remove any Submission and disqualify an entrant from the Competition if it believes, in its sole discretion, that the entrant’s Submission fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions.  

Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions: 

• The Submission must be in English;
• The Submission must not contain material that violates or infringes any rights of any other party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or any other intellectual property rights; 
• The Submission must not disparage Promoter or any other person or party;
• The Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous, or libellous;
• The Submission must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
• The Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations of the United States or of any jurisdiction where Submission is created; 
• The Submission cannot promote illegal drugs or firearms (or the use of any of the foregoing), or any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message; and 
• The Submission must be consistent with the image and values of Promoter and be consistent with and satisfy the purpose of the Competition. 

All Competition submissions and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt and will not be returned. You agree that the Promoter may, but is not required to, make your Submission available on its website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the Competition. You agree to grant the Promoter a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in the competition Submission and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the competition Submission and any accompanying materials for such purposes.

12.    On or about Summer 2025 Submissions will be judged by an independent judge based on the following equally weighted judging criteria (“Judging Criteria”): (i) A compelling concept that would make it easy to market and target a readership; (ii) A defined voice with a captivating quality and memorable characters; (iii) A structured story with a clearly defined beginning, middle and end; (iv) A writing style which is both uniform and engaging; and (v) Commercial appeal as defined by the same standards and documents used to consider agented submissions.  You will only be notified if you are the Winner.
 

13.    The Sponsor’s and independent judge’s decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to the Competition, including, but not limited to, Sponsor’s interpretation and application of these Official Rules and the independent judge’s selection of the winning Submission.  By entering the Competition, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and the independent judge which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Competition.
 

14.    The Winner may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their Prize.
 

15.    The Winner shall be notified via email on or around early 2026 and must respond accepting the Prize via email within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the foregoing notification email from Promoter. If a selected Winner does not confirm the Prize via email within five (5) calendar days of the notification email being sent by Promoter, Promoter may select another Winner. Any Winner that is not qualified to enter the Competition shall be disqualified. The Promoter will not accept any amended contact details provided after the Competition Submission has been submitted. The Promoter is not liable for any inability to contact any entrant whether due to errors, omissions or inaccuracies in the contact details provided by an entrant on an Submission form or due to technical problems preventing the Promoter from obtaining accurate contact details or preventing a Winner from receiving emails from the Promoter, including, without limitation, any acts, or omissions by any third-party service provider or for any other reason. 
 

16.    The Winner shall receive the following (the “Prize”):

The opportunity to enter into a two-book publishing contract for world all languages with a £100,000  advance with Simon & Schuster UK

The winner must enter into the contract with S&S UK to win and receive the prizes.

17.    The Prize is non-transferable and non-negotiable and may not be resold. No money alternative is available, and no part of the Prize may be substituted for other benefits, items, or additions. The Promoter does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to claim the Prize, and the Prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf. The Prize is not valid with other offers.

18.    The Prize is subject to availability. Promoter reserves the right to substitute the Prize (or any portion thereof) with an item of equal or greater value.
 

19.    For the avoidance of doubt, all rights in the name and title of the Competition and the format rights for the Competition are the property of the Promoter and the same may be exploited at their absolute discretion.
 

20.  Limitation of Liability; Disclaimer of Warranties. 

The Promotor shall have no liability for any injuries, losses or damages which may be suffered by an entrant (or any person claiming under or through the entrant or travelling with the entrant), in connection with the Competition, whether the same are suffered directly or indirectly or are immediate or consequential, and whether the same arise in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise howsoever, but Promotor does not exclude liability for:

•    death or personal injury caused by the negligence of Promotor

•    fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or

•    any other liability which cannot be excluded by law.

Subject to the above, by participating, entrants, including the Winner, agree to indemnify, release and hold harmless Promoter, its Competition and other promotional partners and their advertising and promotion agencies and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors (collectively, “Released Entities”), from any and all liability, for injury, loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever, including, without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in the Competition, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of the Prize or any prize or participation in any Competition-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, data privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property-related cause of action.
 

IN NO EVENT WILL THE RELEASED ENTITIES BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ENTRANT’S ACCESS TO AND/OR USE OF THE COMPETITION SITE, OR DOWNLOAD ING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM ANY WEBSITES ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPETITION. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THIS COMPETITION AND ALL PRIZES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.
 

21.    No forbearance or delay by either party in enforcing its rights shall prejudice or restrict the rights of that party, and no waiver of any such rights or of any breach of any contractual terms shall be deemed to be a waiver of any other right or of any later breach. If any provision of these Official Rules is judged to be illegal or unenforceable, the continuation in full force and effect of the remainder of the provisions will not be prejudiced. None of these Official Rules are intended to confer a benefit on, or to be enforceable by, any person other than the entrant or Promotor.
 

22.    These Official Rules and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with these Official Rules or the Competition will be governed by English law. The courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Official Rules or the Competition.
 

23.    Any questions, comments or complaints about these Official Rules, the Competition, or to obtain the name of the Winner, please send an email to [email protected] with “S&S UK Writing Contest” in the subject heading.
 

24.    By entering into the Competition, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules (and by any other requirements or limitations set forth in promotional materials relating to the Competition) which may be amended or varied at any time by the Promoter.
 

25. The Promoter must either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To comply with this obligation the Promoter will send the surname and county of the Winner and winning Submission to anyone who emails [email protected] within one month after the closing date of the Competition.
 

26. If you object to any or all of your surname, county and winning Submission being published or made available, please contact the Promoter by emailing [email protected].  In such circumstances, the Promoter must still provide the information and winning Submission to the Advertising Standards Authority on request.
 

27. If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these Official Rules, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the Competition.