- The Award is made for an original unpublished work of fiction, young adult fiction, narrative non-fiction, collection of poetry or a verse novel by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35.
- The Award is open to authors whose normal place of residence is Western Australia. If requested, proof of eligibility is the responsibility of the entrant. Where necessary, final arbitration will be at the sole discretion of the judges.
- Manuscripts by previously published authors may be submitted.
- Manuscripts of joint authorship may be submitted (with the prize money to be split equally between joint authors).
- Manuscripts that have been previously self-published may be submitted, but details of publication and sales history are required at the time of submission.
- Fiction, young adult fiction and narrative nonfiction manuscripts should be at least 50,000 words but no more than 100,000 words; verse novels should be a minimum of 80 pages long; poetry collections should be a minimum of 64 pages long. Manuscripts must be primarily in English.
- Manuscripts simultaneously entered for other awards or under consideration elsewhere may not be submitted.
- Manuscripts entered must not be under submission or under contract or option to any other publisher.
- It is a condition of entry that, in the event the entered manuscript is contracted, Fremantle Press will have the right to acquire all rights and licences in any manuscript submitted.
- In entering the Award the writer warrants that:
(i) With the exception of self-published works (see above), the entry is an original work, which has not been published or made available in any form anywhere throughout the world
(ii) it in no way whatever infringes any existing copyright or licence or any other right of any person
(iii) it contains no defamatory matter, or any matter which invades any individual’s rights of privacy
(iv) all statements in the work purporting to be facts are true.
(v) the work has not been created by Artificial Intelligence. Any AI assistance used in the writing of the manuscript MUST be disclosed in detail in an author’s note on the title page of the manuscript. - Manuscripts must be submitted by the author. Manuscripts submitted by or represented by an agent will not be accepted.
- A maximum of one entry per person may be submitted. Where more than one manuscript is submitted, the administrator will accept the first manuscript and decline all subsequent manuscripts. Entry fees and associated international transaction costs for subsequent manuscripts entered will not be refunded.
- Manuscripts will only be accepted in electronic form via Submittable as a Word document or PDF to a maximum of 5 MB.
- The manuscript should be in 12 point, Times New Roman, Minion Pro or Calibri, with 1.5 spacing. No images may be included in the manuscript.
- All entrants will be charged an administrative fee of A$25.00.
- Please note that Submittable will also charge a small fee for international processing. This fee will be based on the daily exchange rate to USD.
- Manuscripts that have been previously rejected by Fremantle Press are not eligible for entry unless such submissions have been significantly revised.
- The judges reserve the right to exclude from consideration any entry that does not comply with Award conditions. The judges will not be required to make an award if they do not consider the entries to be of sufficient standard.
- The decision of the judges is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning their decision.
- Lobbying of the judges by an author will result in that author’s disqualification.
- The winner of the 2027 Award will be announced in late May 2027.
- The authors of shortlisted manuscripts will be contacted, but winners are not notified in advance of the announcement.
- The winning entry will be published by Fremantle Press under the terms of its standard publishing agreement. The cash prize of $20,000 is payable upon the signing of a contract of publication with Fremantle Press .
- In entering the Award, you agree to allow your name, biographical note and author photograph to be used in marketing and publicity materials associated with the Award.
- If you are shortlisted or win, you agree to participate in media interviews and award publicity.
- The opening date for entries is 12.01 am on Friday 15 January 2027 and the closing date is 11.59 pm Sunday 28 February 2027.
- Receipt of entry will be acknowledged automatically by email.
- Entrants are responsible for reading the terms and conditions thoroughly to ensure they are eligible to enter.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please direct all other enquiries to admin@fremantlepress.com.au or 9430 6331.