- The Award is made for an unpublished novel, collection of short fiction, young adult fiction or a work of narrative non-fiction by a Western Australian author who has not previously published a full-length manuscript in book form in any genre listed here or otherwise.
- Unpublished original manuscripts only, of at least 50,000 words and no more than 120,000 words, may be entered for the Award.
- Authors whose work has only previously been self-published, including in blog or webpage form, are eligible to enter, though the manuscript entered for the Award must not have been published in any way.
- Manuscripts must be primarily in English.
- The Award is open to writers 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 entered must not be under submission or under contract or option to any other publisher. It is a condition of entry that Fremantle Press will have the right to acquire all rights and licences in any manuscript submitted to the competition.
- In entering the Award the writer warrants that:
(i) the entry is an original work, which has not been published or made available in any form anywhere throughout the world
(ii) that it in no way whatever infringes any existing copyright or licence or any other right of any person
(iii) that 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. - Manuscripts of joint authorship are NOT eligible to be entered.
- 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 will not be refunded.
- All entrants will be charged a fee of A$35.00. Please note that Submittable will also charge a small fee for international processing. This will be based on the daily exchange rate to USD.
- An author biographical note of 100 words should be included with your submission for publicity purposes. This information will not be provided to Fremantle Press until after the shortlist is decided.
- Manuscripts entered must be in 12 point Times New Roman, Minion Pro or Calibri with 1.5 spacing, with title and author’s pseudonym included on the title page only. DO NOT INCLUDE THE AUTHOR’S REAL NAME ANYWHERE ON THE MANUSCRIPT. Manuscripts which do not meet this requirement will not be processed, and entrants will be required to reupload their manuscript. Fremantle Press takes no responsibility for this error, which may incur additional fee of A$35 plus conversion. Entrants who fail to do this by the closing date and time of midnight on Sunday 17 March 2024 will be disqualified.
- Your submission should be in the form of a PDF file or Word document. Maximum file size is 5 MB.
- No images may be included in the manuscript.
- 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 work that does not comply with these terms and 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.
- Lobbying of the judges by an entrant will result in the entrant’s disqualification.
- The cash prize of $15,000 is payable upon the signing of a contract with Fremantle Press to publish the winning manuscript.
- The winning entry shall be published by Fremantle Press under the terms of our standard publishing agreement.
- In entering the Award you agree to allow your name, biography and image 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 winner of the Award will be announced in October 2024. Winners are not notified in advance.
- The winner of the Award may also be required to attend an event for the announcement or at the time of the book’s publication.
- The opening date for entries is 1 February 2024. Closing date for entries is 17 March 2024. Entries must be made via Submittable.
- 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. Where entrants are deemed ineligible, Fremantle Press and the City of Fremantle accept no responsibility for refunding any entry fee or associated international transaction costs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
WHY DO YOU NEED TO USE A PSEUDONYM?
We require that you use a pseudonym to ensure anonymity. The author’s real name should only appear on the electronic entry form. It should not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself. Manuscripts which do not meet this requirement will not be processed, and entrants will be required to reupload a new manuscript. As per the terms and conditions, Fremantle Press takes no responsibility for this error, which may incur an additional fee of A$35 plus conversion. Entrants who fail to do this by the closing date and time of midnight on Sunday 17 March 2024 will be disqualified.
HOW IS MY ANONYMITY ASSURED?
Your manuscript will be uploaded via the Fremantle Press electronic submissions site but, for the duration of the competition, only Fremantle administrators will have access to this page and to your entry details. To ensure your anonymity is retained, any queries in relation to your entry should be directed to admin@fremantlepress.com.au or Siana Liffers and Steph Duncan on 08 9430 6331.
WHAT IS NARRATIVE NON-FICTION?
A narrative non-fiction text has non-fiction as its foundation, but is written with attention to literary style, deploying the techniques of fiction, such as dialogue, scene setting and characterisation. Some examples of narrative non-fiction (also called creative non-fiction) include Helen Garner’s This House of Grief, Chloe Hooper’s The Tall Man, Robert Drewe’s The Shark Net, John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Please direct all other enquiries to admin@fremantlepress.com.au or 9430 6331.