TL;DR – We are awarding a $7,500 USD prize to an author of a debut novel with a publish date between Oct 1st, 2023 and April 30th, 2024; Publishers and independent authors are eligible; Submission deadline March 10th, 2024. All the details below.
In celebration of starting a new year of covering all aspects of Science Fiction – from books and movies to philosophy, technology and culture – we are proud to announce the “Scifi Zone Debut Novel Award 2024”!
What are we looking for?
We want to hear new literary voices! No matter if you are excited by hard, grounded Scifi, military space battles or the world-building of a future society on distant planets – we want to read it! New, fresh voices shaping our collective imagination of what Human life will be like in the near – or distant – future, are what makes us tick!
Eligibility
Applications for the Scifi Debut Novel Award must meet the following qualifications:
- Manuscript length – must be 80K words or more. Exceptions will be considered on special cases.
- Publication Date – Your novel must have been published (or has a future publish date) between Oct 1st, 2023 and April 30th, 2024. A publication shall mean the availability for sale of your novel in an online or offline bookseller’s store. We reserve the right to disqualify submissions if we would determine such store or site to be unreputable, fake or purpose-made for the award subnission. For clarity purposes – an author-owned website offering the author books for sale will not be considered an eligible store.
- Publisher – We will consider both applications from publishers and independent authors.
- Submission Deadline – the application and all required materials must be received on our end no later than March 10th, 2024 11:56pm ET.
Submission process
The requirements for submitting your work to the Scifi Zone Debut Novel Award are:
- Full Manuscript (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf formats only, file size limit 5MB)
- Synopsis (up to 1K words, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf format)
- Author Bio and headshot (.jpg or .png format, 5MB file size limit)
- For the winner – a proper Tax ID and personal details.
The curation process
We will read everything you submit! We make no exceptions and are eager to hear your stories.
The winner and honorable-mentions announcement will take place on April 30th, 2024 and shall be made public on our website and through direct email communication with all contestants.
Winning novel award package
The winner of the Scifi Zone Debut novel Award will receive a prize package consisting of:
- $7,500 cash award (inclusive of all VAT, taxes and levies where applicable)
- A front page author interview on the Scifi.Zone website and social media pages, sticky for 7 days.
- A digital media kit of badges, social media banners and printable award sticker for inclusion on any marketing material the author may choose to announce their win.
Honorable mentions
We may want to extend an honorable mention to up to 15 authors and works submitted which have made an impact on us even if they did not win the grand prize.
Each honorable mention author shall be eligible for a package consisting of:
- A short author interview post about their work, to be published on Scifi.Zone website within 2024 (schedule TBD)
- A digital graphic badge kit announcing the work was shortlisted for the Scifi Zone Debut Novel Award.
Legal bits
By submitting your work to the Scifi Zone Debut Novel Award 2024, you are hereby agreeing to:
- Waive any claims or demands regarding the material you send us. Scifi Zone does not request nor claims any right to any intellectual property you may hold and the materials you send us are kept for the curation process only and shall be discarded and deleted immediately afterwards.
- Hold in good faith the award and Scifi Zone brand and reputation – whether your work has won the prize or not.
- Not try to circumvent or influence the competition rules or process in any way or form.
Let’s Go! Submit your work by clicking the button below and filling in the required form. Good Luck!