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Pitch Prize Winners 2024

Pitch Prize Winners 2024

We are delighted to reveal the winners of the BPA Pitch Prize 2024. This year we received a record number of more than 550 entries. Recurring themes include unhappy marriages, dysfunctional family trips, strong women overcoming adversity, bucket lists, myth...

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Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Pitch Prize Winners 2024

Pitch Prize Winners 2024

We are delighted to reveal the winners of the BPA Pitch Prize 2024. This year we received a record number of more than 550 entries. Recurring themes include unhappy marriages, dysfunctional family trips, strong women overcoming adversity, bucket lists, myth...

{"Entering the Pitch Prize has proven to be a wonderful experience. Not only did winning it give me a much-needed morale boost, but Blue Pencil Agency’s continued support and an introduction by Emma Haynes eventually led to me signing with my wonderful agent, Charlotte Seymour of Johnson & Alcock. To anyone unsure of entering: bet on yourself and your writing, and know that you will be in a safe pair of hands with the Blue Pencil Agency team."
5
Amy Twigg
Pitch Prize 2021 winner & longlisted for the First Novel Award 2022. Debut novel, Spoilt Creatures.
{“Winning the Award marked a real breakthrough in my writing life. The slightly overwhelming news that I had won first prize (I found myself shaking uncontrollably!) was followed by an exciting week involving a London photo-shoot with the judges, and the sight of my face in The Bookseller. The lovely Blue Pencil Agency team gave me the chance to meet the judges and to talk about my novel in some depth with agent Eve White. This was a fantastic opportunity and one that is rare in the writing prize world. Winning the Blue Pencil Agency competition gave me confidence that my novel is a good one and this, I would say, is the most valuable reward an aspiring writer can get.”
carolyn kirby
5
Carolyn Kirby
Winner of the 2017 First Novel Award. She is represented by agent Andrew Lownie.
{

"Entering the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award has taken my writing life to a higher level. Self-doubt had stopped me before but just submitting something I thought had potential gave me satisfaction. The excitement of reaching the long list was only tempered by the discipline of the next deadline but then surpassed by the thrill of seeing my name on the short list and finally achieving Highly Commended. I was astounded to hear that agent Nelle Andrew wanted to meet me and elated to then sign with Nelle and begin editing my debut novel. Without the fantastic opportunity the Award offered I would not be on course to achieve my dream so everyone at Blue Pencil has my gratitude."

Highly commended Neil Daws and Nelle Andrew
5
Neil Daws
Neil was Highly Commended and shortlisted for the 2019 Award. He is represented by Nelle Andrew of Peters, Fraser + Dunlop
{I submitted my entry to the BPA First Novel Award in February, thinking...why not? Never did I imagine that seven months later, I would receive a call from Emma Haynes, telling me that I was the winner. I'm thrilled that the judges enjoyed my story, and I'm super excited to be represented by Rowan Lawton at The Soho Agency. Thank you BPA for giving unpublished writers like me (who might have been querying agents unsuccessfully for years), this incredible opportunity to expose our work. Winning this contest has brought me one step closer to my dream of having my novel, White Yams published internationally. I couldn't be more grateful!
Tracy Coker, winner of BPA First Novel Award 2022
5
Tracy Coker
First Novel Award 2022 Winner
{
I'm delighted to announce that I’m now represented by Katie Fulford of Bell Lomax. She is my dream agent. Also thank you so much for the manuscript review from BPA editor Frances Merivale. It was amazing – detailed and well thought out. Thank you so much for the kickstart and for the support from Emma and the BPA team.
karen pierce, fna 2021 runner up
5
Karen Pierce
2022 First Novel Award Runner-Up
{The 1-2-1 session with Hattie Grünewald as a result of winning the BPA Pitch Prize was invaluable. She offered real insight into the pitching process, as well as astute, detailed feedback on my synopsis. The whole experience gave me the confidence to submit my work to twelve other agents, eight of whom requested the full manuscript. I am delighted to say I have signed with Alexander Cochrane at C&W Agency. I honestly don't think I would have had the courage without the accolade and experience under my belt. Thank you BPA!
letty butler
5
Letty Butler
2022 Pitch Prize Winner
{
I remember clearly wondering whether to send my manuscript to the Blue Pencil Award, and if it was ready. I am so glad I did - seeing my name on first the longlist, and then the short list was an incredible feeling. It was encouragement and validation, however subjective we all know it is, for something undertaken in isolation and often uncertainty. Winning it was a game-changer for me. The team at BPA seemed almost as excited as I was! Hellie Ogden offered me representation and I am now working with her as my wonderful agent on what I hope will become my debut novel. It is quite literally a dream come true.
julia kelly
5
Julia Kelly
Winner of the 2021 First Novel Award for The Lost Child. She is represented by Hellie Ogden.
{When I entered the BPA Pitch Prize I was in the middle of querying another novel and had written just 10,000 words of the speculative novel which would ultimately win the prize and go on to receive an offer of representation from Millie Hoskins at United Agents. Winning the BPA pitch prize gave me such a boost and with feedback from Millie, I set to work on drafting the full novel in just under six months. The characters and storyline captured my heart straight away and Millie was the dream agent to sign with. I would say to any writer, keep going. Keep honing your craft. I’ve invested a lot in my writing journey, from courses to mentoring to entering prizes, all have led me here and hopefully beyond.  As for the pitch itself, a good hook will get you far, as will a sharp sentence that gets right to the heart of the story. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest benefits of the BPA Pitch Prize is to see if your story has enough potential before you fully invest in it. As a writer with five manuscripts in a drawer I really needed that!
Claire Williams
5
Claire Williams
2022 Pitch Prize Winner

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