Blue Pencil Agency Pitch Prize 2025
The international writing competition is open to unrepresented fiction authors
The BPA Pitch Prize 2025
International writing competition for unagented writers looking for representation for a work of fiction.
Judge: Liza DeBlock, Greenstones Literary Agency
Prize: Up to 10 winners:
Pitch your novel to Liza. Editorial feedback and recommendations. Industry insights and advice on next steps.
Purchase a recording of a live Q & A with Liza.
Purchase a recording of our Pitch Perfect tutorial with Emma Darwin.
Submission:
First 500 words of your opening chapter
300 word synopsis
Cover letter to include your pitch
Online entry via BPA website
Entry fee: £12 for each submission. Online entry only
Timetable
Entries Open: September 1, 2025
Entries Close: November 9, 2025
Winners Announced: December 2025
Prize: One to One Pitch Meetings with Liza on zoom for up to 7 winners in January/February 2026.
Before entering, please ensure to familiarise yourself with the Rules, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policies. Entering the BPA Pitch Prize is taken as your full agreement.
After Payment, you will see a button labelled ‘ Click here to download’, at the Order Complete page.
Click on it to download the PDF file which includes a link to the submission page.
The link will also be in the email that will be sent after payment.
What we’re looking for:
• any genre with the exception of children’s fiction and non-fiction. YA is permitted provided there is an adult crossover.
• a strong voice.
• the makings of an original and compelling story.
• an attention grabbing first paragraph.
Eligibility
- Authors must be over 18 years old at the time of entry.
- The Prize is open to unrepresented authors of fiction at the closing date of November 9, 2025.
- Clients of BPA who have been mentored for more than six months are not eligible to enter.
- Writers must advise the organisers if they accept representation during the judging period.
- Published authors are accepted as long as they don’t have an agent.
- The first 10,000 words must have been completed at the closing date of November 9, 2025.
- Entrants may submit more than one pitch but as separate entries.
- We are based in the UK but the writing competitions are international. Entries must be written in English.
- Entries can only be submitted electronically via this site and payment made via PayPal.
- Entrants may withdraw entries but fees cannot be refunded.
- Judge’s decision is final. Judge is unable to comment on individual entries.
- Copyright remains with the author, however we reserve the right to publish extracts of up to 300 words on our website as well as the opening lines on Twitter.
- By submitting, entrants are agreeing for BPA to keep a record of their email address for marketing purposes only. This information will not be shared with third parties. Entrants can unsubscribe from all communication at any time.
How to submit
- Please enter through the link on our website (from PayPal, you will be redirected to the submission form).
- Upload your first 500 words plus a 300 word synopsis and a covering letter with some brief information about yourself/your career as a writer.
- Please ensure that the file name is the title of the story.
- Entries must be in either a doc., docx, or pdf. No other formats will be accepted.
- Entries must be double spaced in a clear font (Times New Roman or similar) and pages numbered.
- The novel’s title must be on every page but your name should not appear anywhere on the story.
- The covering letter should include the following details: your name, the title of your novel, your email address and telephone number, a brief publication history and the genre of your novel if applicable (e.g. uplit, romance, contemporary, historical, psychological thriller, fantasy, crime, women’s, literary), as well as your pitch.
- Go to the Shop page and click on the paypal button to pay the fee.
- If payment is made using a different name, it is essential you include that name in the email you send with the story.
2025 Pitch Prize Judge
Liza DeBlock started in publishing as an assistant at Eccles Fisher Associates in 2018. She then moved into the world of literary agenting and learned from the brilliant Robert Caskie and Silé Edwards amongst others while working at a boutique agency. Whilst there, she honed her skills selling international rights for major Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors such as Richard Osman, Claire Douglas, Abigail Dean, Saara El-Arifi, Hannah Kaner, and many more writers. She began building a curated list of authors across the spectrum of fiction and non-fiction, selling their rights in the UK, US, and beyond. She was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022, and works with Black Girl Writers. She currently works for Greenstones Literary Agency.
“I love a pitch that puts me on the edge of my seat and intrigues me. Finding a way to show the specific unique qualities, the undeniable difference between your book and the thousands of other submissions, is what makes it stand out. Whether this is a unique character, a special location, context, or setting, and that conflict that sets our characters off on their adventure, I want to be hooked in and feel as though I’m reading something fun and new. Then, in your opening pages, really drill home the voice of the character. I love living in the heads of the main characters and feeling as though I’m right alongside them for their journey. So, show me something fun, then take me along for the ride.”
The Cover Letter – Emma’s Tips:
“Basics”: key information about the novel
Include title; broad genre; number of words written to date; estimated length of novel when completed.
“Hook Paragraph”: what will compel the reader to keep reading?
The reader’s avatar in the story (main character); main reason for acting, main problem; context and setting of story.
“Further Info”: what will sell you and the book to the reader?
Any relevant info about you and where the story came from; comparisons with other books, films, TV: what your potential future readers might be reading now; where the book would sit on the shelves of a bookstore.
Check out our blog post How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter.
Assistance to writers on low incomes or from under-represented backgrounds
We’re offering a minimum of 20 free entries for UK based writers on low incomes or from communities currently under-represented in publishing.
Applications will be reviewed and the most promising submissions will be selected by the BPA team.
Please click here to Contact BPA with your application and, if relevant, proof of financial eligibility such as: Jobseeker’s Allowance; Disability Benefit; Income Support; Working Tax Credit; Child Tax Credit; proof of being a full-time student; Housing Benefit; proof of being a full-time carer.
All details will be kept confidential.
"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."
BPA Events
Revising & Editing
Memoir, Life Writing, Creative Non-fiction
