
First Pages Writing Competition
If you want a reader to buy your book or a publisher to offer you a contract, you need to make a good first impression.
The first pages competition is here to encourage unagented emerging authors to make their first impression the best it can be.
What do publishers look for in your first pages?
Don’t waste those first pages with exposition and back story. Publisher’s want a hook and ‘voice’ that grabs them as well as meeting a character they want to spend time with. Here is your chance to polish your first pages to perfection and grab a publisher or editor’s attention.
categories
Picture book fiction (PBF) 0-8 yrs
Picture book non-fiction (PBNF) 0-8 yrs
Chapter books (CB) 7-12 yrs
Older readers (OR ) 13-18 yrs
dates
Entries open: 1 June 2025
Entries close: 13 July 2025
Longlist announced: 17 August 2025
Shortlist announced: 31 August 2025
Winners announced: 11 October 2025
prizes
Category winner
Publisher pitch ZOOM, publisher assessment & award certificate
Shortlisted
Publisher assessment & award certificate
Longlisted
Award certificate
eligibility
All unagented published or unpublished Australian holders of a base ticket can enter. The manuscript entry cannot be published or under contract.
You can enter as many times as you like as long as each entry is submitted separately with a new add-on ticket.
guidelines
Download the First Pages Competition entry guidelines for how to format and submit your entry.