The London Book Fair (LBF), the UK’s biggest gathering of international publishers and agents, has announced that entries are NOW OPEN for its ever-popular writing competition, The Write Stuff, which will take place on Thursday 14^th March in LBF’s Author HQ – the area of the Fair dedicated to writers and aspiring writers, which is sponsored by IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing.

Last year’s winner was Michele Sagan, who pitched her psychological thriller A Coffin Full of Lies, says of her experience since wining “Taking part in the Write Stuff provides writers with a fantastic opportunity to get feedback directly from top agents. I found that winning it in 2018 not only boosted my confidence, it also gave me the impetus to complete my novel and to gain valuable exposure in the industry.”

The competition takes the form of a “Dragon’s Den” style panel event with six shortlisted authors pitching their books to a panel of literary agents, and an Author HQ audience, for the chance to win a follow-up meeting with a literary agent and a free year’s membership to LBF’s Author Club. This year’s panel of judges includes representatives from Eve White, Felicity Bryan Associates, LBA and The BKS Agency.

Authors will have fifteen minutes each to pitch – to introduce themselves and present their work. The judging panel will then provide on-the-spot feedback to each pitch, as well as the authors’ writing, having received in advance of the competition sample chapters of each finalist’s work.

The winner of the 2018 competition will be announced on the day and whilst the judging panel deliberate, last year’s winner, Michelle Sagan, will take part in a Q&A in Author HQ to update on her year since her competition win.

Deadlines for this year’s The Write Stuff are:

• With immediate effect: Entries are now open, and authors are invited to send in their submissions to LBFAuthorHQ@midaspr.co.uk in accordance with the published guidelines and application process
• Thursday 31^st January 2019, 5:00pm: Deadline for entries.
• Friday 8^th February 2019: Longlist notified and asked to send in the first three chapters of their work
• Friday 15th February 2019, 5:00pm: Deadline for longlisted authors to submit their work
• Friday 1st March 2019: Shortlist (six) will be notified and invited to pitch on the day
• Thursday 14^th March 2019, 2:30pm-4:30pm: The Write Stuff competition takes place

All Author HQ events are free-to-attend with the purchase of a three-day pass which also includes access to LBF’s extensive Insights Seminar programme of 200+ events covering all aspects of the publishing industry.  Seminar places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Information on how to enter the The Write Stuff competition is below and can also be found at: http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/The-Write-Stuff.  For further information about The London Book Fair and ticket information, please visit www.londonbookfair.co.uk.