Avon and Big Issue launch Crime Writing Competition

HarperCollins imprint Avon is partnering with the Big Issue magazine to find a new crime writer in a competition launching in March.

The winner will receive a two-book deal with the HarperCollins division with submissions invited from across the UK.

The decision-making panel members include books editor at the Big Issue Jane Graham, Kingsford Campbell agent Julia Silk, author Katerina Diamond, along with writer and editor M J Ford.

Helen Huthwaite, publishing director at Avon, said: ‘It is with great excitement that we launch the search for the UK’s next big crime writer, and we couldn’t wish for a better publication to do this with than the Big Issue. With the help of some of the best talent in the business, we will be scouring the length and breadth of the country for an author who can deliver heart-stopping writing and nail-shredding suspense.  This is a life-changing prize for one talented winner, and we can’t wait to see what the entries have in store for us.”

Paul McNamee, UK editor of the Big Issue, said: “Working with such a legendary publishing house is a way to make somebody’s dream become reality. The Big Issue readers are smart, brilliant people and I suspect this opportunity will see a lot of them take the chance to send us their books. We’ve assembled a terrific panel to help uncover the Britain’s best new, yet undiscovered, crime writer. At the Big Issue, we believe in a hand up. We’re extending it again.”

Submissions will run until May 2019 with a shortlist being announced in September and the winner’s announcement to follow in October. The books will then be scheduled for publication in 2020 and onwards. 

The competition opens at 9am on Monday (4th March) and closes at midnight on 31st May. For more information, visit avonbooks.co.uk.