New crime writing prize launched by A M Heath, Orion and Crime Monthly

A M Heath literary agency, the Orion Publishing Group and Crime Monthly have teamed up to launch Criminal Lines 2023, a new £3,500 crime writing prize open to unagented, debut authors, born or resident in the UK and Ireland.

From psychological thrillers, cosy crime to serial killer thrillers, entrants are invited to submit the opening 5,000 words of a novel with “criminal intent”, plus a synopsis of no more than 1,000 words here.

Entries open on 3rd August 2023 and close on 7th December 2023. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges including A M Heath agents Euan Thorneycroft and Oli Munson, Crime Monthly assistant editor Lisa Howells, Orion Fiction editors Leodora Darlington and Sam Eades, and authors Vaseem Khan and Mari Hannah.

Howells said: “It’s such an exciting time to be a crime writer, and it’s a privilege to be able to help launch someone into their dream career.”

Thorneycroft said: “We know there are great undiscovered crime and thriller writers out there and we can’t wait to find the next star of British and Irish crime writing.”

Darlington added: “We are delighted to be partners-in-crime with A M Heath and Crime Monthly, and look forward to discovering crime fiction’s next superstar. We are looking for unforgettable voices, a strong sense of place, books with series potential, killer openings and endings that will get readers talking.”

Hannah said she had no hesitation in agreeing to judge the prize. “If you are an aspiring writer who has plucked up the courage to enter such a prestigious competition, congratulations. Taking that huge step is an achievement in itself, an opportunity not to be missed for anyone chasing the dream of being published”. 

“I’ll be looking for originality, a strong voice, a manuscript that moves me, one that urges me to read on. I’m waiting patiently for your submission. Your job is to blow me away with your storytelling. Good luck everyone.”

Khan added: "It took me two ego-bruising decades and seven unpublished novels to finally find myself in print. This new prize aims to help shortcut that journey for unpublished writers with the talent, commitment and sheer bloody-mindedness to become crime and thriller novelists – bloody being the operative word. Working with stellar brains at A M Heath, Orion and Crime Monthly, I’ll be looking for twisted, dark and murdery tales, told with panache."

Some bookish news!

 According to Deadline news Harper Collins have confirmed its big multimillion-dollar, multi-book deal with Michael Mann. Harper Collins is to be the “home” of Michael Mann books.  The first novel to be published will be a collaboration with The Cartel author Don Winslow. The novel will be about the complex relationship between two Organized Crime giants, Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana and will be published in 2017.  More information can be found here.

Also with London Book Fair starting today various things have been happening on the book front.

According to the Bookseller Trapeze’s commissioning editor Sam Eades has pre-empted a debut author’s killer crime series within 48 hours of receiving the manuscript.  The full news can be ready here.  The author is a former paramedic and the TV rights have also been bought by Sid Gentle whose adaptation of the Durrell’s is currently being shown on television.  The first book in the series is Ragdoll and will be published in January 2017 in hardback, e-book and audio.

In other book news Headline have bought the high concept thriller by Faber Academy graduate Felicia Yap entitled The Day After Yesterday.  Headline have also snapped another high concept thriller from debut author Nick Clarke Windo.  The book is entitled The Feed and is set in a near future world where people can download a social media feed directly to their brand. More information can be found here. The Feed is due to be published in 2018.

Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books also bought the world English rights to Norwegian crime writer Kjell Ola Dahl’s next two books in the Gunnarstranda series.  The two titles The Faithfull Friends and The Ice Swimmer will be published in 2017.  More information can be read here.

Fans of Alienst author Caleb Carr will welcome the news that he is to return to the series after 20 years. According to EW, Carr will return to the historical mystery with two new books. The first of the books is set 20 years after The Angels of Darkness.

Avon have bought Katerina Diamond’s two new psychological thrillers.

Fiona Barton’s novel The Widow is set for the screen with (according to the Bookseller) the TV rights being bought by the production company Playground.

Michael Joseph have also bought the trilogy Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by debut writer Chloé Esposito. Another Faber Academy graduate the first book in the series Mad is due to be published in June 2017.  More information from the Bookseller can be found here.

Jonathan Cape is due to publish a new book in September by Ian McEwan. The novel entitled The Nutshell is according to the Bookseller a classic story of murder and deceit.

In job news Alison Hennessey has moved from Harvill Secker to become editorial director of Bloomsbury Crime.  More information via The Bookseller can be found here.

Sandstone Press have also (according to booktrade info) signed second novels by German crime writer Volker Kutscher and David McCallum. The Silent Death is the second book in the Gereon Rath series and will be published in May 2017.  Provisionally entitled Once a Upon a Crooked Time is the second book in the Harry Murphy series by McCallum and it is to be published in mid-2017.

Mark Billingham is also to have three new novels published by Little Brown.   According to Booktrade info, the first of the three novels will be published in 2017.  His newest novel Die of Shame is due to be published on 5^th May 2016.

Crimefest Day 3

Needless to say, having stayed up rather late last night it meant that I am behind on the blog! So I am now playing catch up. My fellow Shotsmag contributor and all round crime fiction man Ali Karim has been posting pictures to his Facebook page so please have a look!

After the late night that I had the first panel that I managed to get to was The Grass Is Greener: Thrillers - UK Vs US. This panel was ably moderated by Nick Sayers of Hodder & Stoughton and had on the panel Charlie Charters, Simon Conway, Matt Hilton and Zoë Sharp. Surprisingly of the four authors on the panel only one of them is not published by Hodder & Stoughton. I know which author it is but do you? I was rather disappointed in not being able to attend any of the earlier panels which were Room for One More: Debut Authors which was moderated by Peter Guttridge and Suspicion: Spies Coming in From The Cold which was moderated by Michael Ridpath.

Rather sadly I also did not manage to get to any of the other panels that were being shown in the morning. It was not however for lack of trying! I kept on (in a very nice way) getting hijacked by people who wanted to talk to me. The ever effervescent Sam Eades of Headline took a party of us out to lunch. This consisted of the Shotsmag team, Jake Kerridge, Colin Bateman, Katherine Armstrong and Conor Fitzgerald whose novel Dogs of Rome was one of the fe books that I picked up as a result of Declan Burke talking sbout it. I am looking forward to reading it a lot. I spent the afternoon trying to ensure that the blog is up to date and thus did not have the opportunity to go to any of the panels this after noon. The one tht I did regret missing was Lindsey Davis being interviewed by Lauren Henderson.

One of the highlights of Saturday night is the gala dinner and for once I do not have to worry about what I am going to wear! A number of awards will also be given out and I shall let you know the result. Anyway, I am off to get dressed for the dinner.

So far I have been having a wonderful time at Crimefest. It has been so much fun catching up with various people that rather sadly the time has gone past rather quickly. So, before I forget I would like to say a huge thanks to Adrian Muller and Myles Allfrey for once again putting on such a splendid event.