Meeting the Book Trade and getting an unwelcome Bonus

I’m afraid this post has been delayed, for reasons that will soon become apparent.

I went to Dublin for two days of meetings with experts in the book trade at the Irish Writers’ Centre. The joy of winning the debut novel competition was now tempered by the fear that no-one might actually want to take my novel on. I met twelve agents and publishers in total. They had my bio, the genre of my novel and the title. I had just fifteen minutes to pitch my novel to each of them. I’d worked very hard on my pitch for the previous week. I started with an overview of the novel, introduced my two protagonists and went through their character arcs. I proposed that my novel would make a good book-group publication and outlined comparator titles. Then came their questions and the verdict.

Seven were interested in seeing more of my novel, and three of these wanted to read the full manuscript. Even the ones that weren’t interested told me I’d done a good pitch. I was overjoyed. I’d taken another big step closer to publication. Coming back on the crowded train I felt completely drained. I got off at Newry and drove home. It was a dark and rainy night, I was so tired I had difficulty seeing the road. I almost collapsed when I got in. A day later I went down with the flu. So the past two weeks have been spent coughing up gunge from my lungs and trying to update my manuscript ready to be sent out. I hope I perk up for Christmas.

International Debut Novel Competition

A big thank you to my friends for their many congratulations on winning this novel-writing competition. It’s fantastic and amazing to be selected as one of the twelve winners. I was told over a week ago and had to remain silent until the news was officially announced, yesterday afternoon. That was a challenge! The Irish Writers’ Centre received almost 600 submissions from unpublished novelists in 33 countries. The process by which the winners were determined seems to have been like that of the Booker Prize. Each of the six judges had to select their top five out of nearly 100 submissions that they read blind. The 30 shortlisted novels were then circulated, the judges then had to choose their top two. This was followed by a long meeting at which the judges debated the merits of each of the shortlisted novels and came up with the twelve winners.

I’d like to thank the Irish Writers’ Centre, the judges and the other winners. I am over the moon at being chosen. Now comes the hard work of actually getting a publishing deal. At the end of this week I go to Dublin to meet agents and publishers and pitch my novel to them. So there is a lot of work to do.

The greatest boost I’ve received so far came in the judge’s report which assessed the merits of my novel, 'The Cut'. All the rejections I’d previously received began to fade into the background. Finally someone had recognised and appreciated what I was trying to achieve in my writing. I’ll leave you with an extract from the report.

“The Cut is a taut, skilful excerpt that establishes it’s world with immediacy and detail. The writing is alive to thematic concerns of class, race and power without needing to announce those themes in a clunky or forced way. From the opening lines the voice is distinct and fully inhabited: wary, weary, but edgy – dark humour and resilience. The setting feels immediately three-dimensional – the damp streets, the factory grime, the hierarchies of post-war Britain.

The author’s control of tone, sentence structure, and pacing is notable, reflecting the protagonist’s discipline and inner tension. We wonder what will come, and come it will, but are willing to wait for the narrative to reveal that in good time. No sentimentality here; emotion is earned through necessary/exacting detail and restraint. The novel’s synopsis indicates an ambitious reach – a novel about murky moral clarity and empathy. The Cut is an assured excerpt, relying on the slow build, the careful layering of of observation and suspicion, the incremental threat. The dialogue is sharp, regional and unforced, sounding like real (if finely crafted) back and forth conversation. This writer understands that narrative control, not flash or overwrought writing, sustains tension and empathy. An immediately intriguing excerpt.”

https://irishwriterscentre.ie/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2025-international-debut-novel-competition/