A new science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction award has been launched. Named the Andromeda Award, the new initiative is from publishing agencies C&W (part of The Curtis Brown Group) in the United Kingdom and UTA in the United States and will be open to original, unagented, unpublished full-length adult works in the English language, in any genres within science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction that do not exceed 120,000 words.
The goal is to offer brilliant opportunities for aspiring and untapped authors, the companies say.
“Publishers and audiences alike are embracing an ‘age of wonder’ with a focus on science fiction, fantasy, and the developing form of ‘romantasy’,” commented Byrd Leavell, C&W Chair and Co-Founder Clare Conville and UTA Partner and Co-Head of Publishing. “C&W and UTA are delighted to announce their own starship enterprise THE ANDROMEDA AWARD; our aim is to discover, support and promote a new generation of exceptional writers who seek to explore and boldly extend story-telling possibilities, dazzling readers along the way.”
A financial prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the debut novel that demonstrates the most innovation, compelling storytelling, and stylistic promise. The second-place winner will receive $3,000 and a spot in Curtis Brown Creative’s nine-week online Writing Fantasy course with Zoom lessons, workshops and tutorials. The third-place winner will earn $1,000 and a spot on a six-week online Curtis Brown Creative course of their choice. Course options include Writing Science Fiction, Writing Gothic & Supernatural Fiction, and more.
Entries are open from 25 September 2024 until 18 December 2024, and must be submitted via the submissions portal on the Andromeda Award website. Entries should include author’s name and city/state/country, a summary of the work of no more than three paragraphs and the entire manuscript as one Word or PDF attachment. Partial manuscripts will not be admitted.
The longlist will be announced on 25 March 2025 and the shortlist on 22 April 2025. The final winner will be announced by 6 May 2025.
Find more book news, reviews, author interviews and more at SciFiNow
