This contest will run again in 2025. We run our contests on a three-year rotation.
James River Writers and Richmond magazine recognize the writing talents and entrepreneurial skills of Virginia’s indie authors by continuing The Best Self-Published Novel Contest, which we started in 2014. One first-prize winner will receive $500 and a ticket to the annual James River Writers Conference (worth over $300). The winner is announced in a fall issue of Richmond magazine, in October at the conference, in a press release, and on James River Writers’ social media.
Rules
Richmond magazine and JRW employees, founders, board members, advisory board members, and their immediate family members cannot enter. This includes freelance employees of Richmond magazine. If you have won the contest in the past, you may not re-enter the same book.
Note that this contest is for fiction only.
For a novel to be eligible for this contest, authors need to have paid the full cost of production. During the contest period, writers must submit a digital pdf copy of their self-published novel, including the cover.
Your indie novel must have been published between the dates of April 1, 2022 (our last contest) and February 28, 2025 (the closing date of the 2025 contest).
Novel entries cannot be longer than 125,000 words.
Entries are limited to residents of Virginia, including full-time students at Virginia universities and colleges.
Entry Fee
The entry fee is tiered, based on the length of the manuscript, and needs to be paid via credit card using the online form, below.
For manuscripts up to 85,000 words, the cost is $25.00 for members and $35 for non-members.
For manuscripts of 85,001 words to 125,000 words, the cost is $50 for members and $60 for non-members.
Submissions are now closed.
Submissions open January 10, 2025.
Deadline: Self-published books must be received via the below form no later than February 28, 2025, midnight, Eastern Time.
For each submission, you must complete the Best Self-published Novel Contest entry form and pay the fee online with a credit card.
Judging Criteria
Each entry will be judged on writing quality, editing, layout, cover design, and formatting.
FAQ
Can I enter more than one book or a book with more than one volume?
You may enter multiple manuscripts or volumes with an entry fee for each one.
If I entered in a previous year but didn’t win, can I resubmit the same novel?
You may only submit novels that have been published between April 1, 202 and February 28, 2025.
PAST WINNERS OF THE SELF-PUBLISHED NOVEL CONTEST
Best Self-Published Novel 2022
Winner: Better Left Unsaid, Anne McAneny – see the excerpt published in Richmond magazine HERE.
2nd: Pharaoh’s Forgery, Ellen Butler
3rd: The Secret About Time, Kathryn K. Murphy (pen name for Kathryn Hershberger)
Best Self-Published Novel 2019
Winner: Hitchin, Alexandra Christie
2nd: Ocular Denial by Anne McAneny
Finalists:
Rise and Run, RJ Plant
America’s Last President, George Fellows
Carrying Independence, Karen Chase
Best Self-Published Novel 2014
Winner: The Clever Mill Horse, Jodi Lew-Smith
2nd: Digging to Indochina, Connie Biewald
3rd: When the Moon Has No More Silver, Connie Lapallo
This project was supported [in part] by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.