The BookLife Prize
Discovering Great Books, Supporting New Authors

The grand prize in both the Fiction and Nonfiction Contests is $5,000 and an author profile in Publishers Weekly, but all entrants receive a Critic’s Report, a brief critical assessment of their novel written by a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

The BookLife Prize is an annual writing competition in two Contests (Fiction and Nonfiction) sponsored by BookLife and Publishers Weekly. The Prize seeks to support independent authors and discover great written works in nine categories across the two Sections. The categories in the Fiction Contest are: Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; and Middle-Grade & YA Fiction. The categories in the Nonfiction Contest are: Memoir/Autobiography; Self-Help; Inspirational/Spiritual; and Business/Personal Finance. The Prize is judged by PW reviewers, editors, acclaimed authors, and publishing veterans, and awards are given to finalists in each Contest's categories, with a grand cash prize of $5,000 going to the most outstanding finalist in each Contest. To see the results of the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 Prizes, click here.

The BookLife Prize Nonfiction Contest is now open through January 31, 2025.

Mission

The mission of the BookLife Prize is to discover, cultivate, support, and celebrate great works of unpublished or self-published writing by independent authors. The Prize also aims to provide feedback to authors about their work, provide a Critic’s Report which may assist finalists in the marketing of their fiction, and provide financial support via a cash prize to the grand-prize winner in each Contest.

Prizes

The grand prize winner for both the Fiction and Nonfiction Contests of the BookLife Prize will receive a cash prize of $5,000 as well as a profile in Publishers Weekly. Each grand prize winner will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes that may result from winning.  

Finalists, one from each respective submission category of both the Fiction and Nonfiction Contests, will receive a blurb (i.e., a promotional description, as found on the jackets of books) from a bestselling/award-winning author or professional editor serving as a guest judge for the Prize, as well as a mention in Publishers Weekly. Each finalist will also receive $1,000 worth of BookBaby's Facebook + Instagram for Authors service: for each finalist BookBaby will waive its $99 setup fee and provide $250-per-week funds for a four-week campaign; each finalist will then have the option to extend the campaign if s/he wishes to have it run for a longer period of time; click here for more information about the service.

All entrants will receive a Critic’s Report, which includes a score as well as a brief written critical assessment of their novel by a Publishers Weekly reviewer.  (Click here for an example Critic's Report.)

"You don't have to win the BookLife Prize to get the benefits. Every single entry gets a professional reviewer's critique, and you can leverage that critique to make you a better writer and more successful in your writing career." T.J. Slee

Eligibility and Submissions

Unpublished or self-published books–works for which the author has subvented the cost of the book’s publication–in the English language are eligible for the BookLife Prize.

Each submission can only be entered into one of the following categories:  Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; Middle-Grade & YA Fiction; Memoir/Autobiography; Self-Help; Inspirational/Spiritual; and Business/Personal Finance.

Novels submitted to the Middle Grade & YA Fiction category must contain 30,000 to 100,000 words. All other submissions must contain 40,000 to 100,000 words. Novellas, novelettes, short fiction, and collections are not eligible for submission. Authors may make multiple discrete submissions.

Employees of BookLife, its parent companies and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter the Prize. Entries written by non-humans (artificial intelligence) are not eligible.

All submissions must made between the following dates:

• For the Fiction Contest: April 1, 2024, and August 30, 2024. 
• For the Nonfiction Contest: October 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025.

Prize Structure - Fiction Contest 

The Fiction Contest of the BookLife Prize runs from April 1, 2024, to December 13, 2024, with the Contest divided into four rounds:

First Round (April 1, 2024, to August 30, 2024): All novels submitted to the BookLife Prize will be initially judged by the professional book reviewers of Publishers Weekly. Each submission will receive an evaluation called a Critic’s Report. Each Critic’s Report consists of a brief written critical assessment of the novel, as well as a rating–on a one to 10 scale–of the book’s strengths and weaknesses in the following categories: Characterization, Plot, Prose/Style, Originality, and Overall Strength. The submissions with the 10 highest scores in each genre will move to the quarter-finals.  The quarter-finalists will be announced on BookLife on October 14, 2024.

Quarter-Finals (September 1, 2024, to October 14, 2024): All submissions advancing to the quarter-finals will be critically assessed by the editorial staffs of Publishers Weekly and BookLife. Of the quarter-finalists, five from each of the five categories will be selected based on merit by PW and BookLife’s editors to advance to the semifinals. The semi-finalists will be announced on BookLife on October 17, 2024.

Semi-Finals (October 17, 2024, to November 14, 2024): All semi-finalist submissions will be critically assessed by a guest judge–professional book editor or bestselling/award-winning author–in each of the five categories. The guest judges will select one submission from each category to advance to the finals round. These five submissions will be the winners in each of their respective categories. Each of the five finalists will also receive a blurb from the corresponding guest judge, as well as a mention in Publishers Weekly. The finalists will be announced on November 14, 2024.

Finals (November 14, 2024, to December 13, 2024): From the five finalists, the panel of guest judges will select one grand prize winner for the Fiction Contest, who will receive a cash prize of $5,000 as well as a profile in Publishers Weekly. The grand prize winner from the Fiction Contest will be announced on December 13, 2024, and an article about the winner in the December 16, 2024, edition of the BookLife section of Publishers Weekly. The award will be paid no later than March 1, 2025. There are no cash awards being offered in the Fiction Contest of the BookLife Prize other than to the Fiction Contest grand prize winner.

Prize Structure - Nonfiction Contest

The Nonfiction Contest of the BookLife Prize runs from October 1, 2024, to May 26, 2025, with the Contest divided into four rounds:

First Round (October 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025): All books submitted to the BookLife Prize will be initially judged by the professional book reviewers of Publishers Weekly. Each submission will receive an evaluation called a Critic’s Report. Each Critic’s Report consists of a brief written critical assessment of the novel, as well as a rating–on a one to 10 scale–of the book’s strengths and weaknesses in the following categories: Structure, Theme, Prose/Style, Originality, and Overall Strength. The submissions with the 10 highest scores in each genre will move to the quarter-finals.  The quarter-finalists will be announced on BookLife on March 10, 2025.

Quarter-Finals (February 1, 2025, to March 10, 2025): All submissions advancing to the quarter-finals will be critically assessed by the editorial staffs of Publishers Weekly and BookLife. Of the quarter-finalists, five from each of the four categories will be selected based on merit by PW and BookLife’s editors to advance to the semifinals. The semi-finalists will be announced on BookLife on March 12, 2025.

Semi-Finals (March 12, 2025, to April 14, 2025): All semi-finalist submissions will be critically assessed by a guest judge–professional book editor or bestselling/award-winning author–in each of the four categories. The guest judges will select one submission from each category to advance to the finals round. These four submissions will be the winners in each of their respective categories. Each of the four finalists will also receive a blurb from the corresponding guest judge, as well as a mention in Publishers Weekly. The finalists will be announced on April 14, 2025.

Finals (April 14, 2025, to May 26, 2025): From the four finalists, the panel of guest judges will select one grand prize winner for the Nonfiction Contest, who will receive a cash prize of $5,000 as well as a profile in Publishers Weekly. The grand prize winner for the Nonfiction Contest will be announced on May 26, 2024. The award will be paid no later than August 1, 2025. There are no cash awards being offered in the Nonfiction Contest of the BookLife Prize other than to the Nonfiction Contest grand prize winner.

Instructions and Entry Fee

The nonrefundable entry fee for all submissions to the Prize is $119. The entry period for the 2024 BookLife Prize Nonfiction Contest is now open through January 31, 2025. 

New users who have no BookLife account enter on this page. BookLife members enter the BookLife Prize by logging in and going to project page for the book or manuscript they'd like to enter.  Here are detailed instructions.

Critic’s Report Reuse Guide

All participants in the BookLife Prize will receive a Critic’s Report: a score and a written evaluation of their work from a Publishers Weekly reviewer. While the Critic’s Report in no way constitutes a book review from Publishers Weekly, authors are welcome to use the text of their Critic’s Reports as promotional copy or as blurbs to promote their books. Please note: When attributing quotes from Critic’s Reports, authors must credit The BookLife Prize. Additionally, Critic’s Reports are not any kind of conversation or correspondence with PW reviewers, who will remain anonymous. Critic’s Reports will be delivered to participants by email within eight weeks of entry in the Prize; Critics Reports will also be accessible on authors’ dashboards on BookLife, where users can chose to make them public or keep them private.

TERMS, CONDITIONS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Participation in the BookLife Prize constitutes an entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Terms, Conditions and Limitation of Liability and all other provisions herein (the “T&Cs”), as well as the decisions of the reviewers, editors and judges of the Prize.

Upon full refund of the submission fee in any particular instance, BookLife shall have no obligation, express or implied, to judge any entry and entrants shall not be entitled to any damages or other relief by reason thereof.

If for any reason, BookLife is not capable of running the Contest, BookLife reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Prize, without prior notice at any time, including the selection of prize winners in any manner it deems fair and reasonable including the selection of the prize winners from among eligible entries received prior to such cancellation, termination, modification or suspension.

BookLife reserves the right, to cancel, terminate or modify the Prize if it determines, in its sole discretion, that fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of the Contest.

BookLife, its parent companies, sponsors of the Prize, their respective promotional partners, affiliated companies, agencies and their employees are not responsible for any individual’s inability to enter this contest, i>ncluding but not limited to: failed software or hardware transmissions; unavailable network, server, telephone or other connections; errors of any kind, whether human, electronic, or mechanical regarding lost, misdirected, late, incomplete or damaged entries; or for any damage to any computer, network, hardware or software related to or resulting from participation and are additionally not liable for injury, losses, damages or costs of any kind resulting from participation in the Prize. By entering this contest, entrants opt into the use of their registration information in accordance with the BookLife and its parent company’s Privacy Policy and consent to receiving correspondence via telephone and/or email by BookLife and its parent companies.

Eligibility for winning any prize in the Contest is contingent on compliance with the T&Cs. BookLife reserves the right to declare any submission ineligible if it is determined not to be in accordance with the T&Cs; and

The Prize is void where prohibited by law. Federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ENTRANTS

Contestants specifically represent and warrant the following regarding each submission:

The work is original material written by the entrant. The entrant is entirely responsible for all content submitted;

The work has not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work (as written in any language or in any medium, whether now known or hereafter devised) has not been previously published, produced, or distributed in any audio or visual form, or otherwise exploited in any medium (whether now known or hereafter devised, in whole or in part);

The work does not defame, and does not infringe or violate the right of privacy, right of publicity, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret, or any intellectual property, proprietary or other right(s) of, any third party;

The work does not include the name or likeness of any actual person(s), without having obtained the express prior written consent of such person(s) (or of such person’s parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) in each instance; and

The work meets each of the content requirements found in the T&Cs.

FAQs

Click here for a list of frequently asked questions about the BookLife Prize.