The Center for Fiction

The Prize was created to honor the best debut fiction of the year. The winner receives a $15,000 prize and each shortlisted author receives $1,000. The Prize is given to a debut novel published in the United States between January 1st and December 31st of the competing year.

Only first-time novelists who are American citizens or permanent residents are eligible for this award. Authors who have previously published novels in other countries are NOT eligible, even if the book in question is their first to be published in the U.S.

Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

Only full-length first novels written in English are eligible.  Novellas, collections of short stories, whether related or unrelated, and YA novels are NOT eligible.

Novels in ALL genres are welcome.

Only books published for the first time in the United States between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year are eligible. We prefer that these be submitted as finished copies, if available. Bound galleys and bound, edited manuscripts are also acceptable.

Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

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