Discoveries 2025 | Terms & Conditions
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
Definitions
All references to:
“Curtis Brown” are to Curtis Brown Group Limited (company registration number 00679620), whose registered office at the date of publication of these Terms and Conditions of Entry is Cunard House, 15 Regent Street, London, SW1Y 4LR;
“Curtis Brown Creative” are to Curtis Brown Creative Limited (company registration number 08880058), whose registered office at the date of publication of these Terms and Conditions of Entry is Cunard House, 15 Regent Street, London, SW1Y 4LR;
“Women’s Prize Trust” are to Women’s Prize Trust (company registration number 03691656; charity registration number 1181253), whose registered office is 6 New Street Square, London EC4A 3DJ; and
“Audible” are to Audible Limited (company registration number 05280956), whose registered office is 26-28 Glasshouse Yard, London, EC1A 4JU; together, the “Co-Promoters”, “us” or “we”.
All references to “entrant”, “entrants” or “you” refer to a person who submits an entry under this competition.
1. HOW TO ENTER
1.1. This competition runs from 19 September 2024 (the “Opening Date”) until 23:59 London time on 13 January 2025 (the “Closing Date”) (the period, the “Submission Period”), after which no further entries will be accepted as eligible.
1.2. The competition is free of charge to enter.
1.3. Entries must be submitted online using the Discoveries submission form (https://discoveries.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk), which must be completed in full, including the entrant’s full name, contact telephone number, and email address. Entrants must paste up to the first 10,000 words of their novel and a synopsis of up to 1,000 words into the appropriate fields of the entry form.
1.4. The Co-Promoters do not accept responsibility for late or lost entries and shall not be held responsible for any inability to submit entries as a result of computer service, systems and or server failure, error, interruption, defect or delay or any other technical malfunction. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.
1.5. Entrants consent to being contacted by the Co-Promoters in response to their entry and with communications about exclusive events and opportunities relating to Discoveries 2025, using the telephone number or email address provided with the competition entry.
2. ELIGIBILITY
2.1. The competition is open to women.
2.2. Entrants must be at least 18 years old at the time of entry and a resident of the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
2.3. Only one entry is permitted per entrant. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted. For the avoidance of doubt, joint submissions are not permitted.
2.4. Work must not be produced or edited by Chat GPT or any other AI creation tool.
2.5. Entrants must be unrepresented at the time of entering the competition (i.e. you should not already have a literary agent). Should you accept an offer of representation post-submission but before the Announcement Date (as defined below), you must let us know as soon as possible so that we can remove your entry from the competition. Failure to do so will mean that we have the right to remove your submission from the competition.
2.6 Entrants must not have previously had a novel, memoir, short story collection, poetry collection and/or non-fiction book previously published by an established publisher (including in e-form). ‘Established’ is here defined as a publishing house which publishes a list of at least three novels by different authors and with ISBNs every year, and distributes its books nationally through established retail and/or online outlets. For the avoidance of doubt, ‘established’ publishing house does not include print-on-demand services or companies who publish titles via a commercial arrangement through which they are paid by the author. Entrants who have self-published work, or had any other type of publication (such as magazine or anthology publishing) are eligible to submit.
2.7. The competition is not open to employees, trustees or contractors of the Co-Promoters, or to any person directly or indirectly involved with the Co-Promoters (including its affiliates) or the running of the competition, or their direct family members.
2.8. In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prize you may win. The Co-Promoters may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
2.9. For the avoidance of doubt, the competition is open to current and former students of Curtis Brown Creative’s courses.
2.10 For the avoidance of doubt, the competition is open to persons who entered Discoveries in previous years. Such persons may re-submit their applicable Discoveries entry to this year’s competition.
2.11. For entrants who have applied for and have been accepted onto a Curtis Brown Creative three-month or six-month Writing Your Novel course starting between 1 September 2024 and 1 June 2025, in the event of you being awarded the Scholar prize we will refund you the course fee that you have paid (up to a maximum of £1,800).
2.12. Entering the competition shall have no effect on any formal submission you may have made or make to a Curtis Brown agent either before or after the Opening Date (for the avoidance of doubt, the competition and submissions to Curtis Brown are separate).
2.13. Entrants must comply with these terms and conditions to be eligible for prizes. If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Co-Promoters may, at their sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition.
3. COMPETITION ENTRIES
3.1. Your entry must be written in the English language.
3.2. Your entry must comprise the opening (including any prologue) of a fiction novel intended for adults (i.e. not children’s or young adult fiction) of up to 10,000 words and a synopsis of no more than 1,000 words. Entrants must paste up to the first 10,000 words of their novel and a synopsis of up to 1,000 words into the appropriate fields of the entry form.
3.3. Your entry (including the synopsis) must not have your name on it or any other marker which obviously identifies you as the author.
3.4. Your entry – and the novel from which it derives – must be your own original work and must not violate the copyright or other rights of any third party.
3.5. Your entry can be of any theme, subject or genre of adult fiction.
3.6. The novel from which your entry derives does not have to be finished at the date of entry.
3.7. The novel from which your entry derives must: be unpublished in print and online (whether via a publisher or through self-publishing); not have been broadcast; not have won a prize. Being published online includes, but is not limited to, publication on a personal blog.
3.8. Simultaneous submission to multiple competitions is permitted but if your entry wins a prize or is published elsewhere you must let us know as soon as possible so that we can remove it from the competition.
4. JUDGING
4.1. Discoveries 2025 will consider all eligible entries on the basis of quality and originality of prose and narrative voice. We are keen to read as diverse a range of voices as possible and so encourage entries from writers of all ages and backgrounds who are at any stage along their respective writing journeys.
4.2. Judging of the competition will be in five stages:
Stage 1: The entries will be read by readers from a range of backgrounds, with literary expertise, and drawn from across the Co-Promoters’ networks.
Stage 2: Twenty-five (25) entries will be put forward by the readers to a judging panel made up of six individuals, including a Chairperson. The judging panel will read all twenty-five (25) stories.
Stage 3: A longlist of sixteen (16) entries (the “Longlist”) will be chosen by the judging panel from the list of twenty-five (25) and published on the Co-Promoter Websites on the Longlist Date (as defined below). In reaching its decision as to the Longlist, the judges will adopt a preferential voting system if required. Longlisted writers will be contacted personally by the Co-Promoters as soon as practicable before or on the Longlist Date using the email address and/or telephone number provided with the competition entry.
Stage 4: A shortlist of six (6) entries from the Longlist (the “Shortlist”) will be chosen by the judging panel and published on the Co-Promoter Websites on the Shortlist Date (as defined below). In reaching its decision as to the Shortlist, the judges will adopt a preferential voting system if required. Shortlisted writers will be contacted personally by the Co-Promoters as soon as practicable before or on the Shortlist Date using the email address and/or telephone number provided with the competition entry.
Stage 5: The judging panel will together select (a) the Winner and (b) the Scholar from the Shortlist, whose names will be published on the Co-Promoter Websites on the Announcement Date (as defined below). In reaching its decision as to the Winner and Scholar, the judges will adopt a preferential voting system if required. The Winner and Scholar will be contacted personally by the Co-Promoters as soon as practicable before or on the Announcement Date using the email address and/or telephone number provided with the competition entry.
4.3. In the event of their being selected, entrants consent to their full names and photograph (as provided by the selected entrant) being made public in the announcement of the competition longlist and shortlist on two dates to be announced in May 2025 (the “Longlist Date” and the “Shortlist Date”, respectively), and the Winner and Scholar on a date to be announced in May 2025 (the “Announcement Date”). The results will be published on the following websites: https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk, https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk http://www.womensprize.com (the “Co-Promoter Websites”).
4.4. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
4.5. The judging will be fair and independent. The judging panel will be appointed by the Co-Promoters and will comprise literary professionals. All judges are required to declare any financial interests in relation to any entrants.
5. PRIZES
5.1. The prizes for the Winner, Scholar, four shortlisted entrants, and ten longlisted entrants (together, the “prize-winners”) are as follows:
(i) Winner: an offer of representation made by Curtis Brown; £5,000; a gratis place on a specially designed two-week Discoveries Writing Development course to run through June and/or July 2025, to be taught by a published author-tutor and hosted on Curtis Brown Creative’s private online learning platform; a studio session with Audible to take place after the Announcement Date in 2025 with a contribution to expenses as required; an annual Audible subscription; an invitation to the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in June 2025.
(ii) Scholar: a gratis place on a Curtis Brown Creative three-month Writing Your Novel course (in London or online) commencing between July 2025 and April 2026; a mentoring session (to be taken up within 12 months of the Announcement Date) with an agent from Curtis Brown’s literary agent team; a gratis place on a specially designed two-week Discoveries Writing Development course to run through June and/or July 2025, to be taught by a published author-tutor and hosted on Curtis Brown Creative’s private online learning platform; a studio session with Audible to take place after the Announcement Date in 2025 with a contribution to travel expenses as required; an annual Audible subscription; an invitation to the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in June 2025.
(iii) Four shortlisted entrants: a gratis place each on a Curtis Brown Creative six-week creative writing online course, worth £220 (available until 1 March 2026); a mentoring session (to be taken up within 12 months of the Announcement Date) with an agent from Curtis Brown’s literary agent team; a gratis place each on a specially designed Discoveries Writing Development course to run through June and/or July 2025, to be taught by a published author-tutor and hosted on Curtis Brown Creative’s private online learning platform; a studio session with Audible to take place after the Announcement Date in 2025 with a contribution to travel expenses as required; an annual Audible subscription; an invitation to the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in June 2025.
(iv) Ten longlisted entrants: a £50 discount each on a Curtis Brown Creative six-week creative writing online course (available until 1 March 2026); a gratis place each on a specially designed two-week Discoveries Writing Development course to run through June and/or July 2025, to be taught by a published author-tutor and hosted on Curtis Brown Creative’s private online learning platform; an annual Audible subscription; an invitation to the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in June 2025.
(v) All Discoveries entrants: gratis entry to a virtual panel event to be held in 2025, with agents, editors and writers, signposting next steps for a professional writing career.
5.2. The prizes must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred (except, with regards to the six-week online writing courses only, strictly with the agreement of Curtis Brown Creative) or transferred.
5.3. None of the prizes can be exchanged for cash. For the avoidance of doubt, the novel-writing courses and discount referred to in (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above cannot be used as partial payment for any other Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing courses, with the exception of the refund referred to under clause 2.11 in respect of clause 5.1(ii).
5.4. The Co-Promoters will make all reasonable efforts to contact the prize-winners. If the prize-winners cannot be contacted or are not available or have not claimed their prize within seven (7) days of the Announcement Date the Co-Promoters reserve the right to offer the relevant prize to the next eligible entrant.
6. OWNERSHIP OF COMPETITION ENTRIES AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
6.1. The Co-Promoters do not claim any rights of ownership in your entry.
6.2. Should you be a prize-winner, you agree that the Co-Promoters may, but are not required to, publish an extract of up to 500 words from your entry (such extract to be agreed between you and the Co-Promoters) for the purposes of publicising and promoting the entry and the competition on the Co-Promoter Websites.
6.3. The entrant agrees that they will contribute to publicity and promotional activities in the event that they are a prize-winner, including events and interviews to be published on the Co-Promoter Websites, for the competition and hereby grants the Co-Promoters all necessary rights in their contribution for press/publicity activities for the competition for all media in perpetuity. The entrant agrees to obtain the Co-Promoters’ prior written consent before taking on any of its own publicity or promotional activity relating to their involvement in the competition. In the event that the entrant is informed that their novel has been longlisted or shortlisted or has won a prize, the entrant must not publish or otherwise let it be publicly known of this fact (such as via online forums, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) until such time as the official announcement is made, failing which the competition team may at its sole discretion disqualify the entry and revise the Longlist, the Shortlist and (if applicable) the selection of the Scholar and the Winner.
7. DATA PROTECTION
7.1. The Co-Promoters will process your personal information in accordance with the privacy policy set out in the following link: https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/discoveries-2025-privacy-policy
8. GENERAL
8.1. Entry into this competition will be deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions by the entrant and agreement to be bound by them and confirmation that the entrant has the necessary authority to enter into this competition. The Co-Promoters reserve the right to hold void, suspend, cancel or change this competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in their sole opinion or if circumstances arise outside of their control.
8.2. The Co-Promoters reserve the right to refuse entry to the competition for any reason at their absolute discretion.
8.3. Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to have agreed to be bound by them when entering this competition. The Co-Promoters may at their sole discretion disqualify the entry and/or reclaim any award and revise the Longlist, the Shortlist and (if applicable) the selection of the Scholar and the Winner, if they consider that the entrant has not complied with the terms and conditions contained herein (such as that the work is not original, fictional, and entirely the author’s own work).
8.4. Following standard industry practice, the Co-Promoters may undertake background checks (with the exception of criminal proceedings pending and unspent convictions) of the prize-winners for the purposes of determining compliance in line with clause 2.13.
8.5. The entrant acknowledges and agrees that to the extent permitted by law, the Co-Promoters and any other person(s) in connection with the competition will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise) including financially and/or to reputation and/or disappointment, suffered by any entrant or publisher or agent on behalf of an author, entering the competition or as a result of accepting any competition.
8.6. These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. This competition is void where prohibited by local law.