$5,000 grand prize
+ five $1,000 category prizes
Every entry receives a professional critique
by a Publishers Weekly reviewer
Get started
Just $79 (that's $20 off!)
Enter now • Contest closes 8/31
Why Enter the BookLife Prize?
You can win valuable prizes, and you also receive a publishable critique of your book from a reviewer from Publishers Weekly, the most respected name in book reviews. Each critique contains useable feedback about your book from an experienced reviewer.
Testimonial from an Author Like You
Since reaching the finals I have signed with a literary agent and been contacted by a film producer. Most importantly through the process of participating in the Prize, I got very valuable feedback on my work and broadened my author network considerably. —T.J. Slee
Why Enter the BookLife Prize?
We offer great prizes.
- Grand prize winner receives $5,000.
- Five category finalists get $1,000 in social media marketing.
- All finalists and grand prize winner are profiled in Publishers Weekly.
Prize entry is a great value.
- For the price of an entry fee you also receive a publishable critique from a trusted third party.
- Most other writing prizes don't offer any feedback for the price of entry.
- Thoughtful feedback from a professional reviewer helps you make your book even better.
Publishers Weekly is the most trusted name in book reviews.
- Since 1872, PW has reviewed hundreds of thousands of books from every major publisher.
Three-Step Process
- Complete the form with information about your book, and upload a digital copy of your book.
- In eight weeks or less, a professional PW reviewer will deliver a brief critique containing a sentence each about your book's plot, prose, originality, and character/execution as well as a numerical rating on a scale of one to ten. This score is used for ranking your book in the competition for the Prize.
- With your approval, the critique will be posted on BookLife.com. If you don't want your book's critique made public, it remains visible only to you. In either case you can use your critique or any excerpt from it for marketing purposes.
Testimonial from an Author Like You
Since winning the BookLife prize my overall profile as an author has been raised. I’ve also had a few enquiries with regard to the TV and Drama rights to the books, but most of all is a profound sense of validation. Indies still get "tarred with a brush of mediocrity" by some sectors of the industry, and that can be quite debilitating if you let it get to you. Most indies don’t have massive sales with which to defeat that potential "inferiority complex," yet now, with an award backed by Publishers Weekly, that feeling has been dispelled. —Ian Andrew
