THE GREEN LIGHT PRIZE

an Inkandescent award for fiction

 

​The Green Light Prize is Inkandescent’s inaugural prize for fiction — a new platform for bold and original narrative voices.

​​

We are seeking unpublished novels, particularly commercial and genre fiction: work that is gripping and imaginative — and unafraid to push boundaries.  And we are pairing this search with our commitment to the championing of underrepresented writers.

 

​We believe there are powerful stories out there, ignored by the blinkered perspectives of traditional publishing and its gatekeepers, voices that not only deserve to be heard but to be cherished, and brought to the attention of the wider world.

​

The winning writer will receive a royalty-based publishing contract with Inkandescent, alongside full editorial development and support. Their book will benefit from UK-wide paperback distribution via BookSource as well as international eBook distribution through Faber Factory, with the further possibility of audiobook production.

​

Inkandescent will also retain the opportunity to develop and represent subsidiary rights, including film, television, and stage adaptation, with a view to expanding each work’s reach across different audiences and platforms.

​

To celebrate publication, we will host a launch event in central London, introducing the newly “green lit” books — and their authors — to readers, industry professionals, and the wider cultural community.

 

So we ask:

• Have you written a working-class, page-turning thriller?

• A queer love story with an edge of danger?

• A strange or speculative novel that refuses to fit the mould?

• Something dark, daring, or impossible to categorise?

 

Could you be the next Patricia Highsmith, Val McDermid or Walter Mosley? R.F Kuang or Samuel Delaney or N.K. Jemisin? Victor LaValle or Octavia Butler or Caitlín R. Kiernan? Or someone entirely new? You?

​​

We are looking for bold, imaginative, and compelling long-form work from writers whose voices are underrepresented in publishing. We are drawn to writing that takes risks, challenges expectations, and opens doors to new worlds. This is not just a prize — this is a real publishing pathway.

​

​

​​​ENTRY GUIDELINES

​

• Competition opens on October 1st 2026

• We're looking for submissions of full-length novels between 40,000 and 90,000 words. In the first instance, submit a one page synopsis of your novel, and the opening 5,000 words. 

• If your entry is longlisted, we will request the rest of your novel.  

• Entries must be previously unpublished

• You may submit your work to other publishers or competitions at the same time, but please let us know immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.

• Writers may submit one manuscript per entry

• All entries must be written in English. We welcome submissions from writers based anywhere in the world

• We must receive your entry before the closing date: 1st June 2027

• Send us your entry by clicking the green light bulb at the bottom of the page. 

​​

​

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

 

We are open to a wide range of genre fiction, including (but not limited to):

• Horror

• Weird fiction

• Thrillers (of any description, e.g. erotic-, spy-, techno-, legal-)

• Science fiction / Speculative fiction 

• Noir

• Crime

• Science fiction / Speculative fiction

• Fantasy

• Adventure

• Romance

 

We are especially interested in work that contains an element of the strange, the magical, or the impossible. Whether grounded or otherworldly, we are drawn to writing that is:

​

• well-crafted and distinctive

• story-driven and entertaining

• dark, macabre, or unsettling

• imaginative and speculative

• experimental or unconventional

• transgressive, digressive, or difficult to categorise​

 

Above all, we are looking for stories that stay with us.​​​​​​​​

 

​

WHO SHOULD ENTER

​

The Green Light Prize is dedicated to supporting writers from underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to:

​

• LGBTQ+ writers

• Writers from Black and Brown communities

• Writers from working-class or financially disadvantaged backgrounds

• Neurodivergent writers

• Writers from underrepresented regions within the UK and beyond

 

If you feel your voice is not widely represented in publishing, then this prize is for you.

 

​

​THE PRIZE

​

• Publication with Inkandescent

• Full editorial development and support

• The Green Light Prize trophy

• A book launch in a central London location

 

Our aims include bringing exceptional new work to wider audiences and supporting unfairly overlooked writers, at whatever stage in their career.

 

 

ENTRY FEES

​

Inkandescent is a small independent publisher, supported in part by public funding and sustained by a dedicated team who contribute their time and expertise on an often voluntary basis. We are committed to paying our editors, readers, and staff as fairly as possible. In order to do this — and to ensure that we can read submissions with the care and attention they deserve — we charge an entry fee. We recognise that fees can be a barrier. It's £25 to enter the competition but we also offer a limited number of discretionary complementary submission entries.  A free entry to The Green Light Prize will be treated equally to a paid entry, giving the holder the same chance of winning. If you wish to apply for a free entry, please contact us here. 

 

​

SUBMISSION CRITERIA

​

• Manuscripts should be submitted as a Word document or PDF

• Use Times New Roman font, 12pt

• Documents should be double-spaced with numbered pages

• The title of the piece should be displayed in the header of every page.

• Include a title page only without your name — and the remainder of the manuscript should be anonymous (by which we mean that your name must NOT appear anywhere in the manuscript).

• Please use the name of your novel as the filename of the 5,000 word extract you submit (e.g. MobyDick.doc, Beloved.doc, TheTalentedMrRipley.doc). The filename for your synopsis should be the name of your novel + the word ‘Synopsis’ (e.g. MobyDick – Synopsis.doc, Beloved – Synopsis.doc, TheTalentedMrRipley – Synopsis.doc)” 

• Do not include your own name on the filename (manuscripts should be anonymous)

• Reminder: Please do not include your name anywhere within the body of the manuscript.

 

Submit via the link below.

​​

​

RESPECT AND INCLUSION

​

• One of literature’s key functions is to examine the world in all its complexity. As such, we welcome bold, challenging, and complex writing, including work that explores difficult themes, controversial perspectives, or morally ambiguous characters. Having said this, we must make it clear that Inkandescent operates a zero-tolerance approach to bigotry. We will not accept submissions that promote or endorse hatred or bigotry (this includes but is not limited to discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age).  Furthermore, we reserve the right to disqualify any submission that we believe to be harmful in either its intent or impact.

​​

​

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PLAGIARISM

​

The Green Light Award exists to celebrate original storytelling and the unique voices of writers. All submissions must be the entrant’s own work and must not infringe the copyright or intellectual property rights of any other person.

​

While we recognise that authors may use a range of tools during the creative process, including digital and AI-assisted tools, submitted manuscripts must represent the author’s own original creative work. Entries that are wholly or substantially generated by artificial intelligence, or which contain material copied, adapted, or reproduced from existing works without appropriate permission, will not be accepted.

​

By entering the competition, authors confirm that their submission is their own original work and that they hold all necessary rights to it. The Publisher reserves the right to investigate any concerns regarding plagiarism, copyright infringement, or the use of generative AI. Any entry found to be in breach of these rules may be disqualified at any stage of the competition, and any award or publishing offer may be withdrawn.

​

TERMS & CONDITIONS

​

• Entries must be the original work of the author

• The work must not be currently under contract or previously published in full

• By entering, you grant Inkandescent the right to read and assess your work for the purposes of the competition

• Copyright remains with the author at all times

• The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence can be entered into

• Inkandescent reserves the right not to award any prize (in the very unlikely event that we are unable to identify any suitable manuscript) 

 

​

FINAL NOTE

We believe that great stories can come from anywhere — and that too many voices have historically been denied the opportunity to be heard. The Green Light Prize exists to change that.

The signal is live. The light is green. Go!

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​