Once again, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are launching a lucrative competition to find a new bestselling writer. The winner, who must be a first-time author, will win a £30,000 publishing deal with Bonnier Zaffre and receive specialist advice from literary agency Furniss Lawton.
The latest “Search for a Bestseller”, supported by WHSmith, will open to unpublished writers on the 19thApril 2018. Writers must submit 10,000 words, plus a synopsis of the novel. It must be a piece of original fiction that is aimed at adults. The full terms and conditions can be found here: www.richardandjudy.co.uk/rjbestseller
For over three decades Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have been a mainstay of British television. They recorded their first episode of This Morning in October 1988, live from Liverpool’s Albert Dock. The pair presented the show together for 13 years and made This Morning one of the most fondly regarded British television programmes in recent memory. They were awarded National Television Awards in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Richard & Judy left This Morning in 2001, to present the show appropriately named Richard & Judy on Channel 4. The show saw the birth of The Richard and Judy Book club in 2004, which was responsible for a revolution in the nation’s reading habits and still remains a literary phenomenon over a decade on. The Richard and Judy Book Club titles have sold in excess of 10 million and generated over £60 million in book sales. The Richard and Judy Book Club continues today exclusively with WHSmith.
This is a life-changing opportunity.
-Richard Madeley
Richard & Judy have both recently become successful authors in their own right, with their debut novels Some Day I’ll Find You and Eloise receiving massive critical and commercial success.
Richard can be heard regularly on BBC Radio 2. Richard’s third novel, The Night Book (a psychological thriller) was an instant Sunday Times top ten bestseller and went straight to number five in the official e-book chart.
Aspiring authors have until 14 June 2018 to submit their entries, via Richard and Judy’s website. The couple will lead the selection process, helped by editors from Bonnier Zaffre and agents at Furniss Lawton. The £30,000 publishing deal will be for world rights.
We can’t wait to discover the new talent that we know is out there…
-Kate Parkin, Executive Director, Bonnier Zaffre
Kate Parkin, Executive Director of Bonnier Zaffre commented: ‘We are thrilled to be working with Richard and Judy and our friends at WHSmith on the next “Search for a Bestseller’. Our 2016 winner Caz Frear’s Sweet Little Lies has been a huge success and secured publishing deals round the world. We can’t wait to discover the new talent that we know is out there…”
Judy Finnigan said: ‘This is a wonderful chance for someone not only to become a published author, but to see their debut novel turned into a bestseller.’ Richard Madeley added: ‘Our previous competition winners, Tracy Rees with Amy Snow and Caz Frears with Sweet Little Lies, saw their novels fly off the bookshelves in their hundreds of thousands. This is a life-changing opportunity.’
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