About the TLC Pen Factor Writing Competition
The TLC Pen Factor Writing Competition is a competition for new, unpublished writing across fiction and non-fiction, open exclusively to Conscious Writing Month ticket-holders and Being A Writer members (if you are a member, CWM is included in your membership – just head to Circle to RSVP!).
The competition started as an adjunct to TLC’s Writing in a Digital Age Conference in 2012, later becoming part of our popular Writers’ Day. As a competition, TLC Pen Factor has an impressive track record for finding talent, with many of our previous finalists going on to be published – including as a direct result of meeting their agent at the event! You can read about how entering (and subsequently winning) resulted in Lizzie Damilola Blackburn landing a two-book deal with Viking here.
Previous winners and finalists include Neema Shah, Guinevere Glasfurd, Adam Sharp, Abi Dare, Stephanie Scott, Kirsty Capes, Fawzia Kane and Johnny Gaunt, all of whom have gone on to have their listed work published with publishers including Penguin, Bloomsbury, Transworld, and Canongate.
Five finalists will pitch their work live to a panel of industry judges at TLC PEN FACTOR LIVE on Friday November 27th. This year’s winner will be eligible to win £2,000 of prizes, including £500 in cash, £500 in TLC vouchers, and agent one to ones. A runner-up will win a full Manuscript Assessment, and all three finalists will receive an Opening Chapters Manuscript Assessment. You don’t need to have a finished manuscript to enter, just 1,000 words and a great synopsis.
How to Submit
*You must have a ticket to Conscious Writing Month, or be a member, to enter. Please read the full submission guidelines before entering*
Full submission guidelines for the 2026 competition will be issued once you have booked a ticket, and can also be found on our membership platform Circle. The below is a summary.
- The work entered must be an original, unpublished work of full-length fiction or narrative non-fiction. It does not have to be complete at the time of entering the competition.
- Your work must not be on submission to literary agents or publishers at the point of entry. If the work is on historic submission and you receive an offer of representation, you must immediately inform us and withdraw your submission from the competition.
- Unfortunately we are unable to accept short stories, poetry, picture books, or scripts.
- The work entered cannot have been previously published by a publisher with a curated list (i.e., where the work has been through an editorial selection process). Previously self-published work will be accepted.
- You must be a Conscious Writing Month ticketholder or Being A Writer member.
- You must enter the competition using the same name and email you used to purchase your ticket or set up your membership, so that we can verify your eligibility to enter.
- You must be able to attend the TLC Pen Factor Live Pitch on Friday 27th November 2026 in order to enter the TLC Pen Factor Writing Competition.
- You are invited to attend our one hour webinar ‘How to Win a Writing Competition’ on 13th October with competition judge Anna South – attendance is not mandatory but it may help you to understand what we are looking for (information will be sent to you once with your ticket).
- The judges’ decision re: longlist, shortlist and the overall winner is final and unfortunately we are not able to enter into discussion or give feedback.
- We will not accept any AI-generated writing.
- Submissions not complying with the submission guidelines will not be considered.
The Submission Deadline for the 2026 Prize is 9am (UK) 16th November 2026.
