The Daily Mail Random House First Novel Competition invites entries

Win a £20,000 advance for a novel for adult readers in the competition for unpublished novelists

This is the third year that the competition for new novelists has run. In 2016, the winner was Amy Lloyd with The Innocent Wife, which has now been published in 18 countries. Last year's winner, Lizzy Barber's My Name is Alice, will be published by Penguin Random House in January.

All entries must be original, previously unpublished fiction in any genre for adults except saga, sci-fi or fantasy. Entrants must not previously have published a novel with a valid ISBN, or be represented by a literary agent. The prize is an advance against publication or the winning novel, and literary representation by Luigi Bonomi (pictured) of LBA Books Ltd. The highly commended entry may also be offered literary representation by LBA Books Ltd. All entrants must be able to deliver their manuscript no later than March 2019.

If in the publishers' opinion none of the entries are of a standard to merit publication, the winner's prize will be substituted for ten books.

To enter, send the first 3,000 words of a debut novel plus a 600-word synopsis and a three-paragraph letter about yourself and the main idea behind the book.

Entries should be sent by post to Daily Mail First Novel Competition, c/o Penguin Random House Group, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA by the closing date of 13 July.

For full details see the website.

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