The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger), sponsored by Fiction Feedback Editorial Consultancy, is an international competition, open to any unpublished writer in the world writing in English, for a crime novel opening (max. 3,000 words) and synopsis (max. 1,500 words). The crime novel – of any subgenre; including but not limited to thriller, noir, cosy mystery, suspense, police procedural; historical; spy story and crossover of any kind including supernatural, romance and fantasy – should be suitable for adults or young adults. You don’t need to have completed the novel to enter.
Eligibility rules have changed for the 2026 competition, opening in October 2025 and with a deadline of 27 February 2026. The Emerging Author Dagger is for unpublished novelists. Entries are eligible from writers who have never had a publishing contract for a novel of any kind and who don’t have a literary agent when the competition closes. Entrants must not have made this novel or any other piece of prose fiction of any length available for the public to buy at any time; with the exception of up to three short stories, which may have been published in anthologies alongside other authors’ work.
CWA members are only eligible to enter the Emerging Author Dagger if their publications (to the date in 2026 when the winner is announced) have been entirely non-fiction or non-prose, or if they otherwise meet the eligibility rules.
Deadline for entries 27 February 2026
The winner receives £500 and 1-year CWA membership.
However, the shortlisted entries are sent to agents and publishers who regard them with interest, and this is where the real value of succeeding in the competition lies. Many longlisted and shortlisted entrants go on to get representation and/or a publishing contract as a result of their listing in the Emerging Author (formerly Debut) Dagger.
Entries can be made online via our shop from the 1st October.
Make sure you have read the full rules before you submit your work. Most queries we receive are answered there. After all your hard work, please don’t disqualify yourself for the sake of something simple!
You can pay for your entry in advance and then apply the gift voucher token when submitting. Make sure your file is correctly prepared according to the rules.
If you experience difficulties submitting or paying, or have a query about eligibility that’s not answered in the rules, contact us on comps@thecwa.co.uk. If there’s no reply after 3 days, contact admin@thecwa.co.uk. Please remember we work office hours.
You must let us know of any difficulties before the deadline of 6pm GMT on the final day of the competition (Friday 27 February 2026). If you’ve not made a payment or submission before the deadline, and then you report a problem, we won’t be able to help. It’s in your interests to make the entry before 5.59pm for this reason!
You must have both paid for the entry and submitted it by the deadline of 6pm GMT Friday 27 February 2026.
Entries cost £42 and can be paid for online via our shop at the time of submission or pre-paid for as a gift voucher.
If you choose to buy a gift voucher, you will be sent a code which you’ll need to use when you submit your entry. Keep it safe.
When you’re ready to submit, click on the Emerging Author Dagger product in the shop (not the pre-pay). Go to your basket when prompted, and at the foot add in your voucher number and hit Apply. That takes care of the payment aspect.
You must have both paid for the entry and submitted it by the deadline of 6pm GMT Friday 27 February 2026.
Why not join our Facebook community here and check out our Criminal Contenders blog about the Emerging Author Dagger.
Join the Criminal Contenders for special newsletters coming up to Emerging Author Dagger deadline time. You’ll also receive the monthly CWA Readers News, crammed with info for crime readers and writers.
You might also want to take a look at Crime Writing Tips.
You might also be interested in getting professional help through the CWA’s Criminal Critiques – the Mini Critique is aimed at competition entrants – and Criminal Editing.
All announcements will appear on this website.
Please address any queries to the Competitions Coordinator: comps@thecwa.co.uk or CWA Secretary: secretary@thecwa.co.uk
Leigh Russell (Chair)
Leigh Russell has sold over a million books in her Geraldine Steel crime series which has been translated into several languages, including Chinese. Leigh has been shortlisted for two CWA Dagger awards, and has twice been a finalist for the People’s Book Prize. She has formerly served on the board of the Crime Writers’ Association, currently co-ordinates their Criminal Critiques service, and chairs the Debut Dagger judges. She is a Royal Literary Fellow.
Emma Grundy Haigh
Emma Grundy Haigh has spent her career working on everything from Booker Prize shortlisters and award-winning crime fiction, to popular travel guides and bestselling romance for publishers big and little. Having previously worked at DK, Joffe Books (where she created the Joffe Books Prize for crime writers of colour) and Avon Books, she is now Editorial Director at Boldwood Books. She is proud to have worked with crime fiction powerhouses such as Joy Ellis, Patricia MacDonald and J M Hall, and those starting out in the genre alike. Emma is a Bookseller Rising Star and was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2024.
When she’s not reading, Emma can be found learning how to shape pasta, trail-running through woodlands and stepping on Lego pieces left over from her twins’ latest creations. Emma is actively looking to find new crime and thriller writers for her list.
Rachel Neely
Rachel Neely began her publishing career in 2016 at HarperCollins, before moving to Hachette where she worked as an editor for the next six years, most recently as a Commissioning Editor. Rachel then made the move from editorial to agenting in early 2022, joining Mushens Entertainment where she is a Literary Agent. Rachel is actively looking to find new crime and thriller writers for her list.
Euan Thorneycroft
Euan Thorneycraft is an agent at A.M.Heath & Co Ltd. He reads a lot of crime and thrillers, from police procedurals to spy fiction, psychological suspense and full-throttle action adventure or historical crime, and if they have a really unusual and imaginative hook, so much the better. He wants to be on the edge of his seat and engrossed. He also loves those crime novels which push the boundaries of the genre, such as My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi, and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. He is very proud to represent some fantastic crime writers including Vaseem Khan and Katy Brent, and is actively looking for new writers in this area.
The first female Chief of Police of a drought-ridden town in Arizona, rejected by the men whose blood, sweat and tears built it, must find the killer amongst them. Ashland is Mare of Easttown meets <... More
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