The Entry Process

There are four kinds of Dagger, differentiated by how they are nominated. See below for an explanation of the different entry processes, and who may nominate for each Dagger. If you have any further questions please contact secretary@thecwa.co.uk.

Daggers nominated by publishers and authors

In order to be eligible for entry into the following Daggers, nominations must be submitted by an approved publisher or the author of the book or short story.

Publishers

To nominate, publishers need to be traditional publishers and approved by our DLO. They will be issued with login details enabling them to nominate from this website.

There is a cost attached, payable on nomination. If the author is a fully subscribed CWA member, this cost is discounted by 50%.

There is no limit to how many Daggers a book can be submitted for provided it meets eligibility rules on each.

If a book is published first as an ebook, it can be nominated and submitted to judges as a pdf. However, it cannot be nominated again when published in print. If first publication is as an ebook but publishers prefer to wait until print publication before nominating, that’s fine.

Authors

Any traditionally published author can self-nominate their book or story if it is eligible (see requirements for each award above). They do not have to be CWA members. Self-published authors can self-nominate their book or story if they are a CWA member. A 50% discount (refunded retrospectively) applies to titles by CWA members.

Enquiries: dagger.liaison@gmail.com

The judging process

More details can be found in Terms & Conditions (see the red button above), together with information on who can enter and how.

The Dagger in the Library

The Dagger in the Library is awarded to a UK crime writer every year.

Eligible authors have published six or more crime books over a period of 10 years or more and have never won the Diamond Dagger. The list of eligible authors who libraries can nominate is selected by the Dagger in the Library judges each year.

Up to three members of staff from each British library can nominate. The nominating period is from autumn until the last working in day in February of the year in which the award is made.

The key factors in nominating authors are that the author must be popular with library users and must have offered support to libraries.

Authors who were shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library one year are not eligible in the following two years.

Nominations are now open.

Submit your nomination

The Debut Dagger

The Debut Dagger opens for entries on 1 October and runs to the last working day in February the following year.

Entries are eligible from writers who have never had a contract for a full-length novel of any kind and who don’t have an agent when the competition closes at the end of February. Entrants may have self-published their entry or any other novel. CWA members are not eligible to enter.

Make sure you have read the rules and have your correctly prepared file before you submit your work. You can pay for your entry in advance and apply the voucher token when submitting.

Please note the eligibility rules have changed slightly for the 2022 Debut Dagger.

If you experience difficulties submitting or paying, contact us on secretary@thecwa.co.uk. If there’s no reply, 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 (Monday 28 February 2022). 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!

Click through to the shop to buy your £36 entry fee. Please note: you can buy your entry in advance of submitting. If you choose to do so, you will be sent a code which you’ll need to use when you submit your entry. Keep it safe.

You must have both paid for the entry and submitted it by the deadline of 6pm GMT Monday 28 February 2022.

Checklist

Read the full Rules carefully and ensure your entry complies. Remember, the eligibility rules have changed slightly for Debut Dagger 2022. It is the writer’s responsibility to ensure their entry does not break the rules.
You must never have had a publishing contract for any work of fiction over 20,000 words at time of entry. If you enter and then get such a publishing contract, you must withdraw from the competition.
You must not have had any work of fiction over 20,000 words available to the public in the last five years.
You must not have a contract with a literary agent by the closing date of the competition.
Manuscript submissions must fall within the prescribed word count limit of 4,500 including synopsis, excluding headings, and cannot exceed it by even a few words.
Manuscripts must not include the author’s name or contact details, only the title.
Both the novel opening and the synopsis must be submitted in the same file; novel opening first.
Manuscripts should be 12pt, double or line-and-a-half spaced, in an easily readable font such as Times, Arial or Helvetica.
Pages should be numbered.
You must enter under your own name.
Enter before 6pm GMT on 28 February 2022.

The Diamond Dagger

The Diamond Dagger is nominated by CWA members. All members are invited to submit one nomination each year, giving their reasons. Voting is advertised in Red Herrings, usually opening in spring and ending late summer.

Enquiries: admin@thecwa.co.uk

The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

If you are looking for information on how to submit your story into The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition, please click here for details, including the competition’s terms and conditions.

If you wish to submit an entry, use the button below.