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. Please do not hesitate to contact the Dagger Liaison Organiser (DLO) should you require further assistance. dagger.liaison@gmail.com

Entry for the 2025 Daggers is closed, except for the Emerging Author Dagger, which will remain open for submissions until 28 February, 6pm GMT.

CWA Dagger Awards Terms and Conditions of Entry

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

Traditionally published authors: Any author, published by an Approved Publisher in the UK, can self-nominate their book or story provided that the work is relevant to the appropriate award, as defined under Eligibility (section 2), and the first UK edition was published within the specified dates of the Judging Period (section 1). They do not have to be CWA members, but if they are they will be entitled to a 50% discount of the fee (refunded retrospectively).

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, including closing dates and who can enter and how can be found in Terms & Conditions.

The Dagger in the Library

Step 1: Nominations – 1st October – 6th December 2024
Borrowers are asked to visit their library and submit their nominations for the award to their librarian. Libraries are asked to submit these nominations to us via our website.

Step 2: Voting – 1st January – 28th February 2025
Libraries will be invited to vote for their winner from the nominated authors in the spring. Up to three personnel per library can place a vote.

Step 3: Judging
The judges will review all the nominations and the votes to select the winners.

For detailed information about this competition, please see our Dagger in the Library page.

Enquiries: comps@thecwa.co.uk.

The Emerging Author Dagger

Sponsored by Fiction Feedback.

The Emerging Author Dagger is open for entries from 1 October and runs to 6pm GMT on the last working day in February the following year.

It is an international competition for unpublished crime novelists looking to get representation or a publishing contract for the first time. There is also a cash prize of £500.

Entries are eligible from writers who have never had a publishing contract for a novel of any kind (over 20,000 words) and who don’t have an agent when the competition closes at the end of February. Entrants may not have self-published their entry or any other piece of fiction of over 20,000 words unless it was removed from public sale five years or more previous to the deadline date.

Shortlisted entrants have their entries shown to agents and publishers.

Please see our Criminal Contenders blog, Crime Writing Tips, Criminal Critiques and Criminal Editing pages for information and guidance.

Why not sign up to our online newsletters? Or maybe you’d like to join our Criminal Contenders Facebook community. Visit the Criminal Contenders page to do so.

The Emerging Author Dagger 2025 opens 1 October 2024 and closes to entries at 6pm GMT on Friday 28 February 2025.

Please address any queries to the CWA Competitions Coordinator: comps@thecwa.co.uk

The Diamond Dagger

The Diamond Dagger is the highest accolade awarded by the CWA for a lifetime achievement in crime writing.

Nominated by CWA members: all CWA members are each invited to submit a nomination for the award every year, giving their reasons. Voting is advertised in Red Herrings, usually opening in spring and ending in late summer.

The shortlist is agreed by a Diamond Dagger committee specially appointed by the CWA, comprising reviewers and other experts in crime writing and headed by Andrew Taylor, former Diamond Dagger winner and our Diamond Dagger Ambassador. The winner is voted for by former Diamond Dagger winners.

No author can win the Diamond Dagger more than once, and because it is for lifetime achievement then writers past the midpoint in their crime-writing careers are the likely beneficiaries.

Enquiries: coordinator@thecwa.co.uk

The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

Entires for The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition are submitted by the author via our shop. Entries for the 2025 competition will be priced at £18 and are open 1 October 2024 – 28 February 2025 at 6pm GMT.

Read the rules of entry.

Please address any enquiries to the CWA Competitions Coordinator: comps@thecwa.co.uk

The Margery Allingham Prize is a joint initiative between the CWA and the Margery Allingham Society.