The Crime Writers’ Association

Byte The Book – Valued Voices: How Much is Your Writing Worth?

What's it all about?: Join us for the first of our events at the beautiful Home House (the site of the original Courtauld Institute). Our panel will be discussing the findings of ALCS’ Author Earnings Survey and asking such questions as, how much ...


How I got by with a little help from the internet – on credibility, by Nikki Dudley

Last year, my psychological thriller, Volta, won the Virginia Prize for Fiction 2020. Fast forward to this year and after receiving my first round of edits, I had one big problem: credibility! My novel features three characters who are a lawyer, a th...


Chapters

Chapters We know that our members are based all around the world and we have established regional chapters to help our members connect with other writers. There are also speciality chapters for non-fiction and neurodiverse authors. If there is an...


Our Chapters

The CWA has members around the world. Our regional chapters help members to connect with other writers in the same geographical area. There are also international specialty chapters for nonfiction and neurodiverse authors. Our geographically-based...


Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize Winner to Be Announced 17 June

The world-famed Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the shortlist for its Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition, with the winner to be announced online on 17 June at midday. The competition celebrates the classic mystery story, ...


Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition – Rules

Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition - The rules Please read all terms carefully before submitting your entry. Please pay attention to the Margery Allingham’s definition of a mystery and the chronology it outlines. Submission of an entry...


Membership FAQ

Membership FAQ...


Debut Dagger Tips: Kristina Stanley

  Prepare to be deeply jealous when you find out the circumstances in which Kristina Stanley penned her Debut Dagger shortlisted novel, Blaze. However, despite a deeply glamourous writing story, the Canadian newcomer faced the same struggle as a...


Notes on Word Count for CWA Writing Competitions

Different competitions have different rules – and different levels of rigour in the way they apply them. For the Debut Dagger we are super-strict. We ask for entries not to exceed 3,000 words (1,500 words for the synopsis) by even a word. The ti...


Emerging Author Dagger Rules

Rules and Submission Guidelines Emerging Author Dagger The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger), an international competition for the opening of an adult/YA crime novel and synopsis, is aimed at debut writers. The CWA defines a de...


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