Anyone entered the Cheshire Novel Prize?

[TiroirSousLeMiroir]

It's in its third year and has just closed. It has a £29 entry fee which would normally put me off but you get individual feedback, so I've given it a go and just squeaked in under the deadline.

Has anyone else entered?

I believe there were close to a thousand entries last year. Looking at the short list from last year it seems a load of them are historical fiction.

I wonder if that is representative of the stats of the people who entered, or whether I ought to switch to that category!

Would love to hear from other entrants on here! :-)

@TiroirSousLeMiroir Yes, I think so. They haven't expressly said no snippets, but they have said they will write to the top 100 as soon as the long list is announced. So maybe the snippets will continue as a social media reveal, but people will at least know whether they are or aren't going to see theirs appear. I think it's a really good move - I hadn't realised how draining I would find it!

Got my feedback. It says that my book doesn't really read like historical fiction. My book isn't historical fiction.

It does say that the book is really good, but it only got as far as the first round. I'm presuming because of it not living up to its genre thing.

There were some other pointers about removing certain words, but they were words that didnt feature, so perhaps it was generic.

I conclude that there is nothing inherently wrong with it, but that the three people it was allocated to were expecting historical fiction, therefore simply didnt like it, which I suppose isn't bad news.

@TiroirSousLeMiroir that's a shame not to have reached the most appropriate readers or to have got further, but at least it was positive.

How bizarre, I wonder why they thought it was historical fiction?!

I haven’t received my feedback yet, I don’t think I’m going to take it very seriously though, after everything I’ve read here!

I entered with two manuscripts (a YA and adult). The feedback was helpful to a degree, but rather generic (cut out filter words, start with an inciting incident, more showing and less telling, make the reader "feel" like the character). All good advice as far as it goes, but there were very few specifics (particularly with the adult novelwith the YA there were some direct references to the characters, dialog snippets, etc.) I would imagine it's difficult to do a "deep dive" into particulars, especially given the number of entries. That said, I'm not planning on entering again (no shade to the judgesI just think I do better with beta readers!)

Your bit in the first brackets is the same as what I got, so that's a relief that it's generic as I didn't think it applied really.
I'm grateful that they said they liked it. To be fair the book isn't finished, so I ought to stop complaining and knuckle down on it.

@Pupsandturtles they categorise every entry upon receipt, and it is labelled as such and given to an appropriate reader.

When it was first received, perhaps a quick glance gave that impression. I knew it had been labelled as HF as the email confirming receipt said so. I hadn't thought it would matter, and I didnt want to be annoying/pester them, so I didn't email back. I should have, that's on me. It was my first year though.

But maybe in future they will ask people to label their work with a subtitle giving its genre.

Being completely honest and realistic, although they liked it, the reason it didn't get through is it wasn't good enough, I am not under any illusions! :-)

Hey, venting is good! (And it sounds like they really liked your book--it seems like since they misread your genre it might not have gone to the right readers!)

Good luck (and just a note about subjectivity--I've been querying the adult novel to agents with only some slight modifications to the first chapter and I've gotten requests, so don't let it get to you!)

I’ve received my feedback too and many of the things said to some of you were also said to me! Things about filler words, showing not telling and making the reader feel like a character, so maybe it’s something they say to everyone.

The readers didn’t seem to like the pace of my first chapter. I had spent some time building up a picture of the main character, setting the scene and foreshadowing key events later on but they said it was too slow. But I struggle with authors who have a lot of action early on when the reader doesn’t really know the characters or why they should root for them. So I have mixed feelings about it. My story is more character driven than plot driven.

When the feedback came through, it did make me feel a bit demoralised. I was hoping to get further along than I did, especially as this manuscript made the long list for a different competition. Some of the comments were also a little bit confusing (they said in the same sentence that my plot was far fetched but then said it was believable.) They did say some positive things too so I think I’ll spend some time thinking about it and decide what to do next.

Anyone else still waiting for feedback?

Me. Very impatiently 🤣 I think mine came very near the end last year too so I deliberately entered earlier this time and it hasn't made a difference.

Hope you get yours soon @garderose .

@AliceInSwitzerland I felt a bit like that after last year's feedback, but having mulled it over for ages, I'm now making some of the changes it suggested.

When is the last date? 31/10 ?

I am 👋

End of November I think. They tweeted a few days ago that they had something like 180 left to do out of over 1800.

Anyone else still waiting...? I feel like I must be one of the only ones left now. I'm too impatient to always be at the back of every queue I join 🤣

I got my feedback last week. Had to copy and paste it a bit to separate out what I think was specific to me and what was general but there were some encouraging elements to it among the generic as others have said. Hope it's helpful when it does arrive!

Hey everyone, I found this thread as I was wondering if anyone else hadn’t got feedback yet - the team posted on social media today that it’s all been sent out so to email if you haven’t received. I emailed as I hadn’t had mine yet!

I think I got your feedback @AliceInSwitzerland . Exactly the same - filler/filter words (honestly not), needs to feel like a character, too slow (like yours, my book is very character driven and there is no fight, wedding, plane crash or murder to capture the reader's attention). Yes, some positive comments but also some oddly inapplicable ones. I would have felt demoralised too if I hadn't read the comments on this thread.

Has anyone entered this year, and what did you make of the message saying they were taking a break next year due to low entry numbers…..? I was pretty surprised by that!

I have and I saw it...

I feel sad as I like cheshire, and I do like their feedback. Would be interesting to know whether the other comps have dropped.

Tbh I've been using the comps as incentive to get my manuscript in shape. Ive had some success, but if I'm not listed this year I think ik going to spend my money getting a professional edit and start querying! Think people don't have the money at the moment to spend £30 x 5 or 6 competitions.