The First Chapter competition deadline is not that far away now and there are just over 7 weeks to get your entries polished and sent in and be in with a chance of getting your work on the desk of top literary agent, Susan Armstrong at Conville & Walsh, who represents lots of exciting authors and loves discovering debut novelists.

Recently she took on Joanna Cannon and her debut novel, The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, comes out in early 2016 and has been sold in multiple countries. Joanna said: “It’s such a privilege to be represented by Sue Armstrong. Not only does she have the flair and skill of an amazing agent, her kindness and support have been invaluable to me as I set out on my journey as a new author.”

Read the interview with Sue to see what she likes and how to impress her with your submission. And if you’d like Sue to be your agent then enter this competition. All 10 shortlisted entries will be read by Sue and the winner will get to bypass the slush pile, or talent pool as Sue prefers to call it, and send her their first three chapters, synopsis and covering letter and she will provide detailed feedback. You never know she may even want to read the full MS.

In the competition judged by Jo Unwin earlier this year, she asked to read more from 4 of the shortlisted entries so it’s not just the winner that wins!

And for 1 week only, I’m running an extra competition alongside this one. Everyone that pays the entry fee between 14th and 21st October 2015 (you still have up until the deadline to send your work in though) will go into a draw to win one of the following prizes:

• There are 2 x full novel reviews up for grabs
• There are 10 critiques of 5,000 words available

The winners will be picked by random number generator and everyone that enters will be assigned a number. So enter now to be in with a chance for these great prizes!