About
The Bath Novel Awards Sponsored Entry Scheme was created in 2018 with the generous assistance of novelist Kit de Waal to enable writers on a low income to enter their work for free.
The scheme provides free entry places for emerging writers on a low income. To date, almost a thousand writers have received .
2026’s scheme is supported by individual donors and our sales commission from Bookshop.org. If you would like to make a donation to the scheme, please visit our fundraising page here.
Eligibility
Sponsored (free) places are available to emerging writers* in receipt of:
Attendance Allowance; Bereavement Support Payment; Carer’s Allowance; Disability Living Allowance; Jobseeker’s Allowance; Housing Benefit; Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment; Reduced Earnings Allowance; Severe Disablement Allowance; Universal Credit, full-time study; or equivalent if resident outside the UK or a short personal financial statement.
If longlisted, writers will be need to provide evidence of their eligibility. All details will be kept entirely confidential.
*For the purposes of the competition, ’emerging authors’ are defined as: unagented writers who are yet to accept an offer of publication (for a novel or children’s fiction book) which includes an advance (pre-publication) payment from their publisher.
How to apply for a sponsored / free entry place
Sponsored entry applications for the Bath Novel Award 2026 are invited until 23:59 BST on 31st May 2026. Should applications exceed the number of sponsored places, the most promising novels will be selected. Applications should be submitted using the form below.
2026 Sponsored Entry Application Form
Please read our 2026 prize terms and submissions guidelines before entering your novel.
