The Hawkeye Manuscript Development Prize has proven fertile ground for uncovering new and emerging talent, with many authors coming to our attention during the competition.

As part of our commitment to championing underrepresented voices in publishing, we are proud to introduce a second category alongside the Hawkeye Prize Open Category: The Hawkeye Prize – Own Voices.

This additional category celebrates stories that authentically reflect the author's own identity or lived experience from underrepresented or marginalised communities.

This year, two winners will be selected — one winner from the Hawkeye Prize – Open Category and one winner from the Hawkeye Prize – Own Voices category.

The 2027 Hawkeye Prize is now open.

Competition closes 6PM AEST
Tuesday 1 December, 2026
Maximum 80,000 words.

$45AU Standard Entry Fee

$99AU Enhanced Entry Fee

For an enhanced entry fee, receive 1-2 pages of constructive feedback from our panel of expert judges on your competition submission. This detailed feedback will highlight your work’s strengths, pinpoint areas for growth, and provide actionable suggestions to elevate your story.

Whether it’s insights on narrative structure, character development, or writing style, this personalised critique will guide you in refining your craft and honing your unique voice. Perfect for writers looking to take their work to the next level, the enhanced entry ensures you walk away with valuable input that supports your journey toward publication.

Hawkeye Publishing will offer the winners a trade publishing contract (terms and conditions apply) and consider short-listed entrants for an author-assisted publishing contract. Previous winners and short-listed entrants who are published by Hawkeye include Me That You See, The Woman in the Waves, Five Stages of Grace, Road to Freedom, The Ghost Train and the Scarlet Moon with more still in production.

Both winners receive a trade publishing contract with Hawkeye (terms and conditions apply) plus an editing package valued at $3,500. Additionally, all manuscripts longlisted and shortlisted are announced on our website and in our newsletter.

The Hawkeye Prize – Open Category winner receives author coaching, a structural edit and a line edit, alongside a trade contract, with the structural edit kindly sponsored by Brisbane Writers Workshop, and line editing, author coaching, and a trade contract sponsored by Hawkeye Publishing.

The Hawkeye Prize – Own Voices winner receives author coaching, a structural edit and a line edit, alongside a trade contract, with the structural edit kindly sponsored by editor Paris Thompson, and line editing, author coaching, and a trade contract sponsored by Hawkeye Publishing.

• Authors of commercial Adult, YA, Middle-Grade, Picture Book and Non-Fiction written in English can apply.

• Manuscripts submitted by applicants must be their own original, unpublished work and should be strong commercial fiction, including but not limited to contemporary women’s fiction, science fiction, romance, crime and YA, or commercial non-fiction, including but not limited to memoir, biography, history, self-help and business.

• The following types of work are not eligible:
• Poetry
• Comic Books
• Graphic Novels

• Manuscripts for adult fiction and non-fiction must be a maximum of 80,000 words in length.

• Emerging and established writers are invited to apply.

• Entry to the program is open to applicants world-wide who write for an English-speaking audience.

Applicants must be aged 18 years or older.

• Applicants must submit a 300-word synopsis (include genre and full manuscript word-count), the first 30 pages of their manuscript, and a one-page plan demonstrating to judges that the applicant understands their audience, knows how to reach them, and can successfully market their book.

• Manuscripts must be formatted as per industry standard – 12-point Times New Roman font. The first line of each paragraph should be indented, the text should be 1.5 line spaced with at least 3cm margins, and aligned left.

• Applicants must provide one PDF that has been saved as the name of the novel and contains in this order, the 1-page synopsis, then the 1-page marketing plan, then the first 30 pages of the novel. E.g.: If the manuscript is called Sundays at Grandma’s, then the PDF submitted should be saved as SundaysAtGrandmas.pdf

• Your manuscript and synopsis must not include your name or any identifying marks to enable the ‘blind’ judging process.

• The synopsis should be 1.5 line spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman. Please see Queensland Writers Centre’s Writing a Synopsis resources for tips.

• Applications must be accompanied by a completed application form and the entry fee.

• Applicants may enter more than one manuscript; however, each submission must be accompanied by its own application form and entry fee.

• Judges are looking for exceptional writing and storytelling, originality, and viability of your book in the marketplace.

• Applicants must submit a full-length draft of their manuscripts within 72 hours of being notified they are a finalist.

• The winner will be announced in April 2027.

Hawkeye Publishing extends a huge thank you to our sponsor, Brisbane Writers Workshop, for providing the Open Category winner’s Structural Assessment.

Brisbane Writer’s Workshop has over 100 published titles to their portfolio of edited works.

Author Coaching and Line Editing supplied by Hawkeye Publishing.

Lauren Daniels

Director Brisbane Writers Workshop

BA MFA Creative Writing

Hawkeye Publishing extends a huge thank you to our sponsor, Paris Thompson, for providing the Own Voices category winner’s Structural Assessment.

Paris Thompson has worked with Hawkeye Publishing since 2023, and during that time has been part of multiple published works including for authors Anne Freeman, Camille Brooker, Annie O'Moon-Browning, Holly Cardamone, Michel Vimal du Montiel, Gabby Davis, Jack Rooney, Lorena Otes, and many more.

She has worked with a variety of genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, romance, adventure, mystery, contemporary, YA, children's, and memoirs.

Over the years she has assessed submissions with the Queensland Writers Centre for their Publishable competitions, and in 2025 she graduated with a Bachelor of Communication from Griffith University.

Every person has a story to tell, and it is her life's passion to fine-tune words into works of art by creating a nurturing editing space for authors to prosper and shine.

Author Coaching and Line Editing supplied by Hawkeye Publishing.

Paris Thompson

Editor

Website: http://pepyourwriting.com/

Instagram: @pepyourwriting

'When my first novel, Forgotten, was longlisted for the Hawkeye Manuscript Development Prize in 2023, it changed my life. It was the turning point for taking my own writing seriously and began my path to publication. I'm so grateful I entered that competition on a whim!' Casey Nott, author of Forgotten and Five Stages of Grace

'Thank you to Hawkeye Publishing for this incredible, life-changing prize. Before entering the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize, I’d pitched Summer, in Between five times to publishers and agents, with five requests for full materials. Each request ended in a ‘not quite there’ message, so something was missing in the steps between pitching and the actual work. I thought the Hawkeye judges could help me nut that out, with their reputation for providing constructive and useful feedback. 

The other thing that I really liked was the focus on the writer having a clear understanding of their audience. The process of putting together a marketing strategy was an opportunity to step away from the manuscript and look at the bigger picture, to think clearly and deeply about who I’d written this book for, and how readers could experience it. I’ll forever be grateful to Hawkeye Publishing and this prize for making my word nerd dreams come true.' Holly Cardamone, author of Summer, In Between 

'Thank you very much for this detailed and incredibly constructive feedback. Your response has far exceeded my expectations, and has given me many meaningful insights to better understand the world of authors and publishing. I'm truly grateful for your response.' Bianca, 2026 Hawkeye Prize entrant 

By entering a manuscript in the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize – a writing competition – you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions.

Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize Entry Terms and Conditions 2027