Many, many entries this cycle, well beyond what we had anticipated, and the standard of the writing has made winnowing the longlist unusually difficult. Thank you to everyone who trusted us with their opening pages. The quality was so high that the commended list is longer than in previous cycles. We are releasing the names in no particular order, over the coming days, and a shortlist will be drawn from this group. Today, in no particular order, we are announcing: - Lies on Sale by Gabby Martini - The Impossibility of Eden by Harry Wilson - Beach Dog by Tom McDonough - The Breaking Point by Fiona Harriet - The Taste of Iron by Ramona Slusarczyk - Askar and the Witch by Nina van der Beek - The City of a Thousand Eyes by Angelique Talbot - The Melusine Murders by Jesse Weiner Congratulations to all of them. Many further entries, equally commended, will be announced over the coming days. If your name is not yet here, please don't read into its absence. Names are being released in the order we can write the posts, which has nothing to do with preference, and every remaining commendation carries the same weight as those above.

Further News April/early May.

A few people have asked about when feedback and competition results will be available. Feedback will issued piecemeal in February and March - it's just a matter of chance if you get yours at the start or end of that period. Winners will be announces in early April. Good luck all!

Just to let you know where we are with the contest. We don’t like reading on a screen, so we send the entries off to a printer and get them back in big ring-bound booklets. Then we annotate, produce feedback for those who have requested it and work out who will be commended or long-listed. Good luck all!