Sareeta Domingo Prize 2026 - Terms and Conditions

1 – This Competition is being organised by The Orion Publishing Group Limited (the ‘Publisher’), Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ.

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2- This Competition is for the chance to win the following prizes (collectively the ‘Prizes’):

a – The winner of the first prize (the ‘Winner’) will receive:

i: £2,500 prize money;

ii: 12 months writing coaching from Dorothy Koomson to include (i) 1 (one) online meeting per month for 12 (twelve) months (at a time to be mutually agreed) to discuss a work in progress; and (ii) reviewing the work at the end of the 12 (twelve) months;

iii: an offer of literary representation from literary agency David Higham Associates (‘DHA’) (with no obligation for the Winner to accept);

iv: a place on the Goldsboro Writing Academy – Write Your Novel With Us course;

v: a copy of 4 (four) titles published on Sareeta’s List at Jacaranda Books; and

vi: Publisher to take the submission to its Editorial board and consider your entry for full publication with an advance against royalties. The Publisher does not guarantee that the Winner will be offered a publishing contract and there is no obligation on the Winner to accept if they are. The Publisher reserves the right to consider any of the entries for publication.

(‘First Prize’)

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b – One highly commended entrant (the ‘Runner-Up’) will receive:

i: £1,500 prize money;

ii: a place on the Goldsboro Writing Academy – Write Your Novel With Us course;

iii: a copy of 4 (four) titles published on Sareeta’s List at Jacaranda Books;

iv: a one-hour online editorial session with a senior Orion editor; and

v: a one-hour consultation with an agent at DHA.

(‘Runner-Up Prize’)

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c – The shortlisted entrants will receive:

i: a 1,000 (one thousand) word piece of editorial feedback on their submission from an Orion editor; and

ii: a one-hour consultation with an agent at DHA.

(‘Shortlist Prize’)

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3 – The Prizes will be awarded to the writers who submits the best Proposal (as defined below in Clause 6) for an original English-language fiction book, judged against the Judging Criteria (as described in Clause 4 below), and who meets the Entry Criteria (as described in Clause 5 below).
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4 – Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the following criteria (the ‘Judging Criteria’): the judges will be looking for bold, original fiction (in any genre or theme) for an adult audience, with writing.
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5 – In order to be eligible for the Competition, entrants must meet the following criteria (the ‘Entry Criteria’). Entrants must be aged 18 or over, be from a Black, Asian, mixed heritage or minority ethnic background, and be resident in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Entrants must not have an agent at the time of entry and must be previously unpublished (that is, they must not have had any book previously published by a publisher in any format or be under a contract to have their work published). Self-published writers are eligible to enter the competition, provided that they have not published the submitted work. The Competition is not open to employees of the Publisher, DHA or Jacaranda Books, their families, or to anyone professionally connected to the Competition or connected to the judges either themselves or through their families.
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6 – Entrants to the Competition are required to submit a proposal for a fiction book (any genre or theme) that meets the Judging Criteria and consists of (i) the first 5,000 (five thousand) word sample from an unpublished finished work/work in progress; and (ii) a synopsis of the full plot of the book of no more than up to 750 (seven hundred and fifty) words (including an outline of the book’s themes and details of the main characters and their journey through the book) (the “Proposal”). The Proposal must be in English and must be in a legible font and font size.
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7 – Proposals must be submitted via the Competition landing page HERE. Entries may only be submitted between 12:01am BST on 6^th June 2026 and 11.59pm BST on 21^st September 2026. Any entries received outside these specified times and dates and any entries that do not meet the requirements of these Terms and Conditions will not be eligible for entry to the Competition.
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8 – Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the Judging Criteria. A longlist of up to 16 (sixteen) of the best Proposals (the ‘Longlisted Entrants’) will be chosen from entries received by the Publisher in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and announced by 16th November 2026. A shortlist of between 8 (eight) and 10 (ten) of the best Longlisted Entrants (the ‘Shortlisted Entrants’) will be chosen and announced by 11^th January 2027. The Shortlisted Entrants will be chosen by a selection of publishing professionals (the ‘Shortlist Judges’).
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9 – The Winner and the Runner Up will be chosen from the Shortlisted Entrants by a panel of judges comprising the following:

i: Dorothy Koomson (Head Judge), an award-winning, global bestselling author of 23 novels, with a writing career spanning more than 20 years.

ii: Lizzy Kremer, Literary Agent and Managing Director at David Higham Associates

iii: Anna Valentine, Managing Director of The Orion Publishing Group

iv: Valerie Brandes, Founder and CEO of Jacaranda Books

v: Magdalene Abraha FRSA, author and Publishing Director of Jacaranda Books;

vi: Sara Jafari, author and Senior Editor at Renegade Books

(the ‘Judges’). In the event of a tie Dorothy Koomson will have the casting vote. The winning entry will be the one that best meets the Judging Criteria. The Judges’/Shortlist Judges decisions for the selection of the Shortlisted Entrants, the Winner and the Runner-Up respectively, are final.

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10 – If no or insufficient suitable entries that meet the Judging Criteria set out above can be found, the Publisher reserves the right to (i) not select any Shortlisted Entrants; (ii) not select a Winner from the Shortlisted Entrants and/or (iii) select fewer Shortlisted Entrants.
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11 – By submitting their Proposal, the entrant undertakes and warrants that the Proposal consists of their own original work, was not created using artificial intelligence and will not infringe the intellectual property rights of anyone. If a third party’s material is used, such as lyrics of a song, the entrant will secure the necessary permission and will provide it to the Publisher on request. The entrant further warrants that the Proposal will not contain any material which is defamatory, private or confidential or which is unlawful in any way. Any entry in breach of this Clause will be disqualified from being considered for the Competition at any stage.
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12 – The name of the Winner and the Runner-Up will be announced on 25^th January 2027 at an awards ceremony to be held at the Publisher’s offices in London (the ‘Prize Ceremony’) and it will also be announced on the Publisher’s social media accounts and websites. The names of the Shortlisted Entrants may also be published on the Publisher’s social media accounts and websites.
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13 – An entrant may only submit one entry. Further entries will be disqualified. Entries will not be accepted via agents, third parties or in bulk.
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14 – The Publisher is not responsible for contacting or responding to entrants who provide unclear or incomplete information or for entries that are lost, misdirected, delayed or destroyed.
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15 – Subject to Clause 18, following the announcement of the Winner and the Runner-Up, the Publisher will contact the Winner, the Runner-Up and the Shortlisted Entrants to arrange the Prize. Dates for the Prize will be subject to availability. The Winner will arrange their monthly meeting with Dorothy Koomson directly, these meetings are non-transferrable and cannot be rescheduled if the Winner has to cancel a meeting, if Dorothy Koomson has to cannot make the meeting it can be rescheduled for another date/time. The Winner and the Runner-up agree to read and comply with any terms and conditions supplied by Goldsboro Writing Academy and DHA in connection with the Prize. The Runner-Up Prize and Shortlist Prize must be redeemed within four (4) months of the announcement by the Publisher of the Winner.
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16 – The Shortlisted Entrants will be invited to attend the Prize Ceremony and Orion will cover their reasonable travel expenses for attending up to a maximum of £100 per person (on presentation of receipts). Except for the travel contribution set out in this Clause 16, no costs or expenses will be met by the Publisher in connection with the Prize.
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17 – The Publisher reserves the right to (i) cancel the Competition; (ii) alter the details of the Prize or judging panels and/or (iii) alter any other details of the Competition without notice but the Publisher will try to avoid creating any undue disappointment. No cash alternative or other alternatives to the Prize will be provided.
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18 – Any personal data submitted by entrants, including their names and email addresses (the ‘Information’), will be used by the Publisher (who is the Data Controller) for the purposes of this Competition, including without limitation for the purpose of judging the entries and arranging the Prize, in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and in accordance with Publisher’s Privacy Notice which can be found here. The Information will be deleted within six months of the announcement of the Winner.
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19 – No purchase is necessary to enter the Competition.
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20 – By entering the Competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
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21 – These Terms and Conditions and any disputes or claims (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of these Terms and Conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England, whose courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
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Terms and conditions