Hello, and welcome to our final Harry Bowling Prize 2014 newsletter.

With one week to go we just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s entered the Harry Bowling Prize for New Writing. We’ve really enjoyed hearing from everyone, either by email or by twitter, and we’re looking forward to reading all the entries we’ve received.

We’re also very excited to share the exciting news that our 2012 winner has just signed a two-book deal with Quercus. Writing as Natalie Meg Evans, her novel The Dress Thief will be published in July 2014. Huge congratulations to Natalie on her well-deserved success. Natalie is one of our many winners who has gone on to secure a publishing deal after winning the Harry Bowling Prize, and we’re thrilled to be part of her successful writing career.

You can find out more about Natalie’s prize-winning entry and read about her experience of winning the Harry Bowling Prize on our website.

And if you want more advice on how to take part in writing competitions and how they can help you find a publisher, Natalie has written a fantastic blog post about exactly that. Visit her site to find out more: http://natmegevans.wordpress.com

Authors do seem to like a deadline so, with one week to go, there’s still time to win an exclusive lunch with a top agent and publisher! However, if you think finishing a novel in seven days is a tad ambitious then take a look at our exciting new flash fiction prize.

The only entry requirements for both prizes are that you are an unpublished author (you are still eligible if you have self published) and that your stories have an urban setting. We hope you’ll feel inspired to give one or both categories a go!

Thank you again to everyone who’s supported the Harry Bowling Prize, and happy writing!