joffe books prize 2021
Curious about entering? Check out the 2022 Prize page!
And the 2021 Prize Winner is . . . Christie J. Newport!
We were absolutely thrilled to present the first-ever Joffe Books Prize for crime writers of colour to Christie J. Newport!
Literary agent Susan Yearwood, bestselling author Dorothy Koomson, Joffe Books editorial director Emma Grundy Haigh and publisher Jasper Joffe unanimously agreed to award the prize to the debut novelist.
From the judges: “Christie has written an enormously promising, immediately immersive police procedural with a fantastically hooky opening scene followed by twist after twist. Detective Beth Fellows is the refreshing female lead, whose identity as a gay, mixed-race officer struggling to separate her professional and personal lives is wholly identifiable. This novel has excellent series potential, and we can see readers eagerly devouring the pages.”
From Christie J. Newport: “Receiving the phone call to tell me I had won was unbelievable. It was akin to winning the lottery. Dorothy Koomson is an inspiration, her enjoying my writing is incredible.”
Christie’s first book is set to be released in autumn 2022. Keep an eye out for this dazzling debut!
Drumroll, Please . . . for the Shortlistees
It was with immense excitement that we announced the shortlist for the Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour, on 30 November 2021! The inaugural Joffe Books Prize had been enthusiastically received resulting in a brilliantly diverse list of entries. Completely anonymised for judging, the pool of scripts covered the gamut of gritty police procedurals to wrenching domestic suspense, forensic thrillers to island-hopping private eyes. The one thing they all had in common was their enormous potential.
From an eventual longlist of ten, four swiftly leaped out as the front runners that formed the official shortlist:
Gautam Das, Unholy Liberties
Christie J. Newport, Branded
Mahalia Smith, Unpleasant Creatures
Mithran Somasundrum, Bangkok Phantom
Announcing a New Prize from Joffe Books
On 1 May 2021, Joffe Books, in conjunction with inaugural judges bestselling crime writer Dorothy Koomson and literary agent Susan Yearwood, announced that we were launching a new writing prize for unagented crime fiction writers of colour to join our bestselling list and turn their fantastic manuscripts into bestsellers. The prize? A two-book publishing contract with Joffe Books.
The competition aimed, and continues to aim, to champion authors from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds writing in one of our favourite crime fiction genres: electrifying psychological thrillers, cosy mysteries, gritty police procedurals, twisty chillers, unputdownable suspense mysteries, shocking domestic noirs . . .
Whether you are writing your crime fiction debut, previously published or self-published, if you are an unagented crime fiction writer of colour, we want to hear from you!
DOROTHY KOOMSON, BESTSELLING CRIME WRITER, says: “I think crime fiction in all its glory could really benefit from more stories by traditionally underrepresented writers out there. This competition is one way of doing that. I’m so excited to be a judge on this and can’t wait to read the submissions.”
SUSAN YEARWOOD, SUSAN YEARWOOD AGENCY, says: “Joffe Books is one of the most innovative and inclusive-thinking digital publishers in publishing today and I am pleased to be asked to judge Joffe’s inaugural competition to find a great crime writer. I have long been a fan of Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers in this genre and I look forward to meeting big talent in crime writing.”
EMMA GRUNDY HAIGH, JOFFE BOOKS, says: “We are very excited to launch this competition. If we are to create meaningful, long-lasting change within our industry, it is not enough to claim to have an open-door policy. It is our responsibility to actively seek out writers from communities that are underrepresented in our genre and support them in building sustainable careers. I can’t wait to discover the fantastic writers that enter this competition and get their work to the hands of readers.”
THE JUDGES
All submissions were be read and judged by the Joffe Books team, bestselling author Dorothy Koomson and Susan Yearwood from Susan Yearwood Agency, based on the strength of the writing and commercial potential.
ABOUT JOFFE BOOKS
Joffe Books is one of the UK’s leading independent publishers of excellent commercial fiction, especially crime and mystery fiction. We are renowned for working closely with authors from across the world to create fantastic books and turning them into bestsellers. Since 2014, we have published more than 500 books by over 70 authors, sold over 10 million books and been shortlisted for Independent Publisher of the Year twice (including in 2021!). Our roster of award-winning authors and New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestsellers includes Joy Ellis (currently up for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year), Faith Martin, Robert Goddard, Rick Mofina and Stella Cameron.
While Joffe Books maintains open submissions for all authors, this competition is designed to offer an exclusive opportunity to Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers, who are particularly underrepresented in crime fiction publishing.
ABOUT DOROTHY KOOMSON
Dorothy Koomson is an award-winning, global bestselling author of 16 Sunday Times bestsellers. She was featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain and appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer. Dorothy uses her platform to support new writers and recently launched The Happy Author podcast. Her latest paperback, All My Lies Are True, the follow-up to the ITV-adapted, The Ice Cream Girls, is out now. Her next book I Know What You’ve Done, is published in July (Headline) and available to pre-order now.
Image credit: Niall McDiarmid (used above)
ABOUT SUSAN YEARWOOD
Susan Yearwood began her career in publishing in the early 1990s, gaining valuable experience at Virago, now part of Little, Brown Book Group and Penguin Books Ltd (Penguin Random House). Susan Yearwood Agency was founded in 2007, starting the successful careers of debut writers Kerry Young, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and Prajwal Parajuly, shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Susan now represents a wide range of clients who write everything from book club fiction, crime/thriller, YA novels, well-being and cookery.