Fiction Factory First Chapter Competition 2025

Winning Chapters

1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed

1st place

The King’s Wife – Lauren Neely

“Wonderfully written and highly engaging..”

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Joint 2nd place

Balancing Act – Carmina McConnell

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The Powers – Elaine Pryce

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Joint 3rd place

Alone in a Rain Forest – Paula Seager

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Sirensong – Caroline Fleishauer

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Other Short-Listed Chapters

Emphasis – Steven Mikulan

The Delicate Firebrand – Anna Biggs

The Archipelago – Anna Whyatt

Long Listed Authors

  • Sophie Neville
  • Helen Kampfer
  • David Newdorf
  • Settit Beyene
  • Isabel Tejera
  • Shirley Skeel
  • Vikram Kapur.
  • Reid Graham
  • Cara Finegan
  • Stephen Williams
  • Jeff Wiemiller
  • Christine Madden
  • Jacqueline Winn
  • Nicola Baylis
  • Bridget Appleby
  • David Potter
  • Kieran Marsh
  • Clare Restormel
  • Clare Hawkins
  • John Hillman
  • Margaret Fry
  • Gavin O’Toole
  • Sylvia Bluck
  • Silvia Laraia
  • Nik Randall
  • Greg Lovell
  • John McNeil
  • Clare Starling
  • Carolyn Morgan

Long Listed Titles

  • A Girl Called Redemption
  • Biscay Blues
  • Daddy Issues
  • Don’t Listen to Starr Bright
  • Exit Interview
  • Fearless Flying
  • Gandhi Colony
  • How I Got this Sperm Bank Life
  • Lie With Dogs
  • Little Pieces of Sophie
  • Lodi
  • Miss Jane Fairfax
  • Sister, Brother, Father, Mother
  • Song of a Neapolitan Goat
  • The After Party
  • The Art of Deception
  • The Book of Little Deaths
  • The Collector of Tales
  • The Conjurer’s Truth
  • The Dusty Crown
  • The Levantine Girl
  • The Library of Unfinished Books
  • The Lost Life of Gloria Riley
  • The Museum of Morality
  • The One of the Twelve
  • The Second Coming
  • The Slaughter of the Innocents
  • The Time Stream
  • Waikanga