Zoë Bossiere 2021 Readers' Pick - on having the courage to send your work out into the world
Zoë Bossiere 2021 Readers’ Pick, Welcome to Cactus Country
What made you decide to submit your work to the First Pages Prize?
A professor at my university told students about the prize and recommended we submit. He actually offered to reimburse the admission fee for those of us who did, which was very generous of him and a big incentive for me as a student on a limited budget.
How did you decide what you wanted to submit?
I had been working on a nonfiction manuscript for some time and thought submitting would be a good opportunity for me to hone my first pages to be as clear, concise, and compelling as possible. My professional goal at the time was to begin querying agents, who frequently ask to read the first 5-10 pages of your project, so submitting to the First Pages Prize helped me prepare my work for that next step.
And then, what was it like to be one of the winners?
I never expected my entry to be selected, so when I heard my first pages were chosen for the “Reader’s Pick” prize it was a huge honor! Everyone I interacted with at First Pages—from Lizzie Harwood to Clydette de Groot to the other winners—was so positive and encouraging of my work and writing career.
What changed for you as a result of being a final winner?
A few months after being selected for the “Reader’s Pick” prize, I signed with my agent, Maggie Cooper, at Aevitas Creative Management. I credit the preparation I did for the First Pages Prize with helping me write a successful query letter and a strong writing sample that was representative of the manuscript as a whole. Winning a prize for my writing was also a major confidence boost for me, as I hadn’t shared my manuscript with many readers prior to submitting to First Pages.
What advice or tips might you have for people thinking of submitting to the FIRST PAGES PRIZE this year?
You don’t need to have a full manuscript (or even close to one) to submit to the First Pages Prize! I want to encourage prose writers in the early stages of their career—and their projects—to submit, as it’s a wonderful opportunity to practice crafting an opening for your book that is both vivid enough to stand alone while also signalling the trajectory of the larger story beyond it.