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Submissions Open Now!

How It Works

Do you have an idea you've been dying to bring to life or a story you've been keeping for a rainy day? The JNC Original Light Novel contest is providing aspiring writers an opportunity to get their work digitally published with artwork and receive a cash prize. There’s even an opportunity to have your work adapted into a manga by Kadokawa.

 

The contest will consist of two rounds and then a final selection in which your light novel will be judged by a group from the JNC staff, Kadokawa Editorial Staff, and others to be announced at a later date. If your submission passes the first round of judging, then the second, it is then you will be considered for the Grand Prize, First Prizes, and Runner Up Prizes.

 

First Round Selection Announcement: March 31st

Second Round Selection Announcement: May 31st

Final Selection: Anime Expo 2025

 

This is your chance to shine, so go ahead and make your mark on the world of storytelling. Good luck, and happy writing!

Additional Prizes

  • All submissions that pass first round will receive an evaluation sheet
  • All submissions that pass second round will get their first chapter or two streamed on J-Novel Club and subscribers will be able to vote on their favorites
  • All submissions that pass second round will get to participate in an online group seminar with Kadokawa light novel editors to give advice on writing

Eligibility

  • Your work must be submitted in English.
  • You must be a legal adult in your country of residence (able to sign contracts)
  • Your work must not have been previously published for profit or posted on websites with monetization enabled.
  • Your work may have been submitted to other competitions, however to be selected for a prize you must be able to sign an exclusive publishing contract.
  • Your work must be at least 35,000 words, and no more than 100,000 words for the Complete Story category.
  • Your work must be at least 35,000 words, will be judged on around 60,000 words, and must also include Character Profiles and a Plot Outline of the rest of the story you want to write consisting of no more than 10,000 additional words when submitting in the Ongoing Series category.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Will I retain the rights to my submissions?

You retain all rights to your submissions, with two exceptions: 1. For your work to be passed through the second round, you must agree for J-Novel Club to be able to stream for free at most 30% of your work as a preview and as part of our reader feedback portion of the judging. 2. If your submission is selected for one of the prizes, in order to receive the prize money, you will need to sign an exclusive publishing contact with J-Novel Club for the work. However that contract will have a limited term of 5 years, which can only be renewed upon agreement of both parties.

How does the prize money work?

The prize money will be considered an advance on royalties paid upon signing of a publishing contract with J-Novel Club, and will be paid out in full upon signing of the contract (minus any required taxes, depending on country of residence).

Is it guaranteed that there will be works selected for each prize?

No. For example, the Grand Prize will only be awarded to a work which Kadokawa is interested in making a manga adaptation of or publishing a Japanese edition of. However we are hopeful that we will receive many worthy submissions! Only the Grand Prize has a maximum of 1 prize. There may be multiple First Prize and Runner-up award winners.

My novel is based on another franchise (aka fan fiction), can I submit it?

No. You must own the rights to your novel and any characters that may appear in it. If your submission is deemed to be a derivative work of some other franchise, character, or brand, it may be disqualified.

May I include illustrations in my submission?

No. Please submit only text. More details about the submission format will be provided with the submission form when submissions are opened.

May I submit a story which is incomplete?

For the Complete Story category your submission must be a complete story, with a beginning, middle, and ending. It's great if there is room left for sequels, but a submission which does not contain a complete story will be disqualified from this category.

For the Ongoing Series category, your manuscript does not have to be the complete story, and will be judged as the first part of a longer serialized work. You must include character profiles and a plot outline of the complete story you wish to write, however.

I've previously self-published my story, can I submit it?

If you published your story in a way where it was sold for money to a general audience, that it is not eligible for this contest. If you published it on a website or personal blog which was not monetized, than you can submit it.

What about if it was a reward for patreons, or other non-traditional monetization methods?

These grey areas can be a tricky judgement call. We may evaluate such things on a case by case basis. In general, if the money was received for the novel specifically, that is not allowed. If the money was received more generally to support your work as a writer but not for a specific novel, than it is probably okay. However in any case, we would require you remove the work from being available upon signing a publishing contract.

Can I submit multiple works?

You may submit exactly 1 work per category, for a total of 2 works.

Can I resubmit my work more than once if I want to update it?

No. Once you submit a certain work, resubmissions are not accepted. If you submit a substantially similar work twice, both may be disqualified.
Submissions from previous year’s competitions are okay, and will be evaluated by at least 1 new judge.

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