The first big "life-changing" yearly awards to offer a helping hand to unpublished writers were announced yesterday with a total prize kitty of £60,000.

Deadline for entries is July 1 for New Writing Ventures, a contest with Arts Council funding. It offers £5,000 prizes in fiction, literary non-fiction and poetry, to be administered by Booktrust and the New Writing Partnership. Prizes also include training and advice worth £5,000.

Chris Meade, Booktrust director, said there was a gap between the five-figure prizes for established authors and the smattering of smaller awards for hopefuls.

Of the looming deadline, he said: "This is not a chance for people to start writing their magnum opuses from scratch. We want people to concentrate their mind on what they are working on, and submit it."

Entries to Booktrust, 45 East Hill, London SW18 2QZ. Details at www.newwritingpartnership.org.uk