The end is almost near for this year’s Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, hosted by Amazon and CreateSpace. A contest that began in January with 10,000 entries from authors across a spectrum of genres has now been whittled away to just five finalists. At each stage in the contest, the field of entries is narrowed dramatically, leading up to today’s announcement of the five winners in each category. At this stage, the winners will now go to a reader vote for the grand prize award.
Today’s winners include:
General Fiction: A Pledge of Silence by Flora Solomon, Southport, NC
Mystery/Thriller: The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley, Shaker Heights, OH
Romance: The Bluestocking and the Rake by Norma Darcy, Canterbury, Kent GB
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror: The Mengele Effect by Chuck Grossart, Bellevue, NE
Young Adult Fiction: Seashell, Stork and Apple Tree by Carrie Anne Noble, Montoursville, PA
Four of these five winners will be awarded a publishing contract with Amazon Publishing and a $15,000 advance. Once a grand prize winner is selected, that author will receive a publishing contract and a $50,000 advance.
To reach this stage, panels of judges made selections based on a variety of factors depending on the point in the process. The initial eliminations were based on the all-important “pitch,” whereas later eliminations were decided by full reads from Publisher’s Weekly reviewers (participants who had advanced to that stage were provided with the PW review of their works). Final eliminations were made based on the decisions from a select panel of judges.
“In traditional publishing paths, writers can wait years before receiving feedback from a publisher on their work,” said Terry Goodman, Editorial Lead for Lake Union Publishing and an ABNA panelist judge. “What I love about this contest is that the 10,000 entries stand shoulder-to-shoulder and are all considered for publication. We get to press fast forward and make an author’s dream come true, helping these writers break through and find an audience. And Amazon customers play a role in giving a novelist a life-changing publishing deal.”
The final judging will be at the hands of the most important people in the book industry: the readers. Readers are invited to vote starting today and continuing through the end of the voting period on July 18th. In order to vote (or for complete ABNA rules and information), visit Amazon.com/ABNA.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.