Submissions open next month for authors to enter their titles in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, a long-running program sponsored by Amazon Publishing and CreateSpace. The awards, open to both published and unpublished indie titles, will close at 10,000 entries, which will then be pared down to a winner in each genre category, from which one grand prize book will be selected.
The process works by accepting submissions for the contest between February 16th and March 2nd, closing either on the end date or when the full limit of entries has been received. From there, the entries are narrowed down to only 400 in each category, based on a very brief pitch of the book. Unlike in years past, however, the second round will whittle the number down to only 100 entries per category based on the input of Amazon Vine reviewers.
The real benefit comes to authors who are fortunate enough to reach the third round. Reviewers from Publisher’s Weekly will step in to narrow the entries down to the top five in each category, and will review and rate each book. Amazon Publishing’s editors will step in for the final round of selections, picking a final winner in each category.
The grand prize, selected from those winners, might be the most democratic system of them all, as Amazon readers will cast the deciding votes for which book is chosen as the overall winner.
“Reader response to the 2013 ABNA Grand Prize winner Timebound—an average star rating of 4.5 over 1,046 reviews—is a great indicator that ABNA continues to discover and amplify talented new authors. We are looking forward to seeing what terrific books come out of the ABNA class of 2014!” said Daphne Durham, Publisher of Adult Trade and Children’s Group, in a press release.
The contest is free to enter, with the category winners each receiving a publishing contract and $15,000 advance, while the grand prize winner will receive a publishing contract and $50,000 advance. Full details can be found at 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.
