Cole to be joined on the judging panel by Rachel Abbott, best-selling author; Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance for Independent Authors; and other literary experts
The prize is now open for entries with the winning author receiving £20,000 cash prize at central London award ceremony this summer
Luxembourg — 20th February 2017— From today authors can publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing for consideration in the Kindle Storyteller Award, a new literary prize recognising newly published work in the English language across any genre. The winning author will receive a £20,000 cash prize, a marketing campaign to support the book on Amazon.co.uk, and the opportunity to have their book translated.
Authors have until the 19th May to submit their stories and, once entered, it will be up to readers to decide which books are successful, as the shortlist will be compiled based on a number of factors that measure customer interest. The shortlist will then be brought to a panel of judges who will decide upon the winning book. The panel of judges includes actress and literacy campaigner, Lily Cole.
Cole said of her involvement: “I am delighted to be on the judging panel for Kindle Storyteller Award. The more we recognise and support excellent authors, the more likely we are to get people reading. I love good writing, from fiction to autobiographies, so I can’t wait to see what makes it through to the shortlist.”
Alongside Lily Cole, Amazon announced that best-selling author Rachel Abbott - who has sold over 2.7million copies of her books since she published her first book on Kindle Direct Publishing in 2011 - will be joining the panel. Since her debut novel, Only the Innocent, she has published six more titles, each of which have been bestsellers, and her next book, The Sixth Window, is out tomorrow.
Rachel Abbott said: “When I first started writing five years ago, I could never have imagined that I would have got to where I am today. I hope that all of those people who think they may have a book in them but for whatever reason haven’t yet written it see this as a chance to give it a go. It may seem like a daunting task, but the results can be incredible. My one bit of advice is be brave and get writing. I look forward to reading some brilliant new books from a range of different authors.”
Orna Ross, Irish author, former literary agent and founder of the The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) - a professional association for authors who independently publish their work - will also sit on the panel of judges. They will be joined by the Metro’s Books Editor Claire Allfree as well as Amy Worth, UK Kindle Content Director, and Andrew Rosenheim, UK Head of Kindle Singles.
Andrew Rosenheim said: “I am delighted to be chairing the panel of judges for the Kindle Storyteller Award and look forward to reading the shortlist. With so many brilliant writers out there I hope this gives readers an opportunity to discover brilliant talent, both old and new.”
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a fast, free and easy way for authors to publish their books in print and digital to a global audience, and receive up to 70 per cent royalties on their work. On any given day, up to 25 per cent of the Top 100 books on the UK Kindle store are published by authors who have decided to keep control by going it alone through KDP.
The Kindle Storyteller prize is open to submissions of new English Language books from all authors and genres, and entries must be submitted using Kindle Direct Publishing. Titles must be previously unpublished and a minimum of 5,000 words with no upper word limit. All books entered into the prize will be available on Kindle and Fire devices as well as the Kindle reading app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets. Print copies will also be available to buy on the Amazon.co.uk store. The winner will be announced at a central London award ceremony in July of this year.
Kindle Storyteller is now open for entries. For more information, authors can visit www.amazon.co.uk/storyteller
– ends –
For more information please contact the Amazon press office at Shine Communications on 020 7100 7100 / 07736 473 462 or kindle@shinecom.com.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.