LONDON, 19 June, 2024 — Today, Amazon Books has announced that broadcaster and bestselling author Sara Cox and presenter and author Vick Hope are to join the judging panel for this year’s Kindle Storyteller Award.

Now in its eighth year, the literary prize celebrates the UK’s best self-published story, championing and offering recognition for the nation’s best new and established independent writers, with the winning author receiving a £20,000 prize fund and a marketing campaign for their title on Amazon.co.uk.

Commenting on their appointment to the judging panel, Sara Cox said: “I am so excited to be joining the judging panel for this year’s Kindle Storyteller Awards. Championing independent authors is so important because writing a novel and putting it out in the world is no easy feat, never mind doing it on your own! This award celebrates the hard work that goes into publishing your own novel, showing budding authors that you can do it! I can’t wait to start reading the shortlisted books later this summer.”

Vick Hope added: “I’ve always been so passionate about reading and writing, so being a judge for this year’s Kindle Storyteller Awards is such an honour. It’s incredible that this award exists to champion independent authors and help amplify diverse stories and characters that deserve to be shouted about! I’m really looking forward to seeing who makes the shortlist this year.”

The Kindle Storyteller Award is open to authors who publish their story via Kindle Direct Publishing between 1st May – 31st August 2024. Readers play a pivotal role in helping to choose the initial shortlist of stories; with a panel of esteemed judges, including top figures from the world of publishing and Amazon Books, hotly debating the shortlisted titles to decide who should be crowned this year’s winner, judging a range of factors including plot, originality, creativity of content, and the quality and style of writing.

The judging panel is also made up of other industry leaders including a representative from ALLi, key spokespeople from Amazon including Jen Barrett, UK Books Editorial, Amazon UK and Darren Hardy, Senior Manager, EU+UK Author/Agent & Editorial Programmes at Amazon, and last year’s prize winner author G J Ogden.

G J Ogden, who won last year’s award for Forsaken Commander, commented: “Kindle Direct Publishing is a fantastic tool that allows authors to get their books into readers’ hands without relying on traditional publishers’ schedules.”

Darren Hardy, Senior Manager, EU+UK Author/Agent & Editorial Programmes at Amazon.co.uk said: “2023 saw some fantastic entries for the Kindle Storyteller Award, we had a multitude of authors, genres and stories that were in the mix, and we are looking forward to seeing what 2024 has to offer. It is important to us that we continue to champion authors at different stages of their careers and across all genres. It’s an honour to have Sara and Vick join the panel of judges this year to help us celebrate these talented self published authors and the magic of putting pen to paper.”

The Kindle Storyteller Award is open for entries until 31st August 2024. All titles must be enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing Select while they are in the competition. For further information, visit www.amazon.co.uk/storyteller.

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Notes to Editors:

First launched in 2017, the Kindle Storyteller Award accepts submissions of new books in the English language, published using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Titles must be previously unpublished, with a minimum of 24 pages in paperback, and they must be enrolled in KDP Select while they are in the competition. Readers can access all titles entered into the prize in print or on the Kindle eReader or on the free Kindle app for iOS, Android and Fire devices. Print copies will also be available to buy on the Amazon.co.uk store. The winner will be announced in autumn this year.

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. Hundreds of thousands of authors use KDP to sell their books around the world and thousands of them earn more than $50,000, with more than a thousand passing $100,000 in royalties. Authors who made their books available through Kindle Unlimited earned their share of a fund worth more than $53.9 million over the April 2024.

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. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalised recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.co.uk/about and follow @AmazonNewsUK.

For further information please contact:

Hunt & Gather Email: BooksProjects@hunt-gather.com

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