On January 14th, Amazon opened the doors to their 6th novel award contest. Unlike previous years which awarded a $15,000 advance and contract with big-six publisher Penguin, this years contest offers a $50,000 advance and publishing with Amazon Publishing. Amazon states this will allow for a “a faster publishing timeline, higher royalties, ability to launch the books in multiple formats (print, audio, ebook) and worldwide distribution.”
The contest category submissions has grown to five categories: General fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, science fiction/fantasy/horror, and young adult fiction. A Grand Prize winner is selected by Amazon customers from the five finalists in each category. In addition, all five winners will receive a $15,000 advance and a contract with Amazon Publishing.
More Information: Create Space ABNA
Tips
- You must have an account with Create Space to enter.
- Entries are limited to the first 10,000 in five categories. In past years, that was 2,000 per category and they met their limit long before the closing date.
- Select the genre that best fits your book.
- Stay within the word-count limits — pitch, up to 300 words; excerpt, 3,000 to 5,000 words; manuscript, 50,000 to 150,000 words.
- Remove all identifying information from your pitch, excerpt and manuscript, including: your name and/or pen name, contact information, any awards received for your book and an author bio/resume.
- Submit all your materials in the English language.
Key Dates:
Jan 14 – Entry period opened at 12:00:01 AM (U.S. EST)
Jan 27 – Entry period ends at 11:59:59 PM
(U.S. EST)*
Feb 13 – Round 2 entries are announced
Mar 12 – Quarter-Finalists are announced
Apr 16 – Semi-Finalists are announced
May 21 – Finalists are announced. Customer voting begins on Amazon.com
May 21-29 – Customers vote on Amazon.com
Jun 15 – Awards ceremony and Grand Prize winner announcement
* The maximum number of entries is 10,000. The entry period will end earlier if the maximum number of entries is received before January 27, 2013.
Helpful Links
- Contest Information
- Official Contest Rules
- Official Contest FAQ
- How to Enter
- Preview Tutorial: VIDEO
- Prizes
- Sponsors
- CreateSpace Community
- Amazon Discussion Board
