For the third year in a row, Amazon and Penguin have teamed up for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, an international writing competition that offers new writers a chance at publication. Earlier this week, it was announced that there would be two prizes for this year’s competition, one of which will be for the best young adult novel. Also new this year: the competition is open to novels that have been previously self-published.
Up to 10,000 manuscripts will be accepted for the contest, which will then be narrowed down—in turn by Amazon editors/top reviewers, Publishers Weekly reviewers, and Penguin editors—before arriving at three finalists in each category. On the young adult side, the panel critiquing the finalists consists of authors Sarah Dessen and Nancy Werlin; Amy Berkower, president of Writers House; and Ben Schrank, president and publisher of Penguin’s Razorbill imprint. Amazon customers will then vote on a grand prize winner in each category, with winners receiving a $15,000 publishing contract with Penguin.
Additional details about the competition are available at Amazon’s contest page.
