Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2014

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tko

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Typically starts around January 14th, a month off, yet no announcement from Amazon, and almost no buzz. Anyone heard any good rumors?
 

Nimyth

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Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

If this is a re-post sorry did not see it listed anywhere.
Got this in my email. Do NOT know anything about it, but thought I would pass it along. It might be useful to someone. Did not read all the details, but did see 50K prize so I figure it might be worth the time to read all the details.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000633821
 

nortake

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Thanks so much! This wasn't on my radar, and I appreciate your calling it to our collective attention!
 

jcwriter

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Man, that's a lot of fine print. Has Victoria Strauss commented on this?

[note: I just checked her site and didn't find anything; so I emailed the above link to her. I wouldn't enter until she's vetted the contest rules.]
 
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WriteRex

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I am totally going to enter this contest someday. If not this year, maybe next year. Seriously, if I can at least get approved by the judges, then that means my work has potential. :)
 

BethS

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I am totally going to enter this contest someday. If not this year, maybe next year. Seriously, if I can at least get approved by the judges, then that means my work has potential. :)

It's not just a contest. If you win, you're granting them exclusive publishing rights to that manuscript. If you're a semi-finalist, they have 30 days to negotiate a contract with you. If you refuse the contract, they still have the right of first refusal if you get an offer elsewhere, although their new offer must match the other publisher's offer plus 10% more on the advance.

It's not a scam, but do read the fine print, if you haven't already.
 

Paramite Pie

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^^ It actually does sound like a pretty damn fine deal. I read the terms very carefully. Sadly I'm not at the submission stage.

Amazon publishing is very new, I haven't seen any published books by them in stores yet which is a concern but they already have an effective international shipping service - meaning a very big audience.
 

Nimyth

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Was anyone

able to find a link to the publishing contract? Everyone I clicked took me to a blank page. I would like to actually get a look over of the publishing contract that you seem to agree to by default when you enter your manuscript.
 

Nimyth

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Reading the fine print

" If you are a First Prize Winner, you may not negotiate the publishing contract with Amazon Publishing, and you must sign it “as is” upon receipt of the executable contract"

+++
Ok, the winner can not negotiate, and has to sign the contract as is---- problem I am having is that I can not find even an example the publishing contract anywhere?????? It seems like they would post the contract somewhere for the applicants to review before they sign up, I can not find any info on the contract.
 

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Please note that there's a parallel discussion of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award in Bewares.
 

WriteRex

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It's not just a contest. If you win, you're granting them exclusive publishing rights to that manuscript. If you're a semi-finalist, they have 30 days to negotiate a contract with you. If you refuse the contract, they still have the right of first refusal if you get an offer elsewhere, although their new offer must match the other publisher's offer plus 10% more on the advance.

It's not a scam, but do read the fine print, if you haven't already.

I already read the fine print before you made that post. I know what I'm saying, and I do think it's a good deal.
 

BethS

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I already read the fine print before you made that post. I know what I'm saying, and I do think it's a good deal.

OK fine. I had no way of knowing what you knew.
 

Shika Senbei

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Going with Amazon means no shelf placement -- ever.

Since I don't expect any shelf placement, ever, that doesn't matter much to me. The point is doubly moot since I don't expect to ever with any contests, by Amazon or otherwise.


That said, I winning this contest can't be all bad. At the very least, it might garner an author quite a bit of attention, which might be the most important thing after all.
 

BethS

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I've never quite understood this, who's pulling the strings here?

The book buyers for the big stores wield a lot of influence. A friend of mine's first novel was not shelved in a major bookstore chain because the buyer didn't care for the cover. So if Amazon-published books are not being stocked in stores, it's probably because they're not getting past the gatekeepers.
 

amrose

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At the very least, it might garner an author quite a bit of attention, which might be the most important thing after all.

Is it?

Think about it. What if the grand prize winner's book ends up with a movie deal? What about future books maybe in the same world or with the same characters? What if it becomes a super successful franchise worth millions of dollars and they sold everything to Amazon for 50K because they couldn't negotiate the terms of their contract?

I do think attention is important, but there's such a thing as selling yourself short too.

Note: I've read a signed a couple of contracts, but I am totally naive as to how the above actually works.
 

Nimyth

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If I could

at least find an example of the contract I might give it a try. . I have broke my book into two the first half is a cliff hanger, but there are 'hints' to what happens next. I was thinking of maybe sending in the first half. If my MS is ready in time lol. That way I would still have the rest of the story, and the next several books in the series. But I want to see the contract, if they retain rights on 'future works' (some contracts from what I understand do have such clauses) then it is to risky.
 
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BethS

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Just curious -- why do you want to pursue the Amazon route rather than the traditional route? If your novel is good enough to win their contest, it's good enough to send to agents. Or at least, so I assume.
 

Nimyth

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Well

If your novel is good enough to win their contest, it's good enough to send to agents. Or at least, so I assume.
It is not there yet ...just brainstorming the possibilities. As for agents... submissions etc.. patience(lack of) is one reason why I would prefer to go the nontraditional route.
 

tko

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Just curious -- why do you want to pursue the Amazon route rather than the traditional route? If your novel is good enough to win their contest, it's good enough to send to agents. Or at least, so I assume.

I entered last year, got through the query phase (some validation) and even though I didn't go further, had two reviews of my 1st 5000 words, one of which was pretty complementary, the other pointed out some valid flaws. Minor effort on my part.

I queried the same novel to 100 agents and received nothing back. Was I close? Not a chance? No idea. Major effort on my part.

Its not what happens when you win, it's what happens when you lose . . .
 

LOTLOF

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2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000633821

Amazon is taking submissions now through March second. Manuscripts have to be original material not previously trade or self published and between 50,000 - 125,000 words. The grand prize is a publishing contract that include a $50,000 advance.

As with any contest the odds aren't exactly great. They state they will accept a maximum of 10,000 entries. Still, I always find these fun to enter. The manuscript I am working on now is a sequel and doesn't really stand alone. In any case I want to self publish it in April and would have to wait if I entered it. I may however look at some of the stories I have sitting in a drawer and see if I can tweak and edit them.
 
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