Amazon Idol premiers today!

[karen_w_newton]

Amazon has opened submissions on the second season of Amazon Idol-I mean, the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The deal is, the winner gets published by Penguin, but last year there were actually three or four contracts that came out of the contest

Comments

Verrrry interesting --

[maryturzillo]

Karen, I can't seem to figure out if this is just for writers who have never previously published a novel. Also, is it genre-friendly, can you tell?

I notice the deadlines are very tight.

Interesting! Thanks for this!

Re: Verrrry interesting --

[karen_w_newton]

Actually, it is genre-friendly in that last year's winner was technically a mystery (although the Washington Post reviewer said it should have been mainstream because the mystery was less developed than the relationships). Also, the genre choice list for submissions actually separates fantasy form science fiction, which is unusual in all-genre contests, as they tend to lump them together.

I don't think being published is a problem. I think the only rule is that the book you are submitting can't have been published before or be under contract somewhere else. Be sure to read the rules careful if you're interested.

Re: Verrrry interesting --

[maryturzillo]

Thanks, Karen. This looks too good to pass up, although I have about 20 other projects underway! I think I'll try to tart up my current novel project and submit it.

Re: Verrrry interesting --

[karen_w_newton]

Go for it!

p.s. If you win, you owe me dinner!