Bookseller Launches Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

October 2007 is a great month for would-be fiction writers. If you've written a fiction manuscript and thought about submitting it to publishers, think again. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) is a great way for authors to publish a new manuscript and break into the fiction market. Get entered into the competition right away because the competition closes after acceptance of the first 5,000 entrants. The contest opened on October 1 and the final deadline for submission is November 5, 2007. The contest progresses through various phases, culminating with Amazon customer reviews of the finalists in the month of March 2008 and final reviews of the top finalists by Penguin staff during the first week of April 2008.

According to Amazon.com, the ABNA includes the sponsors Penguin Group Publishing and Hewlett-Packard. Together, these three sponsors are providing an international novel manuscript contest. It is open to writers of age 13 and above. Residents of many countries can enter, including the United States, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding Québec), China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

Authors can submit an original manuscript that has never been published. The manuscript can be fiction only and not greater than 175,000 words. Before submitting the manuscript, authors should consult the detailed guidelines for the competition.

What is a competition without a great array of prizes? Valued at $31,670, the grand prize includes a trip to New York City (or other venue) for 4 people, a 50-inch plasma TV, a book contract from Penguin Group Publishing, a Hewlett-Packard media suite, and a $25,000 advance.

All authors are guaranteed to win a prize. The nine other finalists who do not win the grand prize receive a BookSurge self-publish package and the HP media suite. Semi-finalists receive a review of their manuscript in Publisher's Weekly, a free package to publish through CreateSpace, and a 15% discount from BookSurge on its services. All other contestants (up to 5,000) get a proof copy of their submission from Create Space. This prize holds a $15 value.

Entering a prominent book competition is a great strategy for marketing an author's first book. All details are provided at the Amazon web site. The competition costs nothing to enter. It has the added benefit of using a popular bookseller to market books to an established, international audience.