Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest 2009

Submitted by noid on Thu, 2009-01-01 15:26.

Contest

Start: 2009-02-08 12:00

End: 2009-02-09 12:00

Timezone: Etc/GMT+8

Details:

Be the next breakthrough novelist!

Have
an unpublished novel you know Amazon.com readers will love? Enter your
manuscript in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for a chance to win a
$25,000 publishing contract with Penguin Group (USA) and the
distribution of your novel on Amazon.com

How the contest works

Enter
your unpublished, English-language, fiction manuscript beginning
February 2, 2009. Entries will be accepted until February 8, 2009 or
until 10,000 entries have been received, whichever comes first. The
contest consists of four judging phases by expert reviewers, publishing
professionals, and Amazon.com customers. The winner will be announced
on May 22, 2009.

Initial Round: Expert
reviewers from Amazon select 2,000 submissions from the 10,000 initial
entries based each novel's "pitch." The 2,000 entries are then rated
and receive two excerpt reviews from Amazon Editors and Amazon Vine Reviewers.

The field narrows to 500 entries...

Quarterfinals:
Excerpts of the 500 are displayed on Amazon.com along with the reviews
from the previous judging round. Publisher's Weekly now reads, rates,
and reviews the 500 remaining full manuscripts.

The field narrows to 100...

Semifinals:
Penguin Group (USA) reads and ranks the 100 semifinalists, taking into
consideration the reviews from the two previous judging rounds.

Penguin chooses three novels to move to the final round of judging...

Finals:
The three remaining manuscripts receive reviews from industry experts,
including authors Sue Grafton and Sue Monk Kidd. Amazon.com customers
select the Grand Prize Winner for 2009.

OFFICIAL RULES

Please read these Official Rules before
entering the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest ("Contest"). By
submitting an entry, you (and, if an eligible minor, your parent or
legal guardian) acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by
these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsors and the judges, and
that you satisfy all eligibility requirements. This Contest is intended
to identify the "next great novel." One winner will receive a
publishing contract with Penguin Group USA (see details below). Other
prizes are detailed below.

ELIGIBILITY. Open to legal
residents of the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Québec), China, Denmark,
Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, South Africa, South Korea,
Sweden, Switzerland, the United States (the 50 states and D.C.), and
the United Kingdom, who are 13 years or older at time of entry. ANY
ENTRANT WHO IS A MINOR IN HIS/HER JURISDICTION OF RESIDENCE MUST HAVE
PERMISSION OF PARENT (OR BOTH PARENTS WHERE REQUIRED BY LAW) OR LEGAL
GUARDIAN TO ENTER. Not open to employees or independent contractors, or
immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents,
grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) or those living in
the same household of employees or independent contractors of Amazon
Services LLC ("Amazon"), Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ("Penguin"),
On-Demand Publishing LLC dba CreateSpace ("CreateSpace") (collectively,
"Sponsors"), Publishers Weekly or any of their respective parents,
subsidiaries, affiliates, advisors, or advertising/promotion agencies.
Also not open to any judges involved in the Contest, including
reviewers who participate in selecting the Quarter-Finalists (as
defined below).
HOW TO ENTER. To enter, you
must submit an original, unpublished, fictional, English language
manuscript, as more fully described below. Contest submission period
begins February 2, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and
ends February 8, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time), or
when the first 10,000 Entries have been received, whichever is
earlier.. To enter, go to www.amazon.com/abna and follow the
instructions on how to register. Once registered, and following the
instructions on the entry form, upload (1) the full/complete version of
your manuscript (the "Manuscript"); and (2) up to the first 5,000 words
(but not less than 3,000 words) of text of such Manuscript, excluding
any table of contents, foreword, and acknowledgments (the "Excerpt");
and (3) a pitch of your Manuscript consisting of up to 300 words (the
"Pitch"); and (4) personal information required on the entry form. (The
foregoing four entry requirements are collectively referred to as the
"Entry" or "Entries".) Sponsors will NOT accept or review paper-copy
Entries.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS. Completed
Manuscripts must be novels between 50,000 and 150,000 words. Each
Manuscript must be authored by a single, individual author. Any
Manuscript submitted as an Entry written by two or more authors will
not be eligible. Poems and short stories or collections of same
submitted as Entries will also not be eligible. Manuscripts and
Excerpts must (a) be the original creation of entrant; (b) be
fictional; (c) be in the English language; (d) be of interior black and
white text without images; (e) not have been previously published in
whole or in part under the same title and with substantially the same
text, and sold or distributed through any retail or paid distribution
channel; (f) not currently or previously have been the subject of a
publishing agreement with any publishing house; (g) not include the
author's name in the body of the Manuscript, in the Excerpt, or in the
Pitch; and (h) meet the content guidelines found at http://www.amazon.com/contentguidelines
(which are incorporated in to these Official Rules by reference). In
addition to the foregoing, Manuscripts must be submitted digitally in
Microsoft Word .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. All Entries determined by
Sponsors in their sole discretion to meet the foregoing requirements
will be deemed "Valid Entries." Entries submitted by authors who are
represented by an agent are acceptable, provided the author agrees to
comply with these Official Rules. Sponsors' servers and clock will be
deemed the official clock for all phases of the Contest, and entrant's
proof of a submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsors.
Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for (y) lost,
misdirected, late, incomplete, illegible, garbled, delayed or
unintelligible Entries or for inaccurate entry information, whether
caused by entrant or by any of the equipment or programming associated
with or utilized in the Contest, or by any technical or human error
that may occur in the processing of Entries; or (z) any printing,
production, human or typographical or other errors in any materials
associated with the Contest. Limit one Entry per e-mail address and per
entrant. In the event any entrant submits more than one Entry, the
first Entry received by Sponsors will be deemed that entrant's Entry
and any subsequent Entries submitted by such entrant will be void.
Sponsors reserve the right in their sole and unfettered discretion to
disqualify at any time any Entry containing obscene, offensive,
pornographic or sexually explicit material, or libelous, disparaging or
other inappropriate content or subject matter or that are otherwise not
in compliance with these Official Rules (as determined by Sponsors in
their sole discretion).
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY. All
Entries must be the original creations of the entrants. By submitting
an Entry, each entrant (and, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or
legal guardian) represents and warrants that his/her Entry (including
the Manuscript, Excerpt and Pitch) is his/her original creation; has
not been copied in whole or in part from any other work; has not
previously been published as described in Section 3(e) of these
Official Rules; does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark,
privacy or publicity right, or other proprietary or intellectual
property right of any person or entity; is not defamatory, libelous,
obscene, or otherwise illegal; and is the sole and exclusive property
of the entrant. Each entrant (and, if an eligible minor, his/her parent
or legal guardian) further represents and warrants that he/she has
complete, worldwide distribution rights for his/her Manuscript.
Sponsors may disqualify any entrant whose Entry Sponsors deem, in their
sole discretion, at any time not to comply with the foregoing
representations and warranties. Entrants (and, if an eligible minor,
his/her parent or legal guardian) assume all risk of lost, late,
misdirected, delayed, incomplete, or illegible Entries.
GRANT OF RIGHTS.
By submitting an Entry, each entrant (and, if an eligible minor,
his/her parent or legal guardian) grants Penguin exclusive first
publication rights to the Entry if entrant is: selected as a
Quarter-Finalist until such time that the Quarter Finalist entrant is
eliminated from the Contest (see Prizes section below for publishing
obligations of Grand Prize winner); or for entrants reaching the Semi
Final Round, until June 30, 2009. If Penguin notifies an entrant
(excluding the Grand Prize winner) that it wishes to publish such
entrant's work, entrant will negotiate exclusively with Penguin for a
period of thirty (30) days on the terms and conditions of a publishing
agreement. If at the end of that 30-day period, entrant and Penguin
have not reached agreement, entrant will be free to offer the work to
other publishers, provided that before entrant enters into an agreement
with another publisher, entrant will afford Penguin the last right to
publish the work on the same terms and conditions offered by any other
publisher plus an advance against royalties ten percent (10%) greater.
Penguin must communicate its decision to entrant within five (5)
business days after written notice from entrant of the other
publisher's terms and conditions, and if Penguin declines or fails to
act within that period, entrant will not have any further obligation to
Penguin and may publish the work with another publisher. By submitting
an Entry, until June 30, 2009, each entrant (and, if an eligible minor,
his/her parent or legal guardian) grants Sponsors and their respective
affiliates and agents permission to use without charge excerpts from
his/her Manuscript, Pitch or Excerpt along with his/her name and stated
reason for writing the submitted book (if provided), for any purpose in
connection with this Contest, in any and all media now or hereafter
devised. In so doing, entrant (and, if an eligible minor, his/her
parent or legal guardian) also grants to Sponsors the right to edit the
formatting and display of the excerpt and to create literary or any
other types of effects in respect of the excerpt, all without seeking
the approval of the entrant or making any payment to entrant. In
addition, also until June 30, 2009, to the extent moral rights (for
example, the right to attribution and the right to integrity) apply in
the applicable jurisdiction, each entrant (and, if an eligible minor,
his/her parent or legal guardian) waives (and to the extent that these
may not be waived, agrees irrevocably not to assert) his/her moral
rights in his/her Entry for purposes of this Contest, including without
limitation Sponsors' use of excerpts from that Entry in connection with
this Contest. Entrants (and, if eligible minors, their parents or legal
guardians) represent that they have received the consent of any person
(or parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) whose real and
actual name or likeness is used or featured in any Entry submitted, and
failure to obtain such consent will disqualify the Entry. Sponsors will
have the right at any time during the Contest to request proof of such
consent and to disqualify any Entry for which such consent cannot be
provided in a form satisfactory to Sponsor. Entrants (and, if eligible
minors, their parents or legal guardians) agree to be solely
responsible for and agree that Sponsors, Publishers Weekly and their
respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and
promotion agencies and any officers, directors, agents, employees and
representatives of any of them (collectively, any "Released Parties"),
will not be responsible for any action brought by a person whose
consent entrant did not obtain. Excerpts, along with the author's name,
city and state of residence, and portions of his/her Entry selected by
Sponsors which relate to the submitted Manuscript, may be posted on any
Web site owned or operated by Sponsors or any of their affiliates
("Sponsor Site"), any other Web site or other online point of presence
on any platform, through which any products or services available on or
through the Sponsor Site are described, syndicated, offered,
merchandised or advertised, in Sponsors' sole discretion. Sponsors'
decision to post an Excerpt or any portion of an Entry on any Sponsor
Site does not mean that the selected Entry has been selected as a
winning Entry.
COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION/USE.
Sponsors are collecting personal information primarily to process the
Entries and to contact entrant if necessary, but also to potentially
contact entrant for marketing purposes. If entrant does not wish to be
contacted for marketing purposes, he/she will be provided with a method
to opt-out from future communications. If an entrant would like to
access or modify the information about him/her related to this Contest
in Sponsors' database, please send an e-mail to ABNA-admin@amazon.com.
By entering the Contest, entrant agrees that Sponsors may share
entrant's information with third parties that have a need to know the
information, such the Judging Panel or third parties that Sponsors
retain to assist in administering the Contest; however, those third
parties may only use the information for purposes related to this
Contest. If you do not agree to these terms or to CreateSpace's privacy
policy located at http://www.createspace.com/Help/Rights/Privacy.jsp, Amazon's privacy policy located at http://www.amazon.com/privacy, or Penguin's privacy policy located at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/aboutus/privacypolicy.html please do not submit an Entry.
CONTEST JUDGING PROCESS.

PRIZES. The following prizes will be available to be awarded:

FINALIST NOTIFICATION/REQUIREMENTS.
Sponsors will notify the potential Finalists by phone or e-mail
starting on or about May 6, 2009. Each potential Finalist (or their
parents or legal guardians if any Finalist is under 18 or a minor in
the jurisdiction in which he/she resides) will be required to sign and
return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release
("Affidavit and Release") by May 14, 2009. Guests of the Finalists (or
if a child or legal ward of Finalist, Finalist) will be required to
sign and return a Liability/Publicity Release prior to departure to the
Venue. Each potential Finalist (or their parents or legal guardians if
any Finalist is under 18 or a minor in the jurisdiction in which he/she
resides) will also be required to sign and return to Sponsors a
non-disclosure agreement. The non-disclosure agreement executed by the
Finalists (or their parents or legal guardians if any Finalist is under
18 or a minor in the jurisdiction in which he/she resides) must be
returned to Sponsors by May 14, 2009. Failure to return any required
document by the date stated in these rules will deem a Finalist as
ineligible to proceed to the next stage of the Contest and he/she will
be disqualified.

Each potential Finalist (or their parents or
legal guardians if any Finalist is under 18 or a minor in the
jurisdiction in which he/she resides) will also receive and be required
to sign and return to Sponsors by May 14, 2009, a contingent publishing
contract with Penguin, which Penguin will countersign only with the
Finalist selected as the Grand Prize winner (see Section 9 of these
Official Rules for information on the primary terms and conditions of
the publishing contract). Penguin will only be bound by the publishing
contract with the Grand Prize winner. If any documentation is not
returned by the specified dates, Sponsors may, at their election,
invite an alternate finalist ("Alternate Finalist") chosen by the
Penguin Judging Panel from the Semi -Finalists in the same manner as
described in Section 7.E(3) above to replace the original Finalist who
failed to timely return the required documentation. If notification to
the Alternate Finalist is returned as undeliverable, Sponsors may, at
their election, invite the next eligible Alternate Finalist. If any
potential winner is under 18 or a minor in the jurisdiction in which
he/she resides at the time the prize is awarded, such prize will be
awarded to winner only after the winner's parent or legal guardian
signs the Affidavit and Release and such other documentation that may
be required for the winner to claim the prize. Sponsors will notify
winners of all other prizes by e-mail or phone no later than June 30,
2009. Prior to awarding a prize, Sponsors may, in their sole
discretion, require any potential winner to sign such additional
documents Sponsors deem necessary to confirm eligibility, to obtain a
liability/publicity release, and to award any prize. The parent or
legal guardian of any Finalist or Grand Prize winner who is under the
age of legal majority in his/her jurisdiction of residence will be
responsible for fulfilling all requirements imposed on Finalists and/or
the Grand Prize winner set forth herein.
ADDITIONAL TERMS.
The Contest and all accompanying materials are copyright © 2008 by
Amazon Services LLC. All rights reserved. By entering, entrants (and
their parents or legal guardians if any entrant is under 18 or a minor
in the jurisdiction he/she resides in) agree to be bound by these
Official Rules. Contest is void outside the eligible jurisdictions and
where prohibited by law. Entrants (and, if eligible minors, their
parents or legal guardians) agree that the decisions of Sponsors
related to the Contest are final and binding in all matters. To the
maximum extent permitted by law, Sponsors reserve the right, in their
sole discretion, to change these rules or cancel the Contest at any
time, or to modify, terminate, or suspend the Contest should viruses,
worms, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes beyond
Sponsors' control corrupt or impair the administration, security,
fairness, or proper play of the Contest or submission of Entries.
Released Parties are not responsible for any human or other error that
may occur in the processing of the Entries, nor are they responsible
for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in
operation or transmission, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access
to, or alteration of, Entries, or for technical, network, telephone,
computer, hardware or software, malfunctions of any kind, which may
occur in connection with this Contest, including, without limitation,
any errors or problems which may occur in connection with the
administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries,
the tabulation of votes, the announcement of the prizes or in any
Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible
for inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive any entry
information on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on
the Internet or at any Web site. Released Parties are not responsible
for injury or damage to any entrant's or any other computer resulting
from downloading any materials in connection with the Contest. Sponsors
reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any
individual found to be tampering with the entry or voting process, the
outcome of the Contest, or the operation of the Contest or Web site; to
be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or to be acting in an
unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse,
threaten, or harass any other person and void all associated Entries.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB
SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A
VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE
MADE, SPONSORS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO
SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER RELIEF (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) FROM ANY SUCH
PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY.
Released Parties are not responsible for the unauthorized use of any
Entry (or any portion thereof) by any third party. Entrants (and their
parents or legal guardians if any entrant is under 18 or a minor in the
jurisdiction he/she resides) agree (for themselves and their heirs)
that the Released Parties, to the maximum extent permitted by law, are
not responsible for any liability, loss, injury, or damage to property
or to person, and reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, due in
whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by reason of participation in
the Contest, or by reason of the acceptance, possession, use or misuse
of the prizes (including any travel or activity related thereto).
Nothing in these Rules will limit any Released Party's liability for
death or personal injury caused by that party's negligence, a breach of
these Official Rules, or fraudulent misrepresentation.
GOVERNING LAW/DISPUTES.
Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of
Washington. As a condition of participating in this Contest, entrants
agree, to the extent permitted by law, that any and all disputes which
cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising
out of or in connection with this Contest, will be resolved
individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively
before a court located in King County, Washington having jurisdiction.
Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will entrants be
permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to claim,
punitive, incidental or consequential damages, including attorneys'
fees, other than entrant's actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. costs
associated with entering), and entrant further waives all rights to
have damages multiplied or increased.
RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY.
By participating in the Contest, entrants (and their parents or legal
guardians if any entrant is under 18 or a minor in the jurisdiction
he/she resides) consent to the use of their names, biographical
information, and photographs, videos or likenesses in any manner and in
any medium now or hereafter devised for any purpose in connection with
the Contest, including worldwide, without additional compensation,
notification or permission, except where prohibited by law.
WINNERS LIST. For a list of the Finalists and the Grand winner, send an e-mail request to ABNA-winners@amazon.com. Requests must be received by December 31, 2009.
SPONSORS.
Amazon Services LLC, P.O. Box 400818, Las Vegas, NV 89140; Penguin
Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014; and On-Demand
Publishing LLC dba CreateSpace, 7290 Investment Drive, North
Charleston, SC 29418.

Sources here and here.

1194 reads
Calendar

WriteLit.com

Navigation

Popular content

Today's:

Last viewed:

Latest Editorials

Latest Articles

Latest News

New forum topics

Who's new

Who's online

Visitors since 12/14/05

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest 2009

Be the next breakthrough novelist!

How the contest works

OFFICIAL RULES

Subscribe to Daily Feed

Syndicate

Sister Sites

Google Search

Latest Posts

Recent comments

Latest Blog Entries

Latest Literature

Latest Works-in-Progress

Upcoming events

Poll