Amazon Announces Five Finalists in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Publishing has chosen five finalists that will each be awarded a publishing deal in the 7th annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest and is asking customers to vote over the next 10 days for one Grand Prize novelist to receive a $50,000 Amazon Publishing contract.

The other four finalists will each receive an Amazon Publishing contract and a $15,000 advance. The winning novels were selected from five categories: General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, and Young Adult Fiction. They were chosen from a pool of 10,000 entries and narrowed through four rounds of judging by Amazon Editors, Amazon Vine Reviewers, Publishers Weekly staff, and a panel of Amazon Publishing judges.

The 2014 ABNA Finalists are:

General Fiction: A Pledge of Silence by Flora Solomon, Southport, NC

Mystery/Thriller: The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley, Shaker Heights, OH

Romance: The Bluestocking and the Rake by Norma Darcy, Canterbury, Kent GB

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror: The Mengele Effect by Chuck Grossart, Bellevue, NE

Young Adult Fiction: Seashell, Stork and Apple Tree by Carrie Anne Noble, Montoursville, PA

The ABNA contest takes new fiction from pitch to publication in a much more accelerated path than traditional publishing.

“In traditional publishing paths, writers can wait years before receiving feedback from a publisher on their work,” said Terry Goodman, Editorial Lead for Lake Union Publishing and an ABNA panelist judge. “What I love about this contest is that the 10,000 entries stand shoulder-to-shoulder and are all considered for publication. We get to press fast forward and make an author’s dream come true, helping these writers break through and find an audience. And Amazon customers play a role in giving a novelist a life-changing publishing deal.”

Customer voting for the Grand Prize novel begins today and will continue through July 18, 2014. Amazon customers can cast their vote at www.amazon.com/abna.

Amazon Publishing is the publishing arm of Amazon.com. The Amazon Publishing family consists of 15 imprints: 47North, AmazonCrossing, AmazonEncore, Amazon Publishing, Grand Harbor Press, Jet City Comics, Kindle Worlds, Lake Union Publishing, Little A, Montlake Romance, Skyscape, StoryFront, Thomas & Mercer, Two Lions and Waterfall Press.

For more information about Amazon Publishing visit http://www.apub.com/. Amazon Publishing is a brand used by Amazon Content Services, LLC.

CreateSpace, an Amazon company, includes a community to keep authors who entered the ABNA contest up-to-date on every stage of the contest. For the complete Official Rules for the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and more information, please visit www.amazon.com/abna.

About Amazon.com

Amazon opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by three principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.