Kindle Scout, Amazon’s New Reader-Powered Publishing Program, Opens for Voting

(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Beginning today, readers can visit Kindle Scout, Amazon's new reader-powered publishing program, to preview excerpts from unreleased books, help decide which will get published and receive free books.

Here’s how Kindle Scout works:

• Readers preview excerpts from new, never-before-published books at KindleScout.com and nominate up to three favorites at a time.
• At the end of a 30-day nomination campaign, the Kindle Scout team will review popular books and select the ones to be published.
• As a thank you from Kindle Scout and the author, readers who nominated the published book receive a free, full-length Kindle edition one week before the book’s official release date.
• New books are submitted every day, so readers should check back often.

“Amazon customers are passionate readers who have long influenced which books become breakout best sellers,” said Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President of Kindle. “With the launch of Kindle Scout, readers now have an even more direct say in what gets published and can get free books and discover new favorite authors in the process.”

With the help of readers, Kindle Scout shortens the time it takes to be selected for publication—the entire process from submission to selection takes 45 days or less. Publishing contracts are offered through Kindle Press and include a 5-year renewable term, advance of $1,500, a 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing. Writers can submit new books at KindleScout.com 365 days a year.

“We’re always looking for new ways to add meaningful connections between readers and authors,” said Dina Hilal, General Manager of Kindle Scout. “We’ve been delighted by the submissions so far and are excited to give readers a say in which books they want to read. We also hope they’ll have a lot of fun getting to know authors and their work.”

“For me, Kindle Scout is a potential way to get my work into the hands of new readers,” said author Steve Gannon, who submitted his book to Kindle Scout. “As an author who has self-published and self-promoted six novels, I view it as a chance to partner with Amazon on my latest novel, L.A. Sniper, as well as an opportunity to take all of my books to the next level.”

For more information about Kindle Scout including answers to frequently asked questions, please visit KindleScout.com/about.

To see a video on how Kindle Scout Works, please visit KindleScout.amazon.com/video.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, 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.