The third Kindle Direct Publishing Pen to Publish self-publishing contest in India is opening for entries on September 15, 2019 until the closing date of December 14, 2019.
This year, the finalists in the long-form categories will also be considered for the Amazon Prime Video Prize which could mean Amazon Studios making a film of the winning book.
To enter the contest you must upload and publish to KDP an original, previously unpublished book authored solely by you in the English, Hindi or Tamil languages. You will need to add the keyword pentopublish 2019 in the keyword meta field for the ebook you want to enter and the ebook must be enrolled in KDP Select.
The Contest will be run in two categories for each entry language of English, Hindi, and Tamil:
- Long-form category: Entries with a word count of 10,001 words and above will be eligible to compete for the prize for the best long-form book in any entry language.
- Short-form category: Entries with a word count between 2,000-10,000 words will be eligible to compete for the prize for the best short-form book in any entry language.[clear-line]
The Pen to Publish winners will be selected in two phases:
Phase 1: Each ebook will be rated based on the commercial viability of the ebook (including, without limitation, with regards to the ebook’s sales, borrows and customer feedback). KDP will look at metrics from the time the book is published until December 31, 2019.
Phase 2: Up to five entries will be selected at the end of phase 1 for each language and form combination. These will then be read by the panel of judges and scored to identify the winner.
The finalists from Phase 1 will be announced around January 25, 2020 and the winners will be announced around February 20, 2020 on the contest page.
The prizes include:
Long-form cash prizes:
- Each entry language long-form Grand Prize winner will receive the Grand Prize of INR 500,000 (around $7,000 or £5,600).
- Each entry language long-form First Runner-up winner will receive the prize of INR 100,000.
- Each entry language long-form Second Runner-up winner will receive the prize of INR 50,000.[clear-line]
Short Form Cash Prizes:
- Each entry language short-form Grand Prize winner will receive the Grand Prize of INR 50,000.
- Each entry language short-form First Runner-up winner will receive the prize of INR 25,000.
- Each entry language Second Runner-up winner will receive the prize of INR 10,000.[clear-line]
Each winner will also get a merchandising package on the Amazon.in Kindle Store for the winning book, and the opportunity for a mentoring session with a celebrity author.
Once the finalists of the KDP Pen to Publish Contest have been announced, the long-form finalists of this contest, along with the other finalists from other KDP literary writing awards from other countries, will be evaluated by a panel of audiovisual experts from Amazon for consideration for the Amazon Prime Video Prize.
One book will be selected based on several criteria such as creativity, originality, storytelling boldness and audience potential The winner will be offered an exclusive, 36-month option contract for Amazon Studios to purchase the screenplay along with an advance payment of ₹7 lakh (700,000 Indian rupees, equivalent to around $9,700 or £7,900)
Last year, Pen to Publish received over 4,000 entries in long-form and short-form books in English, Hindi, and Tamil. The Hindi and Tamil categories were both added last year as the first contest was only for English-language books. Five finalists were selected for the shortlist in each category and the winners were all women writers.
You can get full details and terms and conditions on KDP Pen to Publish at Amazon.in.
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