[clear-line]Two romance titles have won the first Kindle Direct Publishing Pen to Publish self-publishing contest in India which offered a prize of one million rupees for each winning author.
Sudha Nair won for her romance drama The Wedding Tamasha, and J Alchem won for his romantic thriller Undelivered Letters.
Their books were chosen by judges from a short list of five self-published books narrowed down from hundreds of entries. The winning titles were selected based on several criteria, including creativity, originality, quality of writing, and commercial viability.
The panel of judges included international best-selling authors Joan Collins, Chetan Bhagat and Ashwin Sanghi, along with best-selling KDP author Sundari Venkatraman, and V K Karthika, a publisher with Westland Publications.
The other finalists shortlisted from hundreds of entries included:
- Cold Time: My Simulation Blunder by Shaan Changotra, a science fiction story that takes place after a third world war
- The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri, a gripping emotional inspirational fiction
- The Last Chai: Bringing the Nation to a Halt by Varun T, a political thriller set against the backdrop of 2019 general elections[clear-line]
The winners will each receive a cash prize of ₹10 Lakh (one million rupees, which is equivalent to around $15,700) and a print publishing contract with Westland Publications. They also have the opportunity to be mentored by established authors like Chetan Bhagat and Ashwin Sanghi.
‘Stories have the greatest impact when shared, and Kindle Direct Publishing is all about providing the right tools to share these stories with the world,’ said Sanjeev Jha, Director – Kindle Content, India. ‘We are delighted with the response to our first self-publishing contest in India. Our heartiest congratulations to J Alchem and Sudha Nair on this achievement. We hope their success will inspire others who dream of sharing their stories to do so through self-publishing.’
J Alchem, who has published three books, says, ‘A writer is hungry for readers, he is hungry for appreciation. Through KDP’s Pen to Publish Contest, I have received a huge amount of love from readers across the globe.’
Sudha Nair says, ‘KDP kickstarted my writing career much earlier than I thought. This recognition, so early in my writing career, inspires me to write many more interesting stories and keep readers entertained.
The KDP Pen to Publish contest was open for submissions of new English language books from all genres. Participants self-published their ebooks on kdp.amazon.com to enter the contest. All ebooks from the contest are available on the Kindle Store on any device with the free Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, PC and Mac as well as Kindle e-readers.
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