Have you written the next bestselling novel just waiting to be discovered by readers? Amazon has a brand new venture that you might be interested in checking out — Kindle Scout.
Amazon is offering authors an opportunity to become published under their Kindle Press imprint. It takes only a few minutes to upload your manuscript have it reviewed for possible publication and readers will get the deciding vote.
Here are additional details from Amazon Kindle Scout:
Submit your book to Kindle Scout and be considered for a publishing contract with Kindle Press in 45 days or less. We welcome submissions for English-language books in Romance, Mystery & Thriller and Science Fiction & Fantasy genres. Any adult with a valid U.S. bank account and a U.S. social security number or tax identification number is eligible. Checkout the Kindle Scout Eligibility & Content Guidelines.
It takes only 15 minutes to submit your book. You currently cannot save your submission and return to it later (we’re working on it!) so make sure you give yourself enough time to complete the entire process from start to finish. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Complete, never-before-published manuscript
We’re looking for a manuscript of about 50,000 words or more in Word format. While readers will preview only the first pages of your book, make sure the entire book is ready to publish.
- Great title & book cover image
Having a title and cover image that reflects the essence and uniqueness of your book – its setting, characters and plot – gets readers to jump in and start reading. Your cover image needs to be taller than it is wide (we suggest 4500 pixels in height and 2820 pixels in width or a 1.5 height/width ratio). It must be in PNG (.png) or JPEG (.jpeg or .jpg) format and no larger than 5MB.
- Book one-liner of 45 characters or less
This will be used throughout the Kindle Scout website. Think of examples like “Space opera meets the Middle Ages” or “How far would one woman go for her dreams?”
- Book description of 500 characters or less
Summarize your book for potential readers. Keep it compelling and remember — building an audience starts here. This is a reader’s first experience with your book.
- Your bio & photo
A short bio (500 characters or less) and your photo give readers a chance to connect with you. You will also have a chance to answer questions about your book and personal story in a short Q&A section. Here is thelist of questions you will be able to choose from.
- Thank you note
Readers who nominate your book will appreciate hearing a word of thanks from you. Consider including ways for them to keep in touch with you via social media or email lists. We will send the note to your readers on your behalf at the end of your Kindle Scout campaign.
We will use all of these materials to build you a Kindle Scout campaign page. Here is an example of what it looks like. Once you submit, you’ll hear from us in 1-2 business days (longer if we have a ton of submissions) regarding the expected launch date of your campaign.
At the time of submission, you will be asked to review and accept the Kindle Press Submission & Publishing Agreement. Under the agreement, you grant us a 45-day exclusivity period to consider your work for publication. That is just long enough to allow for us to review your submission and the 30-day nomination period for your book’s campaign. We will let you know at the end of your campaign whether your book has been selected for publication by Kindle Press. If your book is selected for publication, we will have the exclusive, worldwide rights to publish your book in digital and audio formats in all languages for a 5-year renewable term. Otherwise, you automatically get all your rights back at the end of the 45-day exclusivity period. Please be sure to read the Kindle Press Submission & Publishing Agreement in full before you submit your work to Kindle Scout.
The perks if you are offered a contract are:
- $1500 advance and 50% royalties. Amazon will market/promote the book.
- The first few pages of your book go up on the scout site so readers can vote. They have 30 days to get votes.
- If it is picked it will be published by “Kindle Press”.
- 5-year renewable terms.
- If you are chosen you have 30 days to submit entire manuscript.
- Do not put full book up anywhere.
- You can keep up to 10% of the book up to promote.
- One week prior to publication anyone who voted will get the book free.
You must be 18 or older and supply a US tax ID or ss#.
