Following record number of entries, five self-published books have been shortlisted for the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019 across a range of genres, including crime, romance and epic fantasy

Winning author will receive a £20,000 cash prize, dedicated marketing campaign, and more

For the first time, the finalists of the prize have the chance of seeing their work made into a production with Amazon Studios for Amazon Prime Video

Luxembourg — September 12 2019 —  Amazon today revealed its UK Kindle Storyteller Award shortlist, with five independently published authors in with the chance of being awarded the £20,000 literary prize.

Readers played a significant role in compiling the shortlisted books, with those chosen based on a range of factors that measure customer interest in the titles.

New for this year, the finalists and winning titles from all six Kindle literary awards around the world will be evaluated by a panel of experts from Amazon International Originals on several criteria such as creativity, originality, and boldness of storytelling.  One finalist will be selected to enter into a development and rights option agreement with Amazon and have their entry developed for potential adaptation into a Prime production

The full shortlist for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award is:

• The Bookshop of Hopes and Dreams by Hannah Ellis
• I Have Sinned by Caimh McDonnell
• The Army of Wolves by Claire Moore
• Tragedy at Piddleton Hotel by Emily Organ
• The Picture On The Fridge by Ian W. Sainsbury

An esteemed panel of judges, made up of both Amazon experts and literary authorities, including journalist and presenter Mariella Frostrup, will select the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019 winner, to be announced at a ceremony in central London on October 14th.

The panel of judges also includes the 2018 winner of the Award, author of The Afterlife of Walter Augustus, Hannah Lynn, best-selling independent authors LJ Ross and Mark Dawson, founder of The Alliance of Independent Authors, Orna Ross, and Simon Johnson, Amazon UK’s Country Manager for Books.

Mariella Frostrup, Judge, Kindle Storyteller Award, said: “It’s brilliant to have had so many independent authors entering the Award this year. What makes this literary prize so special is that readers play a significant role in selecting the winner, and to see such a varied shortlist is a fantastic reflection of the landscape. It isn’t going to be an easy task, but I am incredibly excited to be a part of the judging panel to select the 2019 winner.”

Jose Chapa, Kindle EU, said: “It’s been another great year for the Kindle Storyteller Award, with more entries than we’ve ever received before, and some brilliant work on show from across the UK and beyond. It’s truly an exciting time to be a self-published author, and we’re looking forward to crowning this year’s prize winner in October.”

The UK Kindle Storyteller Award, now in its third year, recognises newly published work in the English language across any genre and was open to all authors who published their book through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.co.uk between 1st May and 31st August 2019.

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Notes to editors
For more information please contact the Kindle Storyteller Award press office at The Academy on 020 7100 7100 or storyteller@theacademypr.com.

About Kindle Direct Publishing
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a fast, free and easy way for authors to keep control and publish their books in print and digital to a global audience, and receive up to 70% royalties on their work. On any given day, up to 25% of the Top 100 books on the Kindle store are published through KDP. Readers can access the shortlisted titles on the Kindle Store on any device with the free Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, PC and Mac, and on Kindle e-readers and Fire Tablets.

About Amazon
Amazon 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, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.co.uk/about.