174 years after Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol novella was first enjoyed by readers, Amazon invites new and established writers to create a modern-day young children’s story inspired by the worldwide classic

The winning author will receive a prize package including having his or her book professionally illustrated by award-winning illustrator Ian Beck, a £2,000 Amazon Gift Card and a top-of-the-range Fire tablet

LUXEMBOURG – 20 October 2017 – Following the success of 2016’s search for a new Christmas bedtime story, Amazon has today launched the 2017 search for a new 1,000 words or less children’s festive tale that is a reimagined and modern take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The winning children’s book will be illustrated and published in time for this Christmas season.

The nationwide writing competition is now open to all adult UK residents, with the winning story to be professionally illustrated by award-winning children’s book illustrator, Ian Beck. The winning author will receive a £2,000 Amazon Gift Card and a top-of-the-range Fire tablet. Published through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), the winning story will be available in both print and digital formats in the run up to Christmas and made available to an audience of millions of readers around the world with the Kindle app for iOS and Android or using any Kindle or Fire tablet.

A perennial favourite, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol 29,000 word novella has remained close to the hearts of readers since its first publication in 1843 when it sold out in just five days, just in time for Christmas Eve. By the close of the following year, several editions had been released. In similar fashion, Amazon hopes to help further the career of a storyteller this festive season.

Authors can submit their stories from today by emailing their entries to christmasonkindle@amazon.co.uk to be judged by a team of Amazon books editors, the illustrator, Ian Beck, and last year’s competition winner, Lucy Banks.

“We are excited to see what brilliant writers across Britain come up with this year,” said Alessio Santarelli, Director of Kindle Content EU, Amazon. “A Christmas Carol embodies the spirit of Christmas, and in seeking out a modern-day interpretation, we hope to spread these positive messages while helping to elevate the career of a talented author.”

Celebrated illustrator Ian Beck said: “I look forward to bringing the winning story to life through my illustrations. A Christmas Carol’s simple message of Christmas generosity has been such an inspiration in many forms for generations and it will surely continue to inspire through this competition. My family and I have always loved reading together, a special ritual at Christmas time along with the carols from King's College chapel and dressing the tree. Illustrating this new tale for families to read together this coming festive season will be a pleasure.”

To be in with the chance of winning, UK-based authors should submit up to a 1,000 word story in English by 7 November. The winning story will be made available on the Kindle store around the world in the run up to Christmas.

The story will be published through KDP, Amazon’s independent publishing programme, which enables authors to retain their copyrights, keep control, distribute globally, and earn royalties of up to 70%. The author will be enrolled into KDP Select and as a result, the book will be available through Kindle Unlimited.

The competition is now open for entries. For more information, writers can visit www.amazon.co.uk/christmasonkindle.

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Notes to editors:

For more information please contact the Amazon press office at Shine Communications on 020 7100 7100 or kindle@shinecom.com. 

A New Christmas Carol Terms and Conditions
Competition Terms and Conditions can be found here.

About the Illustrator
Best known for his beautifully illustrated picture books, Ian Beck has illustrated classic fairy tales and nursery stories and his own picture book titles for 35 years. He notably also illustrated Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. Most recently, he has illustrated The Jungle Books and Just So Stories (Alma Books) which were published in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

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.