A £20,000 literary prize is being launched by Amazon for new work by authors releasing their work on Kindle’s self-publishing platform.

The Kindle Storyteller award is open to authors writing in English across any genre, fiction or non-fiction, for books launched on Kindle Direct Publishing between 20 February and 19 May 2017.

Reader interest will be taken into consideration when compiling the shortlist as well as the opinions of a judging panel, and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in London in July. The prize will also include a marketing campaign and the possibility of translation for international sales.

Rachel Abbott

Alessio Santarelli, Amazon’s EU Kindle content director, said the prize was intended to celebrate great books. “We hope to encourage aspiring authors and those who have already been published, to get writing and make their new stories available to readers across the world,” he said.

Up to a quarter of the top 100 titles in the UK Kindle store already come from the Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Rachel Abbott, a bestselling Kindle author who has just released her sixth thriller on the platform, said she expected the calibre of entries to be high, “whether it’s from an established author or an aspiring writer who is encouraged by this prize to publish their first book”.

Titles submitted for the prize must be previously unpublished, and a minimum of 5,000 words in length with no upper word limit.