Amazon Announces Finalists of Second Indie Literary Contest for Spanish-Language
More than 1,200 authors from 37 countries participated using
Kindle Direct Publishing
The winning Spanish-language book will have the opportunity to be
published globally in print by La Esfera de los Libros, in audio with
Audible and translated into English and published globally by
AmazonCrossing in digital, print and audio formats
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ:AMZN)–Amazon today announced the 5 finalists of the Second
Annual Indie Literary Contest for Spanish-language authors worldwide who
self-publish using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). From July 1st
to August 31st, more than 1,200 authors from 37 countries
entered by uploading their titles to Amazon’s KDP platform (https://kdp.amazon.com).
The top countries participating were Spain, Mexico, Venezuela and the
U.S. To be eligible for the contest, the stories had to be original,
unpublished works, in Spanish and exclusive to Kindle through enrollment
in KDP Select. Submissions were then reviewed based on several criteria,
including their commercial viability.
“We are thrilled with the success of the Second Annual Indie Literary
Contest for Spanish-language authors and proud to have given many new
authors across the globe the opportunity to publish independently with
Kindle Direct Publishing. Many of the submitted titles have made it to
the top of our best-seller lists, showing that readers across the world
are interested in discovering new literary voices in Spanish,” said
Charles Kronbach, Director, Kindle Direct Publishing. “Spanish is truly
a global language offering great opportunities to authors worldwide.
This year, for example, 60 percent of the submitted titles were from the
U.S. and Latin America.”
As an ambassador for the contest and a best-selling author himself,
Ismael Cala said: “In all aspects, the contest was a big success.
Congratulations to the finalists and to all who participated, for their
efforts and talent shown. A career is built by working each and every
day with passion, patience and perseverance. This has been a great
opportunity for many to fulfill their dreams of becoming an author and
most certainly will lead to other opportunities.”
The top 5 finalists are: “El caparazón de la tortuga,” by Lola Mariné
from Barcelona, Spain; “Cartas a una extraña,” by Mercedes Pinto
Maldonado from Málaga, Spain; “La Hija del Dragón,” by Myriam Millán
from Sevilla, Spain; “Lazos de Cristal,” by Kristel Ralston from
Guayaquil, Ecuador; and “La novelista fingida,” by Rafael R. Costa from
Huelva, Spain.
The winning Spanish-language title will be announced on October 15 and
will have the opportunity to be published in print by La Esfera de los
Libros, in audio by Audible and translated and published in digital,
print and audio formats in English by AmazonCrossing, the Amazon
Publishing imprint for world literature in translation. All the
information on the contest, participating titles, and terms and
conditions, can be found at: www.amazon.com/concursoindie.
KDP is a free and seamless way for writers and publishers to make their
eBooks available to Kindle readers around the world. All the novels
taking part in the contest will be available in full in the Kindle Store
and can be read on the Kindle and Fire family of devices, and free
Kindle reading apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and on Android
smartphones and tablets. Each week on average, about 45 titles out of
the top 100 Spanish-language eBooks sold globally on Amazon are
published via KDP.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company 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, Fulfillment 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.
About Ismael Cala
A celebrated figure in the Latin community, Ismael Cala is a journalist,
author and motivational speaker who is the face of one of the top-rated
shows in Latin programming. CALA on CNN en Español is an intimate
program in which Cala invites domestic and international viewers to be
part of his conversations with politicians, authors, philosophers,
artists, celebrities, and other notable international figures. He is the
author of the best-selling titles El poder de escuchar and Un buen hijo
de P. For more information, visit http://ismaelcala.com.
Contacts
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr
