Participate as a reviewer in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition

So many books, so little time.

Amazon, with Penguin publications and Publishers Weekly, is sponsoring a new contest called their Breakthrough Novel Award. Online readers will participate in the screening and in the judging. Because only 5,000 entries are accepted, the registration limit is closed. You may, however, register by November 5 and be put on a stand-by list.

The editors will review the 5,000 accepted entries, and publish a 1,000 word excerpt online. This excerpt will then be reviewed by Amazon readers. The winner will receive a $25,000 advance (gulp!) and publication by Penguin. This is a great marketing idea on the part of the sponsors, plus it allows them, as one reviewer noted, to “take the pulse” of the reading and online buying public.

Even though I’m not going to submit my novel this year, I’m going to participate in the reader reviews, and you bet I’m going to keep my eye open for it next year (I’ll let you know). When I am signed on to Amazon, I can put Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in the search field and it brings up the competition’s web page. I cannot bring it up unless I’m signed on. So, for more information, go to http://www.amazon.com/ and sign on.