Since 2016, the Kindle Storyteller Award has celebrated exceptional writing, offering both bestselling and emerging authors the chance to win a literary prize of £20,000. Amazon always seeks to champion original and creative writing, and we are proud to celebrate the boundless creativity and ingenuity found within the independent writing community.
Joining this year’s judging line-up is Sue Perkins – comedian, presenter and writer – and Baroness Floella Benjamin OM DBE - member of the House of Lords, broadcaster and writer.
Writing a book is a huge accomplishment; it takes a lot of passion, effort and talent to bring words to life… I can’t wait to delve into this year’s entries.
The literary prize celebrates the UK’s best self-published book, championing and offering recognition for the nation’s best new and established independent writers, with the winning author receiving a £20,000 prize fund and a marketing campaign for their title on Amazon.co.uk.
“I'm very excited to join the judging panel of this year’s Kindle Storyteller Award,” said Sue Perkins. “Writing a book is a huge accomplishment; it takes a lot of passion, effort and talent to bring words to life. This award gives budding authors a huge opportunity to continue doing what they love. I can’t wait to delve into this year’s entries.”
Baroness Floella Benjamin said: “I'm delighted to be sitting on the judging panel for this year’s Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award. Self-publishing provides a space for more diverse voices in the books we read, and now more than ever, we must celebrate the power of storytelling by championing those who share their perspectives with us through writing. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this year's shortlisted books, all of which will have been submitted by self-published authors.”
The Kindle Storyteller Award is open to authors who publish their book via Kindle Direct Publishing between 1st May – 31st August 2023. Readers play a pivotal role in helping to choose the initial shortlist of stories, with a panel of judges including top figures from the world of publishing and Amazon Books then choosing the winning book based on a number of factors including originality, creativity of content, and the quality of writing.
Others on this year’s judging panel alongside Sue Perkins and Baroness Floella Benjamin include the Kindle Storyteller 2022 winner, Peter Gibbons; author and Alliance of Independent Authors representative, Roz Morris; Amazon UK Books Country Manager, Lisa de Meyer and Author and Editorial Programmes Manager at Amazon, Darren Hardy.
Last year’s winner, Peter Gibbons who won the award for his fourth book King of War after only one year of writing, has since been able to retire from his corporate job and start writing historical fiction books full-time. He commented: “Kindle Direct Publishing allows everybody with this dream to publish their work for readers, and stories which otherwise would remain hidden in desk drawers. As someone who was in that position myself last year, I'm looking forward to reading this year's entries from the best of the UK's self-published authors.”
Darren Hardy, Author and Editorial Programmes Manager at Amazon.co.uk said: “We’re very pleased to have Sue Perkins and Baroness Floella Benjamin join our panel of judges for our seventh year of this award as we continue to champion diverse and magnificent storytelling.”
The Kindle Storyteller Award is open for entries from now until 31st August 2023. All titles must be enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing Select while they are in the competition.
Find out more about the Kindle Storyteller Award.
