Amazon Announces Finalists of Second Indie Literary Contest for Spanish-Language

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)--Sep. 15, 2015-- (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were Spain, Mexico, Venezuela and the U.S. To be eligible for the contest, the stories had to be original, unpublished works, in Spanish and exclusive to Kindle through enrollment in KDP Select.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 caparaz n de la tortuga, by Lola Marin from Barcelona, Spain; Cartas a una extra a, by Mercedes Pinto Maldonado from M laga, Spain; La Hija del Drag n, by Myriam Mill n 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 Espa ol 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.

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