One Million Project Magazine

Kindle Scout
By Lincoln Cole
There are a few different competitions out there
for earning a publishing contract, but none quite
like Kindle Scout. This is Amazon’s version of
reader powered publishing where anyone can
submit a book, fans vote and then Amazon publishes
the books that are the most popular.
Except, that isn’t quite how it works.
Basically, the reward of the program is a contract
with Amazon , (and a fairly good one at
that) where you split royalties, can still sell your
own paperback, and they help to perfect and
promote. The selection process is determined
partly by reader votes , (called nominations) ,
but the final decision is purely internal and
made by their editorial team. They have selected
books with almost no nominations and turned
down books with thousands.
Signing up:
You need a 50,000+ word novel that isn’t published
or released anywhere else, a cover and
some other minor details. You agree to a fortyfive
day exclusivity deal (meaning you won’t
send it to agents or publishers for a month and
a half) , and then they build a landing page. You
agree upfront that if they do select you, you will
automatically be enrolled in the final contract,
so make sure you understand and agree to
those terms BEFORE you submit.
Campaigning:
Once you have a landing page, you will direct
people to it. Friends, family, enemies and anyone
you can reach should be directed
here, and ideally they will read the content
you wrote and nominate. The first 10% of your
book will be available along with all of the other
details , and it will also be promoted and
available on the Kindle Scout website for people
just browsing.
There is a Hot & Trending list and countdown
lists so you know when campaigns will end.
They allow you to see details like how many
hours you spend Hot & Trending and the page
views, as well as how many were from people
browsing their website and how many you
sent in through your campaign.
Selection:
If you are selected for publication, then you
will receive a $1,500 upfront advance , (which
will be paid back from your first sales) , and
they will contact you directly for further details
about the process.
They orchestrate at least one promotion every
three months for the first year , (though many
books get considerably more than this, especially
in the first months). Many selected books
have sold thousands of copies in the first
weeks or gone on to be bestsellers and Amazon
itself gives priority consideration to their
own imprints for recommendations and sales.
Copyright © 2016 by OMP Magazine Publishing