[Disclaimer:
As a Kindle Scout “loser” my opinions
are without question a tad subjective, although I've sensed a
familiar air of disenchantment among fellow scriveners.]
Business
genius Jeff Bezos has been a godsend to bookselling, no matter how
eloquent the grumbling oldtimers with their tales of good times past
or snarky the ho hum youngsters with “better” ideas in mind.
Amazon's
publishing arm has opened the door for hordes of new authors to
market their words worldwide with little or no money down and no
hands in the middle grabbing a piece of the profits.
One
of the more interesting of its innovations is the digital slush pile.
In a handful of minutes, without so much as the cost of postage, an
unknown author can upload a future bestseller over Amazon's
electronic transom for a chance at being read by a real editor,
hopefully one with literary chops
as well as
marketing savvy.
There
have been two versions of this slush pile. The first, called Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award, lasted seven years until Kindle Scout
succeeded it a year ago. I've flunked out of both. Each, as I saw
them, had merits and disadvantages.
ABNA,
as we contenders called it, was an annual affair in which authors
could enter novels they'd already published. There were four rounds.
Elimination in Round 1, based solely on the novel's “pitch”, was
the equivalent of having your traditionally slush piled manuscript
rejected because its envelope smelled funny or was addressed to
“Editer.” Entries were weeded out through subsequent rounds based
on excerpts from the actual novels. At one point Amazon customers
were invited to vote on the excerpts. The entry that remained
standing after months of secret weeding and winnowing won a
publishing contract with a significant cash advance.
Kindle
Scout starts right out with the customers, who are invited to vote
for contenders from those whose covers, pitches and excerpts are
posted on the site. Voters are told they will win a free download of
whichever three books they “nominate” should Amazon choose them
to publish as ebooks. An advantage Kindle Scout has over ABNA is that
it's year-round. Entries stay on the site for 30 days of voting. I
had been gearing up to enter ABNA for a second try when I learned it
was ending, so I jumped right into the new slush pile. Amazon touted
it as “reader-powered publishing.” Media sites called it
“crowdsourced publishing.” Aha, thought I, having attained a
certain comfort level with social media.
