
It’s a pleasure to share author Kelly A. Harmon’s thoughts this week as she gives us an interesting perspective about entering writing contests, particularly the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Kelly writes fantasy and dark fantasy, and even though her novella, Blood Soup, won the July 2008 Fantasy Gazetteers Novella Contest, she cautions that contests aren’t always worth their hype.
I used to feel that if a writing contest was free, I’d be all in. But despite the possibility of a $50,000 jackpot from the free-to-enter Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, I find several of the rules raise the stakes too high for me.
No Negotiating Allowed
Amazon requires that you sign their contract “as is.”
I don’t have to be a lawyer to realize that signing something ‘as is,’ especially without being able to see it first, means the contract must be very slanted toward the publisher. Of course, this isn’t an issue unless my book is good enough to win (let’s hope it is)—but why bother entering the contest if I might have to decline at the last minute?
Total Rights Grab by Amazon
According to the rules, if you sign the contract, you give Amazon the right to publish your work “in all formats” world-wide.
Since we don’t get to see the official contract, we don’t know what formats Amazon guarantees to publish winners’ work in or what foreign or other subsidiary rights they’ll pursue. If they never get around to publishing a hardcover or enhanced media, or if they only publish in English, does the contract contain language reverting those rights to the author in a timely fashion? If not, authors stand to lose money they could have made by self-publishing or offering the rights to another publisher.
Amazon does publish summary information they refer to as the “Contract Highlights” but it’s somewhat misleading.
Unfortunately, these only specify that Amazon will publish in hardcover, paperback, ebook (Kindle only, right?), and interactive editions. Audio book is listed in the royalty payment structure on the same page, but it’s fairly clear an audio book isn’t part of the deal. I’m guessing they reserve that option for when your book is wildly successful in other formats. (In the meantime, you’ve lost any sales you could have made by holding back these rights.)
Manuscript Locked Down for Six Months
The submission period for the ABNAC is a mere two-week period in January. But if you commit your manuscript, you’re not allowed to shop it anywhere else until the contest ends in June, even if you’re knocked out of the contest in the first round. That’s almost six months wasted.
This rule alone is a deal-breaker for me. In six months my manuscript could reach a dozen or more agents or editors who might be interested in publishing it. Or I could publish it myself. One lucky hopeful will win $50k, and Amazon enjoys the leisure of sorting through 10,000 manuscripts while keeping everyone’s hands tied until they decide.
The Math Reveals Less Earnings
You upload your polished manuscript in all its required parts, hopeful that even if you’re not the big winner, or one of four finalists who will win $15k, you might be selected by Amazon for publication. Six months pass by and you’re offered a contract. Then what? Fame and fortune?
One of last year’s finalists talks about his experience on Reddit. Perhaps the most significant takeaway for me is found in the comments, where he mentions he’s only sold about 300 copies of his book, mostly in Kindle version, for which he earned a 35% royalty (per the ABNA Contract).
Let’s use this winner’s example. Using round numbers, and supposing that out of 300 copies, 200 sold on Kindle for $6.00 each, he made (6 x .35) x 200 = $420. If you self-publish, you only have to sell 100 copies to make the same amount of money—because you can earn 70% royalties in most markets at that price point. (Plus, you’ll have a six-month head start in the market.)
For paperback copies, using CreateSpace, there’s wiggle room on how much you will earn depending on the number of pages of the book and where you set your price. Let’s assume the book sells for $15 and you’re going to earn $2 per copy sold. For the 100 PB sold, you would earn $200. But if you’re a finalist in the contest, you only earn 15% of the list price of each paperback sold. This means Amazon will pay you $1.50 x 100 = $150 for the same book.
You can do a lot less marketing (and more writing on your next novel) if you do it yourself, and still make more money—if money’s your goal.
Locked Into Amazon
If you sign a contract with Amazon, your words will only be available where Kindle and Amazon Publishing items are sold. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: My largest sales are from Amazon. But if you sell to another publisher (or self-publish) your words can be available in multiple electronic formats—so you’ll also attract buyers from that group of people who won’t by a Kindle book on principle. As for print copies, though one assumes book outlets are treating the publisher like any other, it’s unclear how well Amazon Publishing books are distributed. We know CreateSpace offers the opportunity for distribution to in brick and mortar stores but gives no guarantees, and their distribution terms don’t seem to meet current industry norms, making their products less desirable and therefore less widespread. Among other things, books ordered via CS are non-refundable and non-returnable, a deal-breaker for most wholesale booksellers.
Again: We’ve no idea what Amazon’s contract says. On the “Contract Highlights” page Amazon states: “The following terms apply specifically to ABNA contestants and not necessarily all Amazon Publishing contracts.” So even though winners get an AP contract, it may not be the same as a “true” AP contract. And the contest version might tie up your next book with first right of refusal. It might tie up your next five books. What if the contract stipulates you must offer all your subsequent books to Amazon until your book earns out the $50,000 advance?
Is it Worth the Effort?
I don’t think Amazon is an evil, corporate empire determined to give writers a bad deal. In fact, I admire their capitalistic spirit and ingenuity. They’ve made it possible for me to get a bunch of my previously published shorts and novellas back into print. Instead of a sold-once-and-trunked backlist, my stories are available for purchase 24 hours a day in most countries of the world. But I’ve also made them available via Nook and Smashwords, and very soon, Kobo, because it makes more sense to me than to go all-in with Amazon. More sales outlets equals more sales.
Ultimately, you’ve got to weigh the facts against your personal goals and do what works for you. I’m only saying why it doesn’t work for me. If Amazon changes the rules, I’ll reconsider. As for other contests, I recommend checking the rules carefully to see what you’re giving up in exchange for publication. Do the math. Research the contest reputation. Evaluate the pros and cons based on your criteria, and act accordingly. Good luck!
Kelly A. Harmon used to write truthful, honest stories about authors and thespians, senators and statesmen, movie stars and murderers. Now she writes lies, which are infinitely more satisfying, but lack the convenience of doorstep delivery. Her short fiction appears in Deep Cuts, Triangulation: Dark Glass, Bad Ass Fairies 3: In All Their Glory and other anthologies. Her story “Lies” was short-listed for the Aeon Award. Blood Soup, her award-winning novella, is recently re-issued by Pole to Pole Publishing. Ms. Harmon has published non-fiction at SciFi Weekly, eArticles, and several magazines and newspapers on the East Coast and abroad. Read more at her website and follow her on Twitter: @kellyaharmon.
Finalist whose experience you linked to entered in 2012 and did not win the grand prize. The sales he mentions, from what I gather, are self-pub numbers, not winning book numbers. Last years grand-prize winner, Timebound, is number #140 in kindle store and #1 in several subcategories. As Amazon took over both sides of the contest, amazon wants these books to do well and has done a great deal more marketing than penguin did in previous years.
Hi Emily
Thanks for stopping by.
In the essay above, I
clearly stated that the author (Brian Reeves) was a finalist, not the
grand prize winner of the contest — although I was remiss in not
mentioning him by name. His book (A Chant of Love
and Lamentation) is the only book by him for sale on Amazon, so I stand
by my assumption that the numbers Mr. Reeves mentions on Reddit are for
sales of his Amazon finalist novel.
(You can buy his novel here, by the way: http://www.amazon.com/Chant-Love-Lamentation-Brian-Reeves-ebook/dp/B006IML7ME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391999067&sr=8-1&keywords=brian+reeves)
I can’t speak to whether or not Amazon has done more marketing than Penquin. Are you affiliated in any way? I hope so, because I would love to hear what they actually do for their winners–even if it’s anecdotal. Can you shed some light on things?
But the point of my essay is not how well finalists may or may not be doing after winning – but that Amazon expects authors to give up a significant amount of rights to their book for very little in return.
Thanks for pointing out the finalist. I’ll be checking out the book in more detail later.
Most authors would LOVE to have the success of last year winner.
Timebound got as high as #1 in Kindle Store (which usually sold about 4,000+ a day) on December 1st 2013 as part of Amazon Kindle First promotion. It has gotten 1,620 customers reviews so far.
At this very moment, it is still selling very well: #257 Paid in Kindle Store
According to Theresa Ragan Sales Ranking Chart, #257 would be around 350-400 sales a day.
Amazon Best Seller Rank 500 to 750 – selling 120 to 175 books a day.
Amazon Best Seller Rank 350 to 500 – selling 175 to 250 books a day.
Amazon Best Seller Rank 200 to 350 – selling 250 to 500 books a day.
Amazon Best Seller Rank 35 to 200 – selling 500 to 2,000 books a day
“But if you commit your manuscript, you’re not allowed to shop it anywhere else until the contest ends in June, even if you’re knocked out of the contest in the first round. That’s almost six months wasted.”
It’s not that big of a deal.
1) You can still query agents. If you sign with an agent and you want to agent to shop your novel, you can just withdraw from the contest.
From the Official Rules
MANUSCRIPT SHOPPING. Manuscripts submitted as Entries to the Contest cannot be actively shopped by agents during the contest period, which runs from February 16, 2014 to July 21, 2014.
2) If you are knocked out of the first round or second round, I don’t think Amazon Publishing would care that your agent shop the novel around. If you are out after the first round, and your agent shop your novel around, what can Amazon do to you?
Amazon only care about
1) Quarter-Finalist (you can still walk away)
2) Semi-Finalist (you can still walk away)
3) Finalists (you can still walk away)
4) Grand Winner (automatic…you have to sign). But in return, you get $50,000 advance and Amazon Publishing promotional power behind your novel. Kindle First, Kindle Daily Deal etc…
From a recent Seattle Times article, Amazon Publishing is the fifth-largest publisher on the Kindle platform, in term of sales.
Belle said the company is generating “triple-digit revenue growth” in 2013, on top of “triple-digit” growth in 2012. He declined to disclose the revenue figure, though.
“The business is growing very quickly,” Belle said.
What’s more, Belle said Amazon is the fifth-largest publisher on the Kindle platform, in terms of sales, which would put Amazon ahead of at least one of the big five publishing houses — Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette and Macmillan.
Only the Grand Prize Winner can’t walk away from the deal.
Everyone else, you can walk away.
5. GRANT OF RIGHTS. By submitting an Entry and if you are selected as a Quarter-Finalist or Semi-Finalist, you grant Amazon Publishing the exclusive first publication rights to your Entry in all formats. If you are selected as a Quarter-Finalist, Amazon Publishing’s exclusive first publication rights to your Entry terminate when you are eliminated from the Contest (unless you are selected as a Semi-Finalist); and if you are selected as a Semi-Finalist, Amazon Publishing’s exclusive first publishing Rights to your Entry terminate after July 24, 2014. If you are not a Grand Prize winner and Amazon Publishing notifies you that it wishes to publish your Entry, you agree to negotiate the terms and conditions of a publishing agreement exclusively with Amazon Publishing for a period of 30 days after you receive notification from Amazon Publishing. If you and Amazon Publishing have not reached agreement after 30 days, you may offer the work to other publishers on the condition that before you enter into an agreement with another publisher, you will afford Amazon Publishing the last right to publish your Entry on the same terms and conditions offered by any other publisher, plus an advance against royalties 10% greater than the other offer. Amazon Publishing must communicate its decision to you within 5 business days after you have provided written notice of the other publisher’s terms and conditions. If Amazon Publishing declines or fails to act within that period, you will not have any further obligation to Amazon Publishing, and you may publish the Entry with another publisher.
Hi Jet
Thanks for stopping by.
First let me point out that my opinion was written based on last year’s contract (2013) and a finalist from the year before (2012), not the current 2014 contest. A few things have changed since then (for the better for authors) but my opinion hasn’t. I still won’t enter enter the contest due to the rights grab.
Let me also state that I’m not trying to convince you or anyone else to steer clear of this contest. Each author has to look at the information and make the decision for himself, based on his own criteria.
As to the specifics of your comments:
You make my point yourself about actively shopping the manuscript. Per the rules, it can’t be done — even in 2014 — for about five months. Your only choice is to withdraw. I won’t presume to know what Amazon would do if you shopped the manuscript while remaining with the contest. You may be right that they wouldn’t do anything.
I never stated that entrants couldn’t walk away from an Amazon deal. In fact, my points were:
– Amazon’s contract is “as is” – no negotiating allowed. (2014 Rules imply there will be some negotiating allowed.)
– That Amazon wants too many rights. (IMO)
– That an entrant’s manuscript can’t be shopped for six months. (Now five, in 2014.)
– That Amazon published items are “locked down” to Amazon distribution. (This point is moot. Previously, many vendors weren’t willing to distribute Amazon published books. That’s not the case now.)
– Is it worth the effort? (I still don’t think so.)
As for sales numbers, at the time I wrote my opinion, I had access only to a 2012 finalist (who generously shared his sales information on the Web), because the 2013 winners hadn’t been chosen and so no sales data existed.
Regarding those current sales: They’re fantastic and I applaud them.
But does knowing them change my mind about the contest? No, because I feel so strongly about giving up my rights, that even higher sales garnered by a contest winner do not win me over.
Others obviously think different than I–which is fine. As I said earlier, each author has to look at the information and make the decision for himself, based on his own criteria.
Thanks for sending along Theresa Regan’s Sales Ranking Chart. In fact, her entire site is an excellent place for publishing information: http://www.theresaragan.com/. And Jet, good luck entering the ABNA contest. I wish you well!
I don’t presume to know what Amazon would do to someone who violated the no-shopping rule, but I’m confident that it wouldn’t be nothing, when their standard Kindle contract insists that one submit to arbitration instead of exercising one’s right to sue them (in addition to their making a 3-month exclusivity demand). That’s what made me say, “no, thanks.”