CreateSpace (part of the Amazon.com group of companies) offers free self-publishing and distribution services designed for authors to get published and reach readers.
Shelfari is the premier social network for people who love books. Create a virtual shelf to show off your books, see what your friends are reading and discover new books and authors.
Long estranged from his children and now faced with Alzheimer's, Bill Warrington decides that kidnapping April--his belligerent and beguiling 15-year-old granddaughter--is the only way to mend his family (if not his mind). So begins the journey of Bill Warrington's Last Chance, James King's remarkable fiction debut and winner of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awardthat--according to bestselling author Sue Grafton--"is what reading is about and what a good book is supposed to do."
Sue Grafton
In the twenty-four years since Sue Grafton introduced Kinsey Millhone to the reading public, she has gone from being merely famous to iconic. Watch for her new book this fall, U Is For Undertow, and--in the meantime--find out why she thinks one of the top three novels shows "what a good book is supposed to do."
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Read more of Sue Grafton's reviews
Sue Monk Kidd
Bestselling novelist Sue Monk Kidd returns to her nonfiction roots this fall in Traveling with Pomegranates (co-authored with her daughter), but her reviews of our finalists will remind you how fine an ear she has for fiction: "The danger with a tantalizing plot...is that it can slide subtly from drama into melodrama that revs so high it strains credulity."
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Read more of Sue Monk Kidd's reviews
Eamon Dolan
Eamon Dolan is Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of The Penguin Press. Over the last 20 years, Eamon has published a number of bestselling novelists, including Tony Hillerman, Lisa See, and Donna Leon. He's described one of our top three finalists as "a wry, poignant, and ingenious exploration of the conventions that help narrative work its magic upon us."
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Read more of Eamon Dolan's reviews
Barney Karpfinger
Barney Karpfinger is Founder of The Karpfinger Agency, a premier literary agency based in New York City, where his clients include Amitav Ghosh and Bill Loehfelm, winner of the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. He finds his favorite of the top three finalists "often funny, sometimes deeply moving, [and] always compelling."
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Read more of Barney Karpfinger's reviews
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is an opportunity for emerging fiction writers to join a community of authors on Amazon.com, showcase their work, and compete for a chance to get published.
Sponsored in partnership with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award launched in October 2007 and received more than 5,000 initial entries. Of those, excerpts from over 800 fiction entries were eligible for Amazon.com customers to read, rate, and review. Editors at Penguin Group (USA) reviewed the Top 100 semifinalists based on early customer reads and full manuscript reviews provided by Publishers' Weekly. In March 2008, the leading Top 10 finalists were selected for the customers' vote. A panel of experts--including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, editor and publisher Amy Einhorn, literary critic John Freeman, and literary agent Eric Simonoff--also weighed in with their reviews for each of the top 10 novels. The top three finalists--Dwight Okita (The Prospect of My Arrival), Harry Dolan (Bad Things Happen), and Bill Loehfelm (Fresh Kills) traveled to New York City for the first weekend in April, where Bill Loehfelm was revealed as the winner.
ABNA Local Chapters
We've opened a new message board where authors can set up local writing groups, events, and get-togethers to help each other prepare for the Breakthrough Novel Award and cheer each other on as the contest progresses. If you're interested in starting a local group or want to find groups meeting in your area check out the ABNA Local Chapters Forum.
Penguin Group (USA): Publishing Sponsor
Penguin is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, and Plume, among others.
Publishers Weekly is the leading trade publication dedicated to books and writing and the official reviewing sponsor of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Professional reviewers from Publishers Weekly will provide full-manuscript reviews for novels that go on to the semifinalist round in April.
We've opened a new message board where authors can set up local writing groups, events, and get-togethers to help each other prepare for the Breakthrough Novel Award and cheer each other on as the contest progresses. If you're interested in starting a local group or want to find groups meeting in your area check out the 
