2021 Kindle Storyteller Shortlist Announced!

The Kindle Storyteller Award – which celebrates newly-published independent books by authors across any genre ¬– is now in its fifth year of running. This year, an esteemed panel of judges consisting of Amazon experts and literary authorities, includes broadcaster and author Clare Baldwin will select and announce the 2021 from the shortlist which has recently been announced.

This year, a record number of submissions were received for the prize as almost half of Brits admitted to starting a book in the past year as a form of escapism from the pandemic. The 2021 shortlist features a diverse range of genres including romance and crime alongside science fiction and fantasy.

Darren Hardy, Author and Editorial Programmes Manager at Amazon UK said: “It’s fantastic to see the number of submissions to the Kindle Storyteller Award grow each year and the quality continues to be of the highest standard – I’m looking forward to getting stuck into each shortlisted book and finding our winner.”

While Clare Balding added: “It’s clear we have felt the need to get creative over the last year and escape our everyday lives by putting pen to paper and creating a new world. It’s great to see another record year for the Kindle Storyteller Award, self-publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing really animates the market and I’m looking forward to reading all the great stories.”

The 2021 shortlist, which features authors from across the UK and for the first time in Toronto, Canada are:

Each of the five writers on the shortlist are in with a chance of winning not only the title of Kindle Storyteller Award winner for 2021 but also a prize of £20,000, a golden Kindle “and a dedicated marketing campaign on Amazon.co.uk to raise awareness of their work and bring it to a wider audience.”

The overall winner of the 2021 Kindle Storyteller Award will be announced in October.