Amazon Announces Winner of the Third Indie Literary Prize for Spanish-Language
More than 1,400 authors from 39 countries participated using
Amazon’s self-publishing service Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Ningún Escocés Verdadero, by Ana Ballabriga and David Zaplana,
from Cartagena, Spain, will be published globally in Spanish by Amazon
Publishing, and translated into English and published globally by
AmazonCrossing in digital, print and audio formats
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today announced that Ana Ballabriga and
David Zaplana, with their title Ningún Escocés Verdadero—a
thriller that involves religion, mystery, art and deception—have won the
Third Indie Literary Prize for Spanish-language authors worldwide. From
July 1 to August 31, more than 1,400 authors from 39 countries entered
the contest by uploading their titles to Amazon’s Kindle Direct
Publishing (KDP) (https://kdp.amazon.com).
The top countries participating were Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, the U.S.
and Argentina, and the books were sold to customers in 71 different
countries. To be eligible for the contest, the stories had to be
original, unpublished works written in Spanish, and exclusive to Kindle
through enrollment in KDP Select. After selecting five finalists,
submissions were carefully reviewed by a panel of judges to determine
the winning title.
Ningún Escocés Verdadero tells the story of Elías, a private
investigator specializing in art-related crimes, who is hired by the
Spanish Bishop of Murcia to search for the Cross of Caravaca, stolen in
the year 1934. His mission is to restore it in time for an upcoming
visit from the Pope. At the same time, Elías is tasked with acquiring a
mysterious painting, which also goes missing soon after he purchases it
in an auction in Madrid. From there, he meets an enigmatic and beautiful
woman who will lead him down a dangerous path to the truth.
“Hope, excitement, restlessness, joy, anxiety and happiness. We
have gone through all these emotions throughout the contest, since we
submitted the novel until we learned we were the winners,” said authors
Ana Ballabriga and David Zaplana. “We know where we came from and how
hard it was to get here, so now the future seems like a wonderful place.”
“For the third year in a row, we were amazed by the talent participating
in the Indie Literary Prize for Spanish-language. It is great to be able
to bring amazing characters such as the ones in the thriller Ningún
Escocés Verdadero to a broader audience for Spanish readers and, in
the future, to English readers as well,” said Charles Kronbach,
Director, Kindle Direct Publishing. “This initiative is a great way to
make new books available to our growing Spanish-speaking customers
worldwide. The incredible engagement we see every year, both in terms of
authors and readers, confirms that there are many more books out there
that haven’t had a chance to be read and there are millions of readers
eager to discover new stories.”
Contest ambassador and best-selling author Ismael Cala, said, “Winning a
contest is not a matter of luck, but talent and perseverance. I
congratulate the winning authors, the finalists, and all of the
participants. Whatever the outcome, all of them have written a book and
have made it available to others under the auspices of Amazon. The
accomplishment is collective and our history is being added to day by
day.”
Ningún Escocés Verdadero will be published globally in Spanish by
Amazon Publishing, and translated into English and published globally by
AmazonCrossing in digital, print and audio formats. Ana Ballabriga and
David Zaplana are now part of the group of winners of Amazon’s Indie
Literary Prize for Spanish-Language, which also includes Myriam Millán,
winner of the prize in 2015 with her book La hija del Dragón; and
Jorge Magano, 2014 winner with his title La mirada de piedra.
Complete information on the contest, participating titles and terms and
conditions can be found at: www.amazon.com/concursoindie.
KDP is a free and seamless way for writers and publishers to make their
eBooks available to Kindle readers around the world. Titles enrolled in
the contest are available in full in the Kindle Store and most of them
are also available for free for Kindle Unlimited customers. All Kindle
Books can be read on Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets, and free Kindle
reading apps for computers, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than
competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational
excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping,
personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle
Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa
are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more
information, visit www.amazon.com/about.
Contacts
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr
