Amazon.com Unveils Semi-Finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Customers Can Now Rate and Review Semi-Finalists' Excerpts for the Opportunity to Receive a Kindle.

SEATTLE, Jan 15, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced that 836 submissions have moved on to the semi-final round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Amazon.com's first writing competition in search of the next great novel. Each semi-finalist has a dedicated detail page for their submission on Amazon.com, where customers can now download a short excerpt of the entry to rate and review. Additionally, customers who rate and review at least 25 semi-finalist excerpts will be entered in the ABNA Customer Review Contest for the chance to win an Amazon Kindle. In the Customer Review Contest, Amazon will select three customer review contestants based on quantity, knowledge of the excerpt and use of language used to rate and review submissions. The three Customer Review Contest winners will each receive an Amazon Kindle, a $2,000 Amazon gift certificate and a Hewlett-Packard printer from Amazon and its partners, Hewlett-Packard, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace.

"We are very excited to enter the semi-final phase of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, though it was no simple task choosing the 836 semi-finalists," said Russell Grandinetti, vice president of Books at Amazon.com. "We're eager to find out what our customers think about the semi-finalists' excerpts, and look forward to giving a Kindle to each of the three customers who provide the most helpful reviews."

Amazon.com received nearly 5,000 qualified submissions for the contest. From November 2007 through January 2008, Amazon Top Reviewers and editors generated over 10,000 unique ratings and reviews to determine the 836 semi-finalists. "Publishers Weekly" then provided a full manuscript review of all semi-final submissions. Using reviews and ratings from "Publishers Weekly" and Amazon Top Reviewers, as well as input from Amazon customers, Penguin editors now will begin the process of choosing the top 10 finalists, to be announced on March 3, 2008. Amazon customers will then vote on the 10 finalists to select the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, to be announced April 7, 2008.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, Amazon's preferred color print-on-demand vendor, Penguin Group (USA), and CreateSpace. The grand prize winner will be announced on April 7, 2008, and receive a publishing contract with Penguin Group (USA) to publish the winning novel, which includes a $25,000 advance. To rate and review the semi-finalists' submissions for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, visit www.amazon.com/abna.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc., seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.