Amazon announce winners of best test movie and script

Amazon Studios has announced the winners of its best test movie and script of the year competition.  Amazon Studios was first introduced in 2010 and since then 7,000 scripts and 700 movies have been submitted.

Filmmakers and screenwriters from around the world were all invited to submit their full length test films and scripts.  People participating had the chance to win money, have their films seen and their work promoted.

The winner of the best test film was '12 Princesses', a film written and directed by Rob Gardner.  Gardner will be rewarded $1 million for his film.   'Origin of a Species', which was written by Matthew Gossett, received $100,000 for the best script.

Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, said:

“It has been a very exciting year for Amazon Studios. We received projects from all over the world and have enjoyed collaborating with filmmakers and screenwriters on some amazing original stories."

 “Choosing the best test movie and the best script of the year was extremely challenging--with thousands of projects submitted it was difficult to recognize only two. Still, after much deliberation and debate, it was the way 12 Princesses’ magical story came to life in the test movie that pulled it to the top for the million dollar prize, and it was Origin of a Species’ nail-biting suspense that stuck with us long after we finished reading the story.”   

In the past 12 months, 39 movies and trailers have gained publicity through contests run by Amazon Studios and more than $1.9 million has been awarded in cash prizes.

Some people don't like Amazon's dominance but Amazon deserve praise for supporting up and coming filmmakers and script writers and their publishing options for self-published writers make it affordable for anyone who has ever dreamed of publishing their own book.

Charles Dickens birthday marked today

There can't be many people who haven't seen or read A Christmas Carol or one of the many different versions of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Bleak House and Great Expectations.  Without Charles John Huffam Dickens, none of these classic stories would be known to us and none of these tales would have been told.

His 200th birthday has been marked throughout the world with events and celebrations and Google even came up with a special doodle to mark the occasion.

Dickens died on 8 June 1970 after a stroke but what a legacy he left us.  Celebrations will be held throughout 2012 to mark the year of his birth and Dickens will be remembered in a set of stamps to be issued by the Royal Mail in June.

Charles Dickens should be an inspiration to anyone who has ever wanted to write and publish their own books.  Remember, one of his best known books, A Christmas Carol, was self-published.

Amazon add another $200,000 to Kindle Owners' Lending Library

Amazon's Kindle Owners' Lending Library is showing strong growth and now has more than 75,000 books and KDP Select books were borrowed a total of 295,000 times in December.

A $500,000 December fund meant that KDP authors earned $1.70 each per borrow and this amount is set to increase with the January fund being increased by another $200,000 to make a total of $700,000.

Although it is early days, the introduction of KDP selection looks to be beneficial to authors and Amazon says that participating authors have seen "an incremental 26%" in December.

Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content, said:

“KDP Select appears to be earning authors more money in two ways. We knew customers would love having KDP Select titles in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. But we’ve been surprised by how much paid sales of those same titles increased, even relative to the rest of KDP."

“Due to this early success and a seasonally strong January, we’re adding a $200,000 bonus to January’s KDP Select fund, growing this month’s total pool to $700,000.”

I'm just finishing my first book and as a soon-to-be first time author, I like the idea of the KDP Lending Library and it's something I'll take a closer look at when my book is ready to be published.   

New Stephen King audio books available in store

There is good news for Stephen King fans- especially if you like your books in audio format.  The e book Mile 81 is now available as an audio book.  Read by Thomas Sadoski, the book also includes 'The Dune' as a bonus and an excerpt from 11/22/63.

The book is available on Amazon for just £1.99

My latest Digital Journal articles

Earlier this month two Somali men were jailed for life in the US for piracy:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312339

Award-winning singer Adele was forced to cancel her US tour due to throat problems:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312407

Hours after the death of Steve Jobs was announced, a scam started to circulate on Facebook:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312453

Colorado researchers discover an ancient Maya road:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312474

UK workers discovered a rare seahorse on the Thames:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312507

Mikey Welsh, the former bassist with Weezer, turned artist was found dead in his hotel room:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312554

A John Wayne auction featuring over 700 pieces of memorabilia raised more than $5 million:

http://digitaljournal.com/article/312603

Amazon launch new science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint

In 2011, Amazon announced the launch of a new science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint which will be called 47North.

47North will launch with fifteen titles and they’ll be available in print, kindle and audio formats, the titles will also be available from national and independent book sellers.

The books will be published in 2011/12 and will include titles from Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin who are known for their involvement in shows such as Diagnosis Murder and Baywatch. Other authors will include sci-fi and fantasy writer Dave Duncan, Aric Davis and Chris Robeson.

Commenting in a press release, Victoria Griffith, Publisher, Amazon Publishing, West Coast Group, said:

"Amazon customers have a huge appetite for science fiction, fantasy and horror books, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce readers to new and established voices in these genres.”

"We are especially happy to have a diverse list at launch, and look forward to publishing across a wide range of subgenres."

Cambridge, Massachusetts, most well read city in America

According to Amazon, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the most well-read city in the States. To compile the top twenty, Amazon used the data from its book, magazines and newspapers sales. The research was carried out per capita basis and included cities with more than 100,000 residents, the press release states.

Sales from the print and Kindle format were taken into consideration for the survey and the research covers the period from January 1, 2011,onwards.

From the data, Amazon compiled a top twenty with Cambridge, Massachusetts, coming out on top, Alexandria, VA was second and Berkeley, California came third. Others included on the list are Seattle, Knoxville, and Pittsburgh.

The research also showed that people living in Cambridge ordered the most nonfiction books, Boulder came top when it comes to cookery book sales and Alexandria came first for orders of children’s books.

Commenting in a press release, Mari Malcolm, managing editor of books for Amazon, said:

"In anticipation of the summer reading season--one of our favourite times to catch up on pleasure reading and unwind with the new titles being published this season--we're excited to reveal the Most Well-Read City list.”

"We hope book lovers across the country enjoy this fun look at where the most voracious readers reside, and that everyone gets the chance to relax with some great summer reads."