Now Open: Kindle Worlds Store and Self-Service Submission Platform
The Kindle Worlds Store and Self-Service Submission Platform are now open. Customers can enjoy works from dozens of authors including Barbara Freethy (writing in Pretty Little Liars), Charles Sasser (Foreworld Saga) and Anita Clenney (The Vampire Diaries). Kindle World’s Self-Service Submission Platform enables any writer to publish fan fiction based on a range of original stories and characters and earn royalties for doing so. To browse the store and learn more about Kindle Worlds, visit www.amazon.com / kindleworlds.
Kindle Worlds is a new publishing model that allows any writer to publish authorized stories inspired by popular Worlds and make them available for readers to purchase in the Kindle Store, and earn up to a 35% royalty while doing so. Kindle Worlds stories will typically be priced between $ 0.99 and $ 3.99 and will be exclusive to Kindle. To learn more and get started writing, visit kindleworlds.amazon.com.
Here’s what authors and licensors are saying about Kindle Worlds:
“It’s actually a gift to be able to take someone else’s creation and see whether you can take it in a new direction. Watch every show; read every comic book. Honor the canon and honor the fans. There is a reason these stories have become so popular. And don’t feel restricted by the universe that has already been created. It reminds me a bit of writing a haiku or a sonnet. There are rules that must be followed, but within those rules, you can go anywhere. Your imagination is the only limit. ” -Carolyn Nash, writer in Archer & Armstrong
“I believe Kindle Worlds has the potential to increase writership in much the same way the introduction of the Kindle expanded readership. I am thrilled for the Silo Saga to be a part of this program. It’s a natural fit because for the past year, talented authors have been exploring Silos of their own creation, and I look forward to reading more and to crafting some Worlds stories of my own. ” -Hugh Howey, World Licensor for the Silo Saga
“I was intrigued by the opportunity to create something that absolutely had to fall inside a canon that someone else came up with. In one way, it was very freeing to do so . Because the universe itself exists, with all the richness of an already established background and history, I could get right into the meat of the story without having to explain everything to the readers. I did try to make it understandable and enjoyable to a newcomer to the world, however. But there’s a lot I worked to add that will hopefully tickle the fancy of the fans. ” -L.J. McDonald, writer in The Vampire Diaries
“It was great fun to play ‘What if?’ and come up with scenarios that had ties to things that have happened on Vampire Diaries but which took things in a different direction or introduced new characters that could fit into the world of Mystic Falls. There’s probably not a wr iter fangirl alive who hasn’t fantasized about being able to write at least one episode of her favorite show, and I’m no different. While these stories aren’t show episodes, it’s still pretty darn cool to be able to write them with the idea of ??fellow fans reading them. ” -Trish Milburn, writer in The Vampire Diaries
The Kindle Worlds Store is now open with over 50 commissioned stories including:
“Pretty Little Liars: Stained” by Barbra Annino
“The Vampire Diaries: The Arrival” by Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine
“Shadowman: Salvation Sally” by Tom King
“The Foreworld Saga: The Qian” by Aric Davis
“XO Manowar: Noughts and Crosses” by Stuart Moore
Today’s announcement is also a call to storytellers to join Kindle Worlds. Here’s how the self-service submission platform works:
Choose Your World: Choose a World to write in and read the content guidelines.
Sign Up and Submit: Sign in (or sign up) with your Amazon account and submit your work using our self- service submission platform.
Review and Publish: Amazon Publishing will review your submission for compliance with the stated guidelines and we’ll publish your work once approved. Each sale of the Work will result in a royalty to the author.
Promote and Track Your Work: Post publication, sign into Author Central to track progress on your work.
“Today, we launch the Kindle Worlds Store and the platform that will enable any writer to benefit from writing in one of the Worlds we’ve licensed,” said Philip Patrick, Director, Business Development and Publisher of Kindle Worlds. “We look forward to hearing feedback from readers and writers, and hope to learn and improve as time goes on.”
Amazon Publishing has already secured licenses from:
Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment division for its New York Times best-selling book series Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar; Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard; and The Vampire Diaries, by LJ Smith
Valiant Entertainment for Bloodshot, XO Manowar, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger and Shadowman
Best-selling authors Hugh Howey for Silo Saga, Barry Eisler for his John Rain novels, Blake Crouch for his Wayward Pines Series , and the Foreworld Saga by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo and more
Amazon Publishing is engaged with additional rights holders from different areas of entertainment-books, games, TV, movies and music-and looks forward to announcing future deals soon. To get started writing works in licensed properties and to view the submission guidelines and instructions, visit the Self-Service Submission Platform at kindleworlds.amazon.com. For updates on licensed properties and to buy Kindle Worlds works, visit www.amazon.com / kindleworlds. For regular updates on Kindle Worlds, follow @ KindleWorlds on Twitter.
When Apple launched the first iPad in 2010, I was of the opinion that it mared the end of stand-alone ebook readers, just like smartphones did to portable music players and handheld gaming consoles. Why should I buy the Kindle, a dedicated ebook reader, when I could get the Kindle app on my iPad and my smartphones for free and get the same books on it? Why should I carry two separate devices when I can do with one? Even though I bought Kindles during my trips abroad for my friends and family, I always resisted the urge to pick one for myself. I didn’t need one. Or so I thought till I started using the Kindle Paperwhite. 
The Kindle Paperwhite is the ebook reader that Amazon always wanted to build. It has combines the best components that include an e-ink display, which is considered to be the best for a reading device; a capacitive touchscreen that keeps up with the touchscreen UI users are used to on their smartphones and tablets; and a unique LED lighting array that illuminates the display evenly from the top rather than underneath the display, which results in less eye strain and better power management. Amazon has also managed to cram in 62 percent more pixels and increased the contrast over the previous generation Kindle. 
Another big advantage of the Paperwhite is it weighs just 222 grams and is just 9.1 mm thick, which means it is a lighter and considerably thinner than most paperbacks. Plus it is easy to use with one hand and you won’t even feel the difference in your bag even if you are carrying a notebook and a tablet. While travelling I always think twice whether I should carry both my iPad and my notebook, but the Kindle Paperwhite’s footprint ensures it always stays with me. It could even fit into my denim’s rear pocket, though it isn’t advisable to carry it there, lest the display gets damaged. The back has a nice grippy feel to it while the front is made of high quality moulded plastic that feels good to hold. 
The Kindle Paperwhite comes in two variants – Wi-Fi only that is priced at Rs 10,999 and Wi-Fi + 3G priced at Rs 13,999 and provides free 3G connectivity in most countries globally that can be used for downloading new books from Amazon’s store or looking up Wikipedia. It has tied up with Vodafone in India to provide 3G services. But unlike earlier, when one could do basic web surfing on 3G, Amazon has curtailed the feature and limited it to just Amazon’s Kindle store and Wikipedia. This limits the worthiness of spending the extra Rs 3,000 considering it is very unlikely that one would find oneself in a situation that requires downloading a book when there is no Wi-Fi connectivity. I’d recommend picking up the Wi-Fi only variant. 