As I've said many times before, I have reservations about literary prizes. They do seem to generate a lot of heat and controversy at times. And I've never regarded writing as a race between different authors. It's the fact we <em>are</em> different that counts, and prizes, particularly those with a genre flavour, can have the effect of narrowing books in terms of style instead of celebrating their breadth.

But if you must have prizes it seems to me this is the way to organise them. Take a look at how the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011" target="_blank">Amazon Breakthrough Novel award</a> works. There are two prizes, one for general fiction, one for young adult. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_354610382_2?ie=UTF8&amp;docId=1000633821&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_s=center-2&amp;pf_rd_r=10PZMSVAHZ7G9WAPWN5S&amp;pf_rd_t=101&amp;pf_rd_p=1282870802&amp;pf_rd_i=332264011" target="_blank">Peruse the full and well-organised rules of entry</a> and you will see that entry is open to writers from many countries around the world, even though the contest is US-organised. The two prizes are publishing contracts with Penguin that carry a $15,000 advance.

Note that this contradicts the statement I gave recently that no large publisher will guarantee to publish an unseen book from a new writer. Obviously both Amazon and Penguin are happy they will get the quality they require -- and given the clarity of thought and organisation on show here I don't doubt they will either.

Entry is open to both unpublished writers and those who have only self-published before. And those rules of entry really are superbly written and thought out, setting out the exact criteria which will be sought from entries, how the contest will work, and the judging dates for the different levels. Even if you're not thinking of entering I'd take a look at them, since they show the way the publishing mind works when it comes to evaluating new manuscripts.

If we have to have prizes for unpublished writers this is the way to do it. Oh... and I nearly forgot. Guess what? <em>It costs absolutely nothing to enter.</em>

Amazon take a lot of stick from the writing community at times. But this seems to be an exemplary way to run a prize.