A local gay writer is in the semifinals of an Amazon.com contest in which the winner receives gets a contract with Penguin Books as well as $25,000.
Dwight Okita has reached the semifinal stage of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award—Amazon.com’s first writing competition in search of the next great novel—for his work, The Prospect of My Arrival.
Okita is one of 836 semifinalists selected from 5,000 entries.
Each semifinalist has a dedicated detail page for his or her submission on Amazon.com, where customers can download an excerpt of the entry to rate and review. Okita’s page is at www.amazon.com/dp/B00126589O.
This group of submissions will be narrowed down to 100 semifinalists Feb. 19, and Penguin editors will then select the top 10 contestants who will enter the final round. Amazon customers will then vote on the 10 selected finalists to elect the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which will be announced April 7. Find out more at www.amazon.com and click on the ‘Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award’ link under ‘Features & Services.’