Program Debuts with "Legacy," a Self-Published Novel by 16-Year-Old Cayla Kluver
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 13, 2009--
Even great books can be overlooked. Amazon customers raved over
“Legacy,” a self-published novel by 16-year-old Cayla Kluver, with
customer review titles such as “loved it, loved it,” “rich lyrical
tapestry and story” and “breathtaking in scope and execution!” Despite
winning several prizes from literary groups and accolades like this from
readers, Kluver’s debut novel achieved only modest sales. Amazon.com,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a new program, “AmazonEncore,” to
help readers discover exceptional books from emerging authors, such as
the program’s first book, “Legacy.”
AmazonEncore is a new program whereby Amazon uses information such as
customer reviews on Amazon websites to identify exceptional, overlooked
books and authors that show potential for greater sales. Amazon then
partners with the authors to re-introduce their books to readers through
marketing support and distribution into multiple channels and formats,
such as the Amazon Books Store, Amazon Kindle Store, Audible.com, and
national and independent bookstores via third-party wholesalers. This
summer “Legacy” will be revised by the author and re-issued as an
AmazonEncore edition in print on Amazon websites around the world, in
physical bookstores, as a digital download from the Kindle Store in less
than 60 seconds, and via spoken-word audio download on Audible.com.
“Sometimes exceptional books and new authors don’t get the attention
they deserve. We’re fortunate at Amazon to have customers who know great
books and aren’t shy about telling us when they find one. We developed
AmazonEncore to connect readers with great books that were overlooked
the first time they were released,” said Jeff Belle, Vice President of
Books for Amazon. “Cayla Kluver is a gifted young writer who shows
promise for the future. She exemplifies the kind of authors that
AmazonEncore will support and we look forward to showcasing ‘Legacy’ and
many more similarly talented, but undiscovered voices to our customers
through this program.”
“‘Legacy’ is a rare find—an elegant and enthralling tale of love and
duty, family and country—written by a teenager,” said Amazon Books
Managing Editor Daphne Durham. “With a talent for richly drawn
characters and an understanding of the trappings of responsibility that
belies her age, Cayla Kluver is a writer to watch.”
"I'm thrilled to be a part of this exciting new program, and am so
grateful to Amazon for giving me, and readers across the world, the
amazing opportunity that Encore represents," said Kluver.
For more information on AmazonEncore, visit http://www.amazon.com/encore.
About Cayla Kluver
Cayla Kluver authored her first book at the age of 2 and has been
writing ever since. Back then, she dictated her story to her mom and
drew (scribbled) her own illustrations. Today, she uses a laptop and
various drafting and drawing software. The tools may be different, but
the need to put things on paper remains. She wrote the first draft of
“Legacy” at the age of 14 while attending public school. That same year,
she appeared in two school plays, received a first at the Wisconsin
State Solo and Ensemble Vocal Competitions, and completed freshman
English at her local university. In 2008, she and her mom formed their
own publishing company and released “Legacy” to the public just one
month before she graduated from high school at the age of 15. She has
spent the past 10 months promoting “Legacy” and writing its sequel,
“Allegiance,” and is now at work on a third book in the series. She
lives in Wisconsin, where she enjoys spending time with family, friends
and her cat, Nina.
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 Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel; Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial.
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web
Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple
Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue
Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS),
Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp,
www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca,
and www.amazon.cn.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include
Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More
information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's
financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
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