For the past decade new writers with a completed manuscript have debated whether to a) self-publish or b) go through the process of querying agents or publishers and/or add their manuscripts to slumbering slush piles. Self-publishing is quick and easy but requires the author to invest his/her own time and money to market the book (if at all), whereas blind querying and submitting may land the manuscript an agent and/or established publisher, but the process can take decades. The deus ex machina that solves this dilemma comes in a most unexpected incarnation: Amazon.com.

Amazon Encore is a new program that selects previously self-published or unpublished books that Amazon perceives as having potential and (re)introduces in print and Kindle format (some in audio format also), fully supported by Amazon’s existing marketing channels. So far, Amazon Encore has chosen ten books, all due out by April 2010. The list includes previously self-published titles, young adult fiction, women’s fiction, multicultural literature, LGBT, crime/detective, romance—there’s a book on the list for any reader. Have a look at Amazon.com.

According to Amazon, customer reviews and other information help them discover new titles, and another way for writers to get Amazon to read their manuscript is to enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA), which is open to self-published books as well as unpublished manuscripts. Each year one winner (though this year there will be two) receives a publishing contract from a shiny press (e.g. Penguin), but last year four entrants who did not win received good news: Amazon’s brand new program, Amazon Encore, wanted to sign a publishing contract with them, too!

Who do you want to publish and market your book, Amazon.com, or Indie Press #251? We love and try to support our beloved and noble indie presses, but many a writer will likely choose Amazon. After all, Amazon is famous! Amazon was one of the first to recommend purchases for customers and display advertisements based on customers’ purchase histories—even the money-burning, publicist-hiring big presses cannot beat Amazon when it comes to marketing power and existing customer base.

So, maybe you can have your cake (publish your ten-years-of-sweat-and-tears-in-the-making novel instantly) and eat it, too (still get a fat contract later on with Amazon and have your book re-released with a shiny cover and dazzling marketing plan.) This year’s ABNA is already in progress; quarterfinalists will be announced March 23rd (Did I forget to mention that you get a FREE Publisher’s Weekly review just for being one of the 500 quarterfinalists?), Amazon customers will vote on the six finalists beginning May 25th, and the two winners (one for general fiction, one for young adult fiction) will receive their much coveted Penguin contracts by June 14th, 2010. Self-published and unpublished writers, why not polish up your manuscript and prepare to enter the ABNA next year?

Yu-Han Chao is Poetry Editor at the Rose & Thorn Journal. Her poetry book, We Grow Old, was published by the Backwaters Press. Visit her writing and artwork at her Web site.