Sainsbury wins £20k Kindle Storyteller Award

Author Ian W Sainsbury has won the £20,000 Kindle Storyteller Award 2019 for his first psychological thriller The Picture on the Fridge.

The Picture on the Fridge tells of a woman battling self-doubt and suspicion after her daughter draws an uncannily accurate picture of a place she’s never been to; amid mounting paranoia, she begins to suspect her husband.

The award judges included presenter Mariella Frostrup, ALLI founder Orna Ross, KDP authors L J Ross and Mark Dawson, Amazon Publishing editorial director Laura Deacon and and last year’s award-winner Hannah Lynn. Frostrup dubbed the winning title “immediately gripping with great tension and believable characters. A very unsettling read and confidently handled.”  

In addition to the £20,000 prize money, Sainsbury will receive a marketing campaign to support the book on Amazon.co.uk, and the opportunity to have his book translated. Amazon also said that, new for 2019, the finalists and winning titles from all six Kindle literary awards around the world will be evaluated by a panel of experts from Amazon International Originals, and one will be selected to work with Amazon Studios to have their entry developed for potential adaptation into a Prime Video production.

Fifty-year-old Sainsbury, who is from Beccles, was previously a musician for circuses and cruise ships, and later a stand-up comedian. He is also an established writer of science fiction. He described his win as “an amazing feeling”.

Frostrup said: “Publishing can feel like a closed shop to many. The Kindle Storyteller Awards embraces writers from all walks of life and from every stage of their careers. It's been an absolute pleasure judging the Awards and I was delighted with the quality of the writing. In fact, it was quite a challenge to select the winner.”

Simon Johnson, Amazon’s Country Manager, UK, Books, who chaired the judging panel, added: “The Kindle Storyteller Award opens up a world of possibilities to writers, and showcases great new writing to readers. We were delighted to have a record number of entries this year, and judging the finalists was the closest it’s ever been – a real testament to the quality of the shortlist.”