Did you know that over 60% of all ebooks offered on Amazon today are self-published? This equates to almost 4 million titles, (and we thought you were doing well by publishing 27 books to date – sheesh!).
While Amazon is now a household name, what’s less well know is how it supports would be authors, especially those overlooked or marginalised, through the Amazon Literary Partnership. Started in 2019, the Literary Partnership award grants to non-profits encouraging aspiring writers in their community. This year we’re delighted to be recognised as one of 28 organisations making a positive contribution to writing and bringing diversity to storytelling.
Our process is simple. With the aid of our volunteers, we lower the student to teacher ratio, encourage creativity and imagination, get those thoughts on paper and publish the finished works. Young peoples’ voices are captured in their own words and the subsequent books become a physical reminder of their achievement, as well as a great way to share their stories with the wider world.
To date we’ve partnered with 21 schools, working with young people across primary and secondary classes. They’ve written plays, poetry, short stories and chapbooks, gaining literacy skills and confidence as authors along the way and we couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve produced.
Two of our books can now be purchased on Amazon:
Broughton Street and Beyond by pupils at Drummond Community High School
What If? World History According to Leith Academy
And if you’re an Amazon customer you can also support our work by making us your charity of choice via Amazon Smile. Every time you shop Amazon will donate a percentage of the net purchase price to the SPA (or whichever charity you choose – there are over 40,000 registered), so you can feel even better about those moments of retail therapy. Go buy!