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Making a Will ensures that the people that you choose will benefit from your estate. If you do not make a Will the ‘rules of intestacy’ will determine who will benefit from your estate. This may not include those you wish to benefit from your estate or those who you would have chosen to deal with your affairs.

It is only by making a Will that you can leave your property to anyone beyond your immediate family, such as a friend, partner to whom you are not married or registered as civil partners, or a charity.

Our expert lawyers will talk through with you who will manage your affairs, who should benefit from your assets, how your personal belongings should be distributed and who should be the guardians of your children, if you have any. We will also ensure your estate is not burdened with unnecessary tax liabilities.

What if my circumstances change?

If your circumstances change it may be necessary to update your Will or to have a new Will drawn up. For example, if you get married your Will is automatically revoked. We can advise you on whether your change of circumstances will require updating your Will.

What else can a Will include?

It may be appropriate to incorporate a trust into your Will. For example, if you have remarried you may need at trust to ensure your spouse benefits from your estate whilst preserving assets for your children.

For more information in regards to The Standard Provisions of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners please click here.

Wills and Tax Planning

As well as providing straightforward Wills, Nicholsons Solicitors also provide more complicated tax planning Wills as part of a long-term strategy to reduce the amount of inheritance tax you pay, and to maximise the amount left to those you care about.

Our Private Client team are experts in Will writing, tax and trusts and we have been helping generations of local families protect the things that are precious to them. We will guide you through each stage of the legal process, providing straightforward, practical, cost-effective advice.

If you would like help with a Will or any other legal matter please do not hesitate to contact one of our team on 01502 532 300 or email [email protected] .

If you are unable to visit our offices we can arrange for one of our lawyers to visit you in the comfort of your own home to discuss your requirements.

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Contact our offices

Have a query or want a quote? Feel free to call us on one of the numbers below and we'll do our best to help you. Our lines are open 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Lowestoft Office: 01502 532300 Norwich Office: 01603 302856

Email: [email protected]

51 Colegate,

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01603 512246 - Norfolk

01603 512246 - Suffolk

[email protected]

Trusted Wills & Estate Planners In Lowestoft .

Our friendly team of advisors are always available for FREE home visits, online (video link), or telephone consultations. We will offer you expert advice on all your estate planning & financial needs in the comfort and safety of your own home.

Over 1000 Wills Written In 2022

Our Lowestoft Will Writers have written over 1000 Wills with over 1000 happy customers, making sure you and your loved ones are cared for, for generations to come.

£2 Million In Professional Indemnity Insurance

With our professional indemnity insurance, you can rest assured knowing that you are protected from legal action for negligence or errors that may occur.

Member Of The Institute Of Professional Will Writers

The Institute of Professional Will Writers (IPW) was created in 1991 to safeguard the public from unethical business practices and unqualified practitioners.

Partnered With National Will Safe

Keep your Wills and other legal documentation safe with The National Will Safe . For a small yearly fee, you can be sure that all your documents are secure and looked after.

A Drafted Will By One Of Our Professional Team

At a price that can not be beaten, at the norwich will writing co, our services have been specially designed to give you fantastic value for your money, keeping to the highest standard of work., save 50% off our will writings.

£120 for a single Will (Usually £240)
£175 for a joint Will (Usually £350)

"My top priority is to earn your trust and keep it. "

Ross Ratcliffe. Founder

How To Take The First Steps To Protect Your Loved Ones Future?

Get in touch.

Get in touch with our experienced team of Lowestoft Will Writers on

01603 512246 or enter your details here , and we will arrange an appointment for a home visit, phone call, or a video appointment

We are available to suit any timings.

Arrange An Appointment

At your FREE no-obligation apportionment, we will explain everything to you step by step. We will discuss your options and wishes, giving you peace of mind by knowing everything is in order. We are also available to discuss funeral plans, last power of attorney, and much more.

Wills Sent Out For Approval

We will complete your Will and get it sent to you via email or post for your approval.

We are happy to make any amendments to your Will until you are 100% satisfied.

Why Choose Us?

All of the products we provide are drafted by an IPW qualified Will writer or an SRA regulated solicitor (depending on complexity)

Both our directors and our legal team have a combined experience of over 150 years.

The Norwich Will Writing Co. In Numbers

Our Lowestoft Will Writers have written over 2000 Wills since our launch in 2020.

We are Protecting our customers with all their Wills and estate planning needs.

3 Locations

Domestic locations. We have offices in some of the biggest hubs, providing Wills and Estate Planning services.

Know that you are in good hands with our Lowestoft Will Writers

Why Do I Need A Will Writer From Lowestoft?

The norwich will writing co has made this quick checklist to show you how a will writing can help protect your loved ones once you have passed. if any of the below criteria apply to you or your circumstances, you need to arrange to put a will in place to protect the future of your loved ones., you have a partner .

Without you having a Will in place, the law within the UK considers you and your partner to be single, meaning your partner gets nothing.

You Are Married

Without you having a Will written, your spouse may not inherit all of your assets or estate.

You Have Children From A Previous Relationship

Without having your Will written by a Will writer and having re-married your children for your first marriage may not receive anything.

You Do Not Want The State To Decide Who Inherits Your Estate.

Putting a Will in place puts you in control of your assets and estate rather than the UK government. This will allow you to decide what will happen to your estate and assets.

You Are A Property Owner

When completing your Will writing, you need to identify who you would like to inherit your property. Also, you will need to consider protecting your estate from hefty care home and other care fees.

You Have New Grandchildren

With an ever-growing family, you will require to update your Will to add your grandchildren to your estate.

Protect Your

Family & their future., get the advice you need from professionals who are leaders in their fields. , our services, a company you can trust, will writing services.

By not having a Will, the destitution of your estate would be governed by the laws of intestacy, which means that your partner or spouse will not inherit everything that you own. Furthermore, your partner may not receive anything at all. One of the benefits of having a will in place is that you appoint an executor responsible for dealing with the estate.

The Norwich Will Writing Co Trust will provide you with that extra layer of security than if you were to make a Will alone. Writing your Will is a vital step and a correct action, but you will only delegate your assets at the time of your death.

By creating your trust with our Norwich Will Writers, you will have the ability to add or withdraw assets from your trust.

Lasting Power of Attorneys

A Lasting Power of Attorney is the official document that will allow you to choose the person that you trust to make decisions on your behalf about your financial affairs, property, and your health and welfare in the future when you are no longer able or wish to make those decisions.

Funeral Plans

Today more people are taking out Funeral Plans, which protects them from increasing prices. By taking out a Funeral Plan, you can take control by not leaving this liability on your loved ones.

At The Norwich Will Writing Co, we offer a wide range of plans allowing you to choose with your particular circumstances.

Estate Planning & Inheritance Tax

With Good Estate Planning, we can help to migrate significant inheritance tax liabilities when you pass away. The current nil rate band is set at £325,000, which is the amount that can be gifted without paying inheritance tax. This also includes the assets that have been passed under your Will.

Document Storage

You will be surprised to learn that documents such as wills often can not be traced following someone’s death. Our Lowestoft Will Writers strongly recommend that you do not allow this to happen to you. With The Norwich Will Writing Co document storage, you can rest assure that your documentation is in good hands.

What Has Stopped You In The Past To Take That First Step?

It's to time consuming.

Taking time to plan to protect your loved one's future could be the most important thing you do before passing away.

With our Lowestoft Will Writers, we make this process very simple. With our average Will writing time just around 30 minutes.

I Have Tried Before

Our Will writing services in Lowestoft is a straightforward free process, and there are three options to writing your Will with our Lowestoft Will Writers. A home visit from one of our friendly team, a phone call or a zoom call.

All of our options have been designed to make this process as simple as possible.

The Price Have Never Been Right

We have one of the most competitive prices in the market and are proud of it. This allows you to take the first step and protect your loved ones.

We are proud to be serving Lowestoft and the surrounding areas.

Free Consultation

We know it can be hard to find the right Wills & Estate Planner. That is why we offer all new clients a free consultation.

We’ll talk about your needs and find the right product to meet your needs.

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“At The Norwich Will Writing Co, we understand the importance of trust and will do what it takes to earn it."

Darren Crowe. Company Director

Why People Believe In Us

News & Updates

Understanding the Importance of Will and Probate Services in Estate Planning

Wills and Power of Attorney Costs: A Comprehensive Guide

How Much Solicitors and Estate Planners Charge for a Power of Attorney

We cover the whole of norfolk.

We Cover The Whole Of Suffolk

We Cover The Whole Of Essex

“We Offer The Best Products At The Best Price ”

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What our clients think of our service

We are very comprehensive - we look in depth at your situation and provide advice to make sure your Will stands the test of time.
We explain things very clearly - we don't talk in jargon and try to make complicated issues as easy as possible to understand.
We are very patient - we want to spend as much quality time with you to find the right solution. Because we are a small company working for ourselves, we can spend time with you to understand what you need and want. Especially with older clients, things can be complicated, so we are in no rush to end the meeting if you need more time.
We are great value - we are not the cheapest - and we do not aim to beat everyone on price. However we think we beat most other firms on the quality of our service, and we price ourselves to beat most solicitors and the majority of other willwriting firms.
We offer lots of free advice - for example we are happy to provide your family with free advice is they need help with probate forms for example, or we can find other ways to says inheritance tax.

About your local will writer

We can help you arrange a will or lasting power of attorney without needing a personal face to face appointment, and so we can also offer discounted teams, skype, zoom, facetime, whatsapp, messenger or many other types of video calls. call us or use our contact us page for more details..

Talk to one of our advisers

01502 533000

01502 718700

01493 652204

Great Yarmouth

01493 849200

01986 872513

Services for you
Wills and Probate

Life is full of twists and turns and none of us can be sure what the future holds. That’s why creating a will makes good sense. As more and more people realise the importance of making a will, it’s no longer seen as something just for the elderly or ill but simply part of sound financial planning for any family or individual.

With a will in place you can relax safe in the knowledge that your wishes will be carried out should anything happen to you. Making a will now also avoids legal problems arising for your family in the future. Often people assume that their money and possessions will automatically pass to their partners or children - but without a will, this isn’t always the case.

At Norton Peskett, our lawyers have in-depth knowledge in all areas of wills and can help you create a will that’s right for you and your family. Don’t worry if you’ve never discussed wills before - our friendly solicitors will put you at ease, explaining everything clearly with no legal jargon. We offer free first advice so you can have an initial chat with no obligation and with our same day response and no hidden costs promises, we make writing a will straightforward.

So whether you’d like to create a will or would just like to find out more about our will writing service, call us today on 01502 533000 to have a chat with one of our specialist solicitors.

Visiting Us

A Lowestoft
B Great Yarmouth
C Beccles
D Gorleston
E Halesworth
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Employment Law
Housing and Property
Injury Claims
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LOOKING FOR ESTATE PLANNERS AND WILL WRITERS IN LOWESTOFT?

At East Anglian Wills & Estate Planning Ltd we carry out a range of services designed to give you reassurance when it comes to your wishes being carried out. As trusted, qualified paralegals we can arrange will writing and Lasting Powers of Attorney in a way that is tailored specifically to you. Get in touch with our team for more information now.

EAST ANGLIAN WILLS & ESTATE PLANNING LTD: LOWESTOFT WILL WRITERS THAT CAN OFFER SERVICES IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

Death is inevitable and that can be a harsh reality, there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. However, the stress, worry and burden that a death can cause, can be made slightly easier by good estate planning. At East Anglian Wills & Estate Planning Ltd, we offer services designed to ensure your wishes are carried out after your death. We help you create legally binding documents including wills and LPAs.

If you are based in Lowestoft and are looking for a trusted team to help you set your wishes in stone, then get in touch with our team. Our paralegals are trained as professional estate planners and will writers and we work with you to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible.

HOME VISITS IN LOWESTOFT, VIDEO APPOINTMENTS AND MORE

There are many reasons to choose East Anglian Wills & Estate Planning Ltd, including:

Home visits at no extra cost

Consultations and appointments available via video link

Execution and the witnessing of wills and Lasting Power of Attorneys can be done at your Lowestoft-based property

We can act as Certificate Provider for Lasting Power of Attorney Deeds

All work is carried out by a qualified, local paralegal

For more information about any of the services listed above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.

AFFORDABLE WILL WRITING SERVICES THAT ARE SECOND-TO-NONE

We ensure that we keep our prices affordable and competitive. Thinking about your will and estate can be stressful, the price shouldn’t add to that too!

Writing services for a single simple will in Lowestoft costs just £99!

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Pier leading to moored rowing boats on Ormesby Little Broad, part of the fresh water lakes

T: 01502 447677

E: [email protected]

East Anglian Wills & Estate Planning Limited

Glebe House, Toad Row, Beccles, NR34 7LG

Glebe House

Basic Wills

Property Protection

Inheritance Tax

Storage & Review

Lasting Power of Attorney

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Probate Services

When someone dies it is a difficult time for everybody involved and anyone who is appointed as an Executor under a Will can be daunted by the prospect of the paperwork and procedures involved. Far too often they just turn to the first person they find to help, without looking at the potential costs to the Estate. Many professional executors will charge a percentage of the estate and this could be in excess of 5% which, for some estates, could be a significant amount of money.

We, at Anglian Will Writing, have established relationships with solicitors and Trust Corporations - experts in both straight-forward affairs as well as more contentious probate issues. After a preliminary meeting we will be able to recommend the most suitable expert to deal with your case, and in most circumstances we will be able to offer a fixed fee solution, to avoid unseen additional costs.

Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft

28 Rounces Lane

Carlton Colville

01502 801401

07828 806970

[email protected]

For further information, please click on the links below

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Goodwin Cowley Solicitors : A Full Service Law Firm

Wills & lifetime planning

A Will ensures that our assets go to those to whom we choose to leave them. Some people make the incorrect assumption that if they die without a Will their assets will automatically pass to their spouse or their civil partner, or even worse, their so-called ‘common law spouse’.

A Will can offer you the security of knowing your estate will be shared between those you wish to benefit and you will know you have done what you could to make things easier for those you have left behind. Our wills are sensibly priced and we still offer free safe keeping of your wills.

Our experienced team can advise on the following:

Who is suitable as executor(s)
What is achievable by way of split of legacies
How you can protect parts of your estate for certain beneficiaries
Whether there are any tax saving to be made

Advice on Will Writing Services

Will writing services with wills 4 less.

The Benefits of Using Wills 4 Less

There are many benefits to using Wills 4 Less for your will writing services, including:

Affordability: One of the main advantages of using Wills 4 Less is their affordable pricing. They offer a range of packages to suit your needs and budget, so you can get the help you need without breaking the bank.

Convenience: Writing a will can be a time-consuming process, but Wills 4 Less makes it easy by offering online will writing services. You can complete your will from the comfort of your own home, at a time that suits you.

Expertise: Wills 4 Less has a team of experienced solicitors who can provide expert advice and guidance on all aspects of will writing. They can help you navigate complex legal issues and ensure that your will is legally binding and enforceable.

Peace of Mind: Knowing that your final wishes will be respected can provide a great deal of peace of mind. Wills 4 Less can help ensure that your assets are distributed as you wish and that your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone.

Secure Storage: Wills 4 Less offers secure storage of your will, so you can be sure that it is safe and easily accessible when it’s needed. This can provide additional peace of mind, knowing that your will won’t be lost or damaged.

Tips for Writing Your Will with Wills 4 Less

If you’re considering using Wills 4 Less for your will writing services, here are some tips to help you get started:

Take the time to consider your final wishes, including how you want your assets to be distributed and who you want to be responsible for carrying out those wishes.
Choose a package that suits your needs and budget. Wills 4 Less offers a range of packages, so you can choose the one that’s right for you.
Take advantage of the expertise of Wills 4 Less’ solicitors. They can provide valuable guidance and advice on all aspects of will writing, from legal issues to practical matters.
Consider secure storage of your will. Wills 4 Less offers this service, which can provide additional peace of mind.

Wills 4 Less Lowestoft Can Help Today

Writing a will is an important step in ensuring that your final wishes are respected and that your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone. Wills 4 Less Lowestoft makes the process easy and affordable, offering a range of services designed to simplify will writing and provide peace of mind. If you’re considering writing a will, be sure to consider the benefits of using Wills 4 Less .

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3 top lowestoft will writing, trust & probate solicitors.

Below we look at the 3 “best” will writing , trust and probate solicitors in Lowestoft.

For more on how we chose the best please consult our FAQ section at the end.

Please not the following listings are in no particular order and we are not making any recommendations for any particular solicitor. Nor are we making any other financial recommendations.

Willcox Law Limited

Description from the business: Willcox Law Limited will provide you with the support and empathy you need during times of bereavement when you have lost a loved one, guiding you through the legal process of obtaining a Grant of Probate which can be difficult and confusing at times.

We will provide you with re-assurance that you have made sufficient provision for your loved ones by making a bespoke Will.

Additional Services:

Address: 52 Field Ln, Kessingland, Lowestoft NR33 7QA

Willcox Law Limited website

Review Score: 5 Number of Reviews: 1 Read Reviews

Fosters Solicitors

Description from the business: Founded in 1761, Fosters Solicitors is an award-winning East Anglian law firm, offering a full range of integrated services to businesses and individuals.

We are a firm of solicitors in Norwich, Wymondham and Lowestoft with experts specialising in Business & Commercial law; Crime & Business Defence law; Family, Childcare & Mediation; Litigation & Dispute Resolution; Personal Injury law; Medical Negligence claims, Commercial & Residential Property law; and Wills, Trusts & Probate.

We pride ourselves on having Partners and Solicitors who are highly trained in specialist areas.

This is reflected by the number of our Solicitors and Partners being recognised as leading individuals in the Legal 500 and Chambers Guide.

Legal services

Address: 14 Regent Rd, Lowestoft NR32 1PB

Fosters Solicitors website

Review Score: 3.8 Number of Reviews: 35 Read Reviews

Tava Solutions t/a Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft

Description from the business: None given

Address: 28 Rounce’s Ln, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft NR33 8AH

Tava Solutions t/a Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft website

How Did You Pick The Best Will Trust & Probate Solicitors in Lowestoft?

We started with a dataset of 3 listed Lowestoft solicitors and will writing services we could find via Google Maps.

From there, we removed any listing that did not meet the following criteria.

Had no website
Had no reviews
Had an average review score below 4.0

At this point if we had 17 or fewer listings we listed all of them.

For cities where we were left with more than 17 solicitors we made further revisions by either increasing the required review score (e.g. going from a minimum of 4.0 to 4.9) and/or increasing the minimum number of required reviews (e.g. going from at least 1 review to at least 10).

In our view a solicitor which has 100 5* star reviews is likely more accurate than one which only has a single 5* review.

Note we only used review data from Google Maps and not any other third-party websites.

How much is will writing in Lowestoft?

It really depends on what you need.

For the simplest wills you can take advantage of free charity will writing services or use an online service which with prices starting around just £30 .

More complex wills, trusts and probate issues will cost significantly more. You can use the from below to get a free quote.

Solicitors In Other Cities

Benfleet Will Writing Bracknell Will Writing Rushden Will Writing Margate Will Writing Sawbridgeworth Will Writing

03300 101 078
Our Locations

Our Price Lowestoft

At Trusted Will Writing Lowestoft, we recognize the significance of crafting a will that aligns with your financial preferences. Our services are affordably priced, delivering exceptional legal guidance while respecting your budgetary constraints.

Our Prices - How Much Does A Will Cost Lowestoft?

Online wills Lowestoftpros and cons?

Surprising as it may be, research shows 70% of people who died in 2015 didn’t have a will.

It’s easy to see why: some folks assume drawing up a will is too complex and costly. The truth is it doesn’t have to be either.

Understanding Our Prices Lowestoft

Our professional will-writing service is personalised to meet your individual needs.

Marital status, dependants, finances, dependants’ medical disabilities – these vital details are weighed, considered and woven into the document with care, bearing in mind the intimate nature of the service.

Price Lowestoft - Making it affordable

Making a will can even ensure that those who inherit can make savings on inheritance tax while guaranteeing that your final wishes will be carried out.

When it comes to getting a will, it makes sense to get a cost comparison to make sure that you are getting the best value for money.

Price Lowestoft Faqs

We Compare The Market

Trusted Will Writers simplifies the process by comparing the market for you, enabling you to save valuable time that would otherwise be spent visiting multiple websites. Our services ensure that you receive the best value by guaranteeing that you won’t overpay. Discover an array of options presented by Trusted Will Writers, tailored to meet your specific requirements at a price that suits your budget. Let us assist you in obtaining a will that perfectly aligns with your needs.

We Consider All Aspects

Children: in case you have children or even step-children under the age of 18 years, you should allocate funds and the person to look after them.

Divorced: in case a previous partner remarries; you may consider updating the will to capture what happens to the assets.

Property: in case you have ‘tenants in common’ mortgage, its crucial to outline the fate of your share of the house.

The Three Main Functions Of A Will:

To ensure the proper handling of your assets, it is crucial to designate a trusted and reliable individual to carry out the financial responsibilities in the event of your passing. When it comes to dividing your estate among your loved ones, it is important to establish a comprehensive plan that clearly outlines how your assets will be distributed. Additionally, understanding the intricacies of inheritance taxes is vital in order to minimize potential tax burdens on your estate in the absence of a will. There exist stringent legal provisions that govern who receives a portion of your estate and how it is distributed. By taking these steps, you can provide peace of mind for yourself and your loved ones, knowing that your estate will be managed and shared in accordance with your wishes.

FREE Quote:

We are more than happy to discuss all of our prices with you for the different will writing services that we provide.
By visiting our website you can simply enter your details and a local will writing expert will contact you in order to offer you a free quote.
Alternatively, you can learn more about our range of will writing services and receive a free no obligation quote by giving us a call today.
Our Team Tailor Make Wills For Your Specific Requirements
We Will Not Be Beaten On Price Or Service
No Hidden Costs As we provide an individualised will writing service, every client will receive a free independent quote.
What we provide is an individual price for an individual need.
All wills are different and require different requirements to be made.
Therefore the fee that we quote when you make an enquiry with us, will be the fee that you pay.
There will be no nasty or hidden surprises.
They will explain everything to you including all of the terminologies used and cost.
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Bury St Edmunds

20+ Years Experience

Specialist Will Writers

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Will Writers Nationwide

Get A Will Written in Lowestoft

Enquire Today For A Free No Obligation Quote

We are a leading will writing company based in Lowestoft that can help all people assure their assets after death in April 2024.

Our company offers a range of will writing services to people across Lowestoft, whether you are writing a will for the first time or need a new will created to meet the new demands of your life.

Table of Contents

As this is a legally valid document, there is a range of things that need to be included, and your will should be written in a specific way to ensure all of these needs are met.

Working with our will writing services can ensure that you or a family member has a professional will written on time. There is a range of ways we can help you during this time, and we support clients across England and Wales.

If you are interested in the professional assistance we can offer, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team today to see what we can do for you.

Why Use Us?

Our team of in-house solicitors in Lowestoft provide a specialist Will Writing Service. We can ensure that all of your personal possessions are protected during this time and can cover a range of assets, no matter the personal circumstances.

We can prevent a will from being successfully contested and protect someone’s interests following death. We work closely with a recognised trade body as well as those within the legal profession, such as local solicitors, as well as giving all clients their own executor to ensure the highest standard of work every time.

There are many reasons why you should consider working with professional will writers during this time, whether you are looking to get your own will completed or working on behalf of a family member.

Our professional will writers ensure that all areas of writing a will are completed, and we do this to a high standard. All our legal documents are assessed by a local solicitor to ensure they meet the needs of the client.

Working with a professional service covers all needs, including proving testamentary capacity. Our professional will writers will provide an assessment of capacity and ensure that this is recorded on file for future reference, preventing the will from being successfully contested and going against your wishes following death.

Many benefits come from working with us for the will writing process, and as a legal service, we can ensure that all needs are met during this time.

If you are interested in working with us and want to see how our will writing service can help, do not hesitate to get in touch with the Lowestoft team today to learn more.

Inheritance, Wills & Probate Barristers

Working with our will writing service gives you access to not only a will writer but also members of the law society that can help you during this process.

With our practice approved by the solicitors regulation authority, we can provide a properly drafted will as well as offer ongoing advice that can help you during this time. These services can help family members following their bereavement and help your will be seen as you desired.

We understand that you may have a complex family situation and only want all the assets to go to your immediate family or specific people, which is why we offer a probate service as well as help to write your will.

Our Lowestoft barristers have a great understanding and experience with inheritance laws and will ensure that your will is handled the same way you desire. Working with our service provides the legal cover you and your family may need during this time, as well as providing a valid will.

Reasons For Getting A Will Written

Creating a will for the first time or getting a new will organised is a task that many people put off. However, it is one of the most important things you can do and may not take as much work as you have anticipated, especially when working with a professional will writer.

Getting a will organised is a way of protecting your family and loved ones following your death, ensuring that all your assets are handled in the right manner. Having a professional will makes it easier for any law firm to handle your assets following death and can prevent family disputes, issues within the family, as well as the overpaying of inheritance tax.

With a will, it will be easier for your personal possessions to be divided once you have died and ensure that your needs will be met.

Even a simple will can provide a range of benefits, and this is something we can help with. Working with professional will writing services like those offered by our brand, as well as many others, including the Co Op Legal Services, can help with many factors in Lowestoft, including:

You have dependent children

One of the most important reasons for hiring a will writer is to protect your children. With a will, you can not only continue to provide for your children following death but also nominate a legal guardian for those who are under 18.

Your will covers more than your personal possessions, and it is a parental responsibility to ensure that your children will be taken care of even when you are no longer with them. A will can offer the same protection to your children in the form of a guardian as it would your personal possessions following death.

If you die without a will, there will be no one with parental responsibility for your children in Lowestoft, which means it will be up to the court to decide who should look after your children. This may result in something you do not want, which is why you should take some of your own time now to finalise your wishes and get them filed legally to protect your children.

You are not married to your partner

If you are not married or in a civil partnership with your partner, then you should not expect anything to go to them following death unless you have made a will. If you are not a civil partner or married to the person you love, then this can cause a lot of issues should you die without a will.

Without the legal binding that comes from marriage or a civil partnership, it will be difficult for your partner to continue their life following your death. Even a basic will can cover their needs and ensure they get to remain inside your shared home without being a civil partner or married to you at the time.

Unless there is this legal binding in the form of marriage or a registered civil partnership, you need to have a will that indicates your wishes for your partner to protect them during this time. You should both have separate wills that indicate your wishes for each other if you are not a civil partner or married, or you can also have the same will, which is known as mirror wills to ensure all your needs are covered.

You are worried about inheritance tax

If your Lowestoft estate is worth more than £325,000, it is likely going to be hit heavily with inheritance tax following your death. An IHT bill can be avoided by writing a will or updating your existing will to meet your current needs, ensuring that your personal assets can be handed on in full to your loved ones.

Working with our professional writing services can help you get around having to pay inheritance tax on your possessions, as we understand the exemptions that are available to all. For example, leaving everything that is above the threshold of £325,000 to your spouse or civil partner can avoid IHT and is something to consider if you do not want to pay this tax.

Your personal circumstances have changed

Change is the only constant in life, which can make will writing difficult. However, working with a professional will writing service like the one we offer is a way to keep up with these ever-changing circumstances and ensure that your will reflects the circumstances of your life at the time of death.

For example, we will help you write a new will or update an existing will whenever you marry, divorce, or have children to ensure the right people are entitled to your possessions and care following death.

In England and Wales, your existing will is automatically revoked or cancelled when you get married. This does not apply to people in Scotland. To prevent former partners or civil partners from getting access to your assets following death, then you will need to write a will.

You have specific funeral wishes

If you know what you want your funeral to be like and who you want to be there, then having a will is a way to ensure this will happen following your death. With a will in place, you can leave specific instructions for your family in Lowestoft so they do not have to make any decisions following your death.

This can be helpful as they may not have the mental capacity to deal with these things once you have died, but you can get your wishes by leaving them in the will.

You have property overseas or own property with someone else

If you own your property on a joint tenancy basis, your ownership will automatically go to the other person when you die. This is part of the survivorship rules that are present in England and Wales.

However, if you own property on a ‘tenants in common basis’ then the intestacy rules will apply unless you have left specifications in your will and this is witnessed correctly. It is important to note that if you own overseas property, the rules may differ from those in England and Wales, which is why it is best to finalise your wishes in a will.

Where to get a will made?

Now that you understand the importance of having a will made, it is time to consider your options. We are professional will writers that can offer a range of services, including the writing of simple wills to ongoing professional advice to help you during this process.

We offer Co Op legal services in Lowestoft, including will writing services, to people across the nation to ensure that your possessions and assets will be protected after death. We have plenty of services that can help you during this time, as well as an online will writing service that can be easily accessed.

Working with our will writing services, in conjunction with Co Op Legal services, gives you access to everything you need during this time. We can provide a completely free quote and a draft of your will, based on your needs, and help you cover the solicitor cost during this time.

Following the writing of your will, we will securely store this document until it is required.

If you are interested in working with us, please get in touch with the team today. We can arrange a telephone or video call with you to discuss your needs and see what we can do for you at this time.

How to get a will made?

There are various steps involved in getting a will made, and while we can do a lot of the work for you, it is a good idea for you to understand the steps involved before paying for any service so you can determine what kind of help you need at this time.

Before you can make a will, there are some things you need to do first. These are things you should do before hiring our will writing services in Lowestoft, although we can help with these too. Before writing a will, you need to determine:

What type of will you want to make
Who do you want to inherit from you following death
Who you would like to look after your children (if they are under 18 or you are dealing with a disabled family member)
If you want to leave anything to a particular charity, which includes the registered charity number
Who you would like to leave your estate to

Once you have determined these factors, it is time to start working on making your will.

The steps that are required to make a will are as follows:

1) Value Your Estate

Before you can make a will, you first need to determine what you own and how much you have. This can determine the type of will you need to make. You will need to have a list of assets that will be included in your will, which can be:

your home and any other property you own
savings in bank accounts and building society accounts
National savings, for example, premium bonds
insurance, such as life insurance or endowment policies
pension funds, including any lump, sums to be paid after death
investments, such as stocks, shares, or investment trusts
motor vehicles
jewellery, antiques, and other personal belongings
household contents

As well as these, you also need to include debts as these are also referred to as assets in a will.

2) Decide how you want to divide these assets

Who will get what when you die is the main purpose of a will, and this is the most important step to do when it comes to writing one. This is something we can help with when you use our writing service, but ultimately the decision is yours when it comes to your estate and assets.

In this part of the process, you will need to think about who you want to benefit from your estate as well as the needs of your family, which need to be outlined in the will.

3) Determine any charity donations

A lot of people like to include a charitable donation of some kind in their will, and this is something you can determine now or at a later date.

4) Choose your executors

A single will requires at least one executor, and this is the person who will handle everything after you have died. This is a big role and one that requires a lot of responsibility, so it is something you should consider carefully.

5) Write your will

This is where paying for a will writing service can come in very useful, and we are highly experienced at what we do. As a leading will writing company in Lowestoft, we can help create a simple will or something more complex based on your needs and will ensure that everything you desire is covered in one document.

Our registered company number is accessible across the country, including with an online service. We can help you get your will done and ensure that all of your needs are met during this time to support your family during their bereavement following your death.

What is the Cost of getting a will made?

The cost of making a will can vary based on the method you choose and the kind of service you use. As a leading will writing company, we aim to offer the best prices for all our services and have helped people across the nation in this particular area.

We can provide free quotes and free will drafting services to help you make your decision. If you are interested in learning more about the costs of our services, please get in touch with the team today.

Best Will writing service near me

We are a national will writing service that has worked with people across Lowestoft.

If you are interested in working with us, please get in touch with the team today to see how we can help and whether we are available in your local area.

Legal will vs online will

We offer both in-person and online will writing services. Online will writing services are accessible at all times and are available on bank holidays as well.

Regardless of the kind of service you choose, when signing the will you need two witnesses over the age of 18. If you are in Scotland, then you need one witness over the age of 16 for this part of the process.

The Benefits Of Getting A Legal Will Written

Providing financial security for loved ones
Making gifts of possessions and money
Paying less inheritance tax
Appointing guardians for your children
Choosing your executors
Avoiding inheritance disputes
Creating a life interest
Specifying wishes for your funeral

What happens if I die without making a will?

If you die without making a will, it can be difficult for your family to handle your assets in Lowestoft. Various consequences can come with not making a will before you die, based on your estate, your family, and these requirements.

For example, failure to make a will when you are not married or in a civil partnership could be disastrous for your partner, who may lose their home with you as they are not considered to be legally responsible for this. A will can also determine who has legal guardianship over your children or those in your care, which is something you need to consider.

It is always a good idea to have some form of a will written in preparation for when you die to ensure that your family is taken care of.

What exactly is a will?

According to the Co-Op legal services, a will is a document that allows you to determine what will happen to your assets and estate following death.

What Can you Include in a Will?

Everything you own can be included in a will, including:

Household items, antiques, and other physical items you own
Parental guardianship of children under the age of 18

There is a range of things that are included in your Lowestoft estate, which we have already mentioned. We can help ensure that everything is included in your will.

What types of gifts can I include in my will?

There are various ways that you can divide your estate in your will, such as:

A pecuniary bequest (a fixed sum to a specific person)
A specific bequest (for a specific item)
A residuary bequest (a percentage of your estate)

Can an executor of a will also be a beneficiary?

It is possible for the executor of your will to also be a beneficiary of your estate.

Do I need a will if I don’t own a house?

It is a good idea to write a will regardless of what you own because there is more than just property ownership covered.

What if I don’t have anything to leave?

We all leave something behind when we die, even if it is a small selection of personal belongings which need to be organised by our family.

However, even if you do not have a lot and do not think that writing a will is worth it, you may have money or assets by the time you die, which can be assigned to other people through this legal document.

Can a will help protect my home against potential care home fees?

A trust will is what you need for this, and it protects your home or savings against future care home fees.

Making a will and mental capacity

To make a will, you have to understand what you are doing, which is to prove mental capacity. This is something you have to prove at the time that your will is written, as well as at the time it is signed by two witnesses.

Four things are required to prove this:

you must understand the purpose of the will (which is the handling of your estate when you die)
you must understand what is in your estate (which can be a general awareness)
you must understand that people can make a moral claim on your estate, even if they are not a beneficiary
you must not be suffering from what is legally known as a ‘disorder of the mind.’

Our will writing service makes the process easy

Making a will can be quick and easy if you use a will writing service. Working with us will ensure that you are getting access to the right guidance and support.

Our will writing service in Lowestoft will provide you with a specialist to help you complete each step of the process, and we will work with you from start to finish. Our will writing advisors can discuss your wishes, offer recommendations and help you to make a will that is right for you and your circumstances, no matter what these may be.

We are an authorised company number and are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), so you have peace of mind that your will is written in a way that is recognised by the law.

Where should I store my will?

Your will is stored in a safe place that can be accessed by executors when you die. We can keep hold of your orignal document as well as any other documents you require as part of your writing services.

Can my will be challenged?

All wills can be challenged, but when it is professionally drafted and backed by legal professionals like those in our team, it can prevent this from being a successful claim.

What does undue influence mean in will writing?

This is when someone has been influenced or forced to write their will by another person, and can affect the legality of the document.

Not all wills are regulated – Be Careful

While there are many services similar to ours in Lowestoft, not all of them are of the same quality. We are a regulated and secure will writing service that can provide legal documents for your needs.

FAQ’s

Do debts die with you.

No, as debts will be included in your estate.

Can I leave a will If I become incapacitated?

You can include guidance in your will to help if you become incapacitated, which will be used by solicitors.

Can I Write My Own Will?

Yes, you can write your own will, but it is always worth getting this checked by a solicitor to ensure this is legally binding.

Is it possible to change somebody’s will after they have died?

You can make variations to a will based on specific regulations, as outlined by the government.

Get In Touch With a Specialist

Get in touch with a will writing specialist today.

We are open every day, including bank holidays, so contact us today to see how we can help.

Find More Info

Make sure you contact us today for a number of great will writing services in East of England.

Here are some towns we cover near Lowestoft.

What Others Say About Our Services

We absolutely love the service provided. Their approach is really friendly but professional. We went out to five different companies and found Get a Will Written to be value for money and their service was by far the best. Thank you for your really awesome work, we will definitely be returning!

We have used Get a Will Written for many years as they are certainly the best in the UK. The attention to detail and professional setup is what makes this company our go-to company for all our work. I highly recommend the team for the immense work - we highly recommend them!

For more information on will writing services in Lowestoft, fill in the contact form below to receive a free quote today.

We Aim To Reply To All Enquiries With-in 24-Hours

Areas We Cover

Bury St Edmunds

Keep Your Will Safe

Will Writing Service Lowestoft

What to include, who is your beneficiary, why is a will lowestoft so important.

The best case and plan to ensure that your property is well taken care of is by finding professional Will writers who basically deal with a specified area, which is Wills. Such a firm is Direct Wills Trusts who are specialized in what they do and offer quality services worth your time and money.

Wills can be written for various reasons including to ensuring that someone suitable looks after your children and arranging the gifts to be given to family, friends and charities.

It also can have your funeral wishes as well as have a trust to hold assets for your children until they attain a certain age.

What You Can Include:

Your wishes are honoured.

Direct Will Trusts will offer all the above services and more best advice. Involving an experienced and trusted association that will ensure all your wishes are met and secured and stored well for future use..

Live Happy & Free

Direct Will Trusts will ensure that you live happy and free of worry knowing that all your hard earned property and plans are in safe hand now and in the future.

Will Writing Lowestoft - your wishes your way!

To finalize the Will made, it is vital that the person making the Will to sign it in the presence of two witnesses. The witnesses will also need to sign the Will in the presence of Will maker.

Some factors may hinder Wills or have a downside such as the money in the Will may not be directed to where you want, and it is likely to be inadequate for inheritance tax procedures.

Though this is not something major it is an issue that has to be in consideration.

Bury St Edmunds

Suggested companies

Legacy wills, co-operative legal services, wills & legal services ltd.

WSL Will Writing Reviews

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Reviews 4.8.

1,638 total

Most relevant

Takes FAR too long to recieve your will!

Mark was very knowlegable & helpful. The time frame he gave was totally wrong! I have now been waiting 10 weeks & have just been informed it will be another 2 weeks before I have my will. I received a draught copy & changed 4 words, sent it back within 2 days & have been told it takes 28 days to add 5 words & send my will to me. That makes a total of 12 - 13 weeks waiting. If I had known it would take this long I would NEVER have used WSL. The staff working there need to give people a realistic time frame NOT one that is untrue.

Date of experience : 06 February 2024

Lisa was polite and informative she explained each point well. The only thing I queried was the codicil question which she said did not and never had existed I have friends who have changed things without writing a new will

Date of experience : 11 April 2024

Reply from WSL Will Writing

Thank you for your 5* review! I'm glad your consultant provided helpful explanations. Regarding the codicil question, we apologise for any confusion. WSL does not offer codicils preferring as a matter of best practice to draft Wills again in full to ensure clarity when going through Probate.

Excellent service at very good price

Nice gentleman who came to the house on the pre-arranged time. He went through the paperwork swiftly and explained each section clearly. Good experience

Thank you for your 5* review! We're thrilled to hear about your positive experience with our home visit service. Our consultants aim to make the process as seamless as possible so it's fantastic to know that they arrived on time, went through the paperwork quickly, and explained everything clearly.

Excellent advice

David was very personable and very helpful and informative. He spent time to listen to our requirements and explained things in a way that was easy to understand.

Thank you for your 5* review! We greatly appreciate your feedback. It's wonderful to hear that David was able to help. It's important for us to be able to take our time during the appointment to ensure we have a thorough understanding of our clients wishes and answering any questions that may arise.

Great experience

Our consultant, Andrew, was helpful and explained everything in detail. He understood our requirements despite them being slightly unusual and was able to advise us on the best way forward. An experience made easier by our consultant.

Thank you for your 5* review! We're thrilled to hear about your positive experience with Andrew. Speaking to a specialist can be so helpful especially when your circumstances are not straightforward. It's wonderful that he was able to understand your particular wishes and provide personalised guidance.

A positive experience

We are extremely pleased with the competence of Mark Goldstein. His questions were to the point and his explanations were thorough and easy to grasp. We will definitely recommend your team.

Date of experience : 04 April 2024

Thank you for your 5* review! We're thrilled to hear that Mark's experience shone through, with clear and concise questions and thorough explanations that were easy to understand. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we're committed to delivering excellent service to all our clients. If you ever need further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

The guy was very helpful and explained…

The guy was very helpful and explained everything we needed to know very politely and was very patient very kind

Thank you for your 5* review. We're glad to hear your consultant was helpful, patient, and polite. We appreciate making a Will can seem like a daunting task and so we strive to make the experience as pleasant and easy as possible.

Jonathan was brilliant so nice made me…

Jonathan was brilliant so nice made me feel at ease and explained things

Date of experience : 08 April 2024

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear that Jonathan provided brilliant service, making you feel at ease and explaining things thoroughly. It can make the process much easier when your options are laid out clearly.

Rachel was extremely thorough, knowledgeable and professional. She explained everything in detail in a terminology we understood . Answered all our questions in a friendly and relaxed manner

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear that Rachel was able to help. We aim to explain everything in plain English, so it's fantastic that she took the time to explain everything in detail, using terminology you could understand, and answered all your questions in a friendly and relaxed manner.

Happy with my experience…

i was happy with my interview,the rep explained everything.i had my daughter with me and she was happy with the whole experience.the finance was explained so i know what i am paying for.the rep arrived on time and was pleasant through the interview.i would recommend WSL will writing .

Date of experience : 12 March 2024

Thank you for your review. we try to make the process as easy as possible and are very happy for family members to attend the appointments to assist and support our clients. I'm thrilled to hear your consultant was able to offer all the advice and guidance you needed and I hope you now have peace of mind.

Very happy with interview

A nice young man called Liam came to our home to explain about making a will. Liam pointed out things we were not aware of and pitfalls we could encounter if the wills were not done professionally. We were more than happy to sign and take out power of attorney also great to know we can alter our wills at anytime free of cost.

Date of experience : 15 March 2024

Thank you for your 5* review! It's great to hear you were able to take advantage of our home visit service and I'm happy that Liam was able to offer all the advice and guidance you needed. LPAs are also such important documents to make alongside your Wills, I hope you know have peace of mind that everything is taken care of for you.

My first attempt at writing

My first attempt at writing a will and, based on the recommendation of by best friends, I chose WSL. I e-mailed the company and received a telephone call back within less than half an hour to arrange an appointment. This was set for 10 days after the call. Their representative was on time and very pleasant. I had prepared my choices in advance which was a big help. No difficulties arose other than that I will need to write a separate letter excluding nephews and nieces from inheriting anything - wasn't aware that this was the case if a person has no partner/spouse, children or surviving siblings. Will take 28 days to complete. Excellent sevice and value for money

Date of experience : 13 March 2024

Thank you for 5* review. We really appreciate your feedback and I'm so happy we have been able to offer all the guidance and advice you need to record your wishes and find peace of mind. We try to make the process as easy and as straightforward as possible and I'm pleased to know you felt you were also able to get great value for money.

A professional service

Our consultant was on time for his appointment. He took us through the process in a considered way and offered some sound advice. There were additional services that we had not considered and we didn't feel pressured to take them. There was no rush to get the required details and to make sure everything was accurate with our wishes. He made us at ease to talk about a difficult process.

Date of experience : 06 March 2024

Thank you for your 5* review. It's so important to us that our clients have all the knowledge and options they need to protect their families, but also never feel under any pressure to add additional services should they choose not to. It sounds as though you were given all the information and time you needed and I hope you now have peace of mind.

The agent was very professional

The agent was very professional, and had a lot of knowledge about the product and the best way to move forward.

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear that your consultant provided a professional service and demonstrated extensive knowledge about the process. Specialist advice and guidance can really help when trying to make the best decisions for you and your family and I hope you now have peace of mind.

Helpful & Straightforward

Very helpful guidance and advice. The whole process was extremely straightforward.

Date of experience : 10 April 2024

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear that you found our guidance and advice helpful, making the process straightforward. Your satisfaction is important to us, and we're here to assist you with anything you need.

Stuart was friendly and made laugh

Stuart was friendly and made us feel comfortable by making jokes, as writing a will can be depressing but needs to be done. He was knowledgeable and understanding of our family situation. He was able to answer all questions. He told us about the lifetime service fee, which i think is great and will save us all money in the long run

Thank you for your 5* review. We're delighted to hear that Stuart's friendly demeanour and sense of humour helped make the process of writing your will a more comfortable experience for you and your family. We understand that discussing such important matters can sometimes feel daunting, and we strive to create a relaxed and friendly environment for all our clients.

WSL experience

Chris Kell came to see us, he was very professional and knowledgeable. He answered all our questions, giving us the pros and cons for different scenarios. No pressure at all from him to buy extras. Came to our home at a time that suited us . Would recommend.

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear you were able to take advantage of our home visit service, booking a time that suited you, and that Chris advised you on your specific circumstances and wishes. It's so important to us that ensure our clients have all the information they need to make the right decisions for themselves, without ever being under any pressure.

EVERYTHING WAS EXPLAINED CLEARLY AND…

EVERYTHING WAS EXPLAINED CLEARLY AND VERY POLITELY. I WOULD THOROUGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY

Thank you for your 5* review! We're delighted to hear that everything was explained clearly and politely. I hope this helped you arrive at the best decisions for you and your family. Your recommendation means a lot to us and is also very much appreciated.

WSL initial appointment

The appointment was well constructed and honest, no sales pitch, just honest truth and very clear on my choices, I was with my family and we all understood everything that was explained, we were told if we wanted to ask questions or for anything to be repeated then ask, which we did and fully understood everything. Highly recommend WSL, and Liam that came to my daughters home.

Date of experience : 11 March 2024

Thank you for your 5* review. We're thrilled to hear that your appointment with Liam went so well. Providing clear and honest guidance to our clients is at the core of our values, and we're delighted that you and your family felt empowered and well-informed throughout the process. We understand the importance of clarity when discussing options, and we're glad that we were able to address any questions or concerns you had, ensuring that you felt confident in your choices.

Happy with my will thank you

After experiencing not such a great start will delays etc and having to chase things up, which made me very anxious. However the situation was very promptly & professionally dealt with by customer service, Mr Chris Malloy. He explained the guy who originally dealt with my case had been let go, gave an accurate account of what had occurred and gave his deepest apologies. The task in hand was dealt with and everything was carried out to my wishes. Faith has been restored and I am now very happy, I have my will in place and now peace of mind thank you.

Date of experience : 01 December 2023

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Call for Submissions: 2024 Tobin Siebers Prize

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About the 2024 Tobin Siebers Prize

Submissions are now open for the 2024 Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities. The prize is awarded in memory of disability studies pioneer Tobin Siebers, Professor of English at the University of Michigan and author of many influential books and articles in the field of Disability Studies. The prize is awarded yearly for the best proposed book-length manuscript on a topic of pressing urgency in the field (with the exception of 2020, due to the challenges presented by COVID-19). Reflecting on the work of the scholar the prize commemorates, the competition invites submissions on a wide range of topics, from literary and cultural studies, to trans-historical research, to contributions to disability theory such as work in crip/queer studies. The deadline is August 1, 2024; the winner will be announced in January 2025. Winners receive a cash prize of $1000, and a book contract from the University of Michigan Press to be published in the Corporealities: Discourses of Disability series.

Previous winners:

2023 Aly Patsavas’s Pain in Relation: On Cripistemologies, Chronicity, and Crip Evidence
2022 Anastasia Todd, Cripping Girlhood
2021 Susan Antebi, Embodied Archive: Disability in Post-Revolutionary Mexican Cultural Production
2019 Kateřina Kolářová, Rehabilitative Post-Socialism: Disability, Race, Gender, and Sexuality and the Limits of National Belonging
2018 Stephen Knadler, Vitality Politics: Health, Debility, and the Limits of Black Emancipation
2017 Elizabeth B. Bearden, Monstrous Kinds: Body, Space, and Narrative in Renaissance Representations of Disability
2016 Shelley L. Tremain, Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability
2015 Anne McGuire, War on Autism: On the Cultural Logic of Normative Violence

Guidelines for Submissions

Eligible submissions include a book proposal and two sample chapters not under consideration by another publisher. Unrevised dissertations, fiction, poetry, and memoirs will not be considered. Manuscripts and supporting documents should be in digital format and must be sent via email to [email protected] and Associate Editor Haley Winkle [email protected] , no later than August 1, 2024.

In addition to the proposal and sample chapters, please send the following materials:

A description of the manuscript
A brief statement regarding its relative contribution to the field of Disability Studies
The word count and illustration count
A current curriculum vitae

For assistance with the submission process, please contact [email protected] .

About Tobin Siebers

The work of the late University of Michigan faculty member, Tobin Siebers, has influenced Disability Studies in field-shifting ways since the publication of his prize-winning essay “My Withered Limb” in 1998. His subsequent scholarly publications, including the books Disability Theory (2008) and Disability Aesthetics (2010) as well as essays such as “A Sexual Culture for Disabled People” (2012), quickly became pivotal works in the field. Siebers’s work has galvanized new scholarship in relation to questions of representation, subjectivity, and the entry of non-normative bodies into public space, and made the study of disability a central component (alongside gender, race, sexuality, and class) in analyses of the culture wars and identity studies.

To honor this remarkable legacy, the University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Department of English Language and Literature established The Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities. Reflecting the scholar’s work the prize commemorates, the competition invites submissions on a wide range of topics, from literary and cultural studies, to trans-historical research, to contributions to disability theory such as work in crip/queer studies.

Books Mentioned In This Post

Cripping Girlhood

Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability

Vitality Politics

Embodied Archive

Monstrous Kinds

Disability Theory

War on Autism

Disability Aesthetics

Millions of Suns Writing Contest Winners

Issue Analysis —A concise, analytical treatment of a relevant legal issue addressed in the cases and legal scholarship provided to you. Your Issue Analysis will not be a reiteration of case law. Rather, it will explain the issue and provide a reasoned conclusion as to which legal result you think is justified. More specific information will be provided prior to the Writing Competition’s start date.
Bluebook Editing Exercise —An exercise in identifying and correcting errors in citation, formatting, grammar, and punctuation according to the Bluebook and provided excerpts from the Texas Law Review Manual on Usage & Style (TLR).
The Marquette Law Review Vol. 108 Write-On Competition Westlaw Web Course (TWEN) will contain all materials, instructions, and the platform for submission.
Step 2: Receive anonymous number and additional instructions for the competition.
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“It’s important to me to put a lens on interesting stories, stories that represent where I’m from and what I seem,” told Jonsson Deadline in a statement. “As an actor, it’s usually your job to jump into other people’s visions, so it’s cool to be creating my own.”

Fried, Joint Managing Director of Clerkenwell, said the scripts were “funny and emotional,” adding that they were “unbelievably good.” Clerkenwell will take the project to market shortly.

The project marks Jonsson’s foray into series writing. He had previously scripted 2018 comedy short Gen Y , which he also directed alongside Lee Gray. That followed five teens who decide to leave education behind and make their own way in London. More recently, he wrote and directed Honeybaby , and he is working on several TV and film ideas.

Jonsson is best known for acting roles in shows such as BBC banking drama Industry and Agatha Christie adaptation Murder is Easy . He also starred in Raine Allen-Miller’s well-received rom-com Rye Lane , which was nominated for a BAFTA Best Film award, and landed him and co-star Vivian Oparah a Best Joint Lead Performance nom at the British Independent Film Awards.

We hear a junior member of the Clerkenwell team who was familiar with Jonsson read the script for Hype and brought it to Clerkenwell, which immediately put it into development .

Last week, we revealed Clerkenwell had landed a second season of Cheaters , the BBC short-form relationship comedy.

Jonsson’s writing career is represented by Amy Sparks at Under New MGMT. For acting he is represented by United Agents and CAA.

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Some ex-TikTok employees say the social media service worked closely with its China-based parent despite claims of independence

In January, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced an intense grilling by skeptical U.S. lawmakers about his company’s ties to Beijing and its alleged risk to national security. Calm under the barrage, he repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and reiterated that the social media service had cut most of its connections to ByteDance, its Chinese parent.

But with the House voting in March to force ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok, 11 former employees interviewed by Fortune tell a vastly different story. Many of those ex-workers, four of whom were employed as recently as last year, say at least some of TikTok’s operations were intertwined with its parent during their tenures, and that the company’s independence from China was largely cosmetic. A few of the former workers would only speak to Fortune on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by TikTok, including the company seizing restricted stock they were given while still employees.

The allegations of close ties, made in interviews between August and April, raise more questions about the relationship between TikTok and ByteDance. They also create more fodder for critics who fear the Chinese government could use TikTok as a sort of Trojan horse to spy on Americans by sifting through the huge amounts of digital data that it collects.

Evan Turner, who worked at TikTok as a senior data scientist from April to September in 2022, said TikTok concealed the involvement of its Chinese owner during his employment. When hired, Turner initially reported to a ByteDance executive in Beijing. But later that year, after the company announced a major initiative to store TikTok’s U.S. user data only in the U.S., Turner was reassigned—on paper, at least—to an American manager in Seattle, he says. But Turner says a human resources representative revealed during a video conference call that he would, in reality, continue to work with the ByteDance executive. The stealth chain of command contradicted what TikTok’s executives had said about the company’s independence from ByteDance, Turner says.

Turner says he never met with the Seattle-based manager. Instead, Turner had weekly check-ins lasting less than seven minutes with the Beijing-based ByteDance executive. In these meetings, Turner says he merely told the executive how far along he was in completing assigned tasks—and nothing else.

Nearly every 14 days, as part of Turner’s job throughout 2022, he emailed spreadsheets filled with data for hundreds of thousands of U.S. users to ByteDance workers in Beijing. That data included names, email addresses, IP addresses, and geographic and demographic information of TikTok U.S. users, he says. The goal was to sift through the information to mine for insights like the geographical regions where users watched the most videos of a particular genre and decide how the company should invest to encourage users to be more active. It all took place after the company had started its initiative to keep sensitive U.S. user data in the U.S., and only available to U.S. workers.

“I literally worked on a project that gave U.S. data to China,” Turner says. “They were completely complicit in that. There were Americans that were working in upper management that were completely complicit in this.”

TikTok’s project to stop sharing user data with ByteDance was part of an effort to fend off regulators. The initiative, called Project Texas, started in early 2022 after President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok, citing its national security threat, followed by President Joe Biden banning the service on federal devices and raising concerns about its Beijing-based parent. As part of the $1.5 billion Project Texas, TikTok’s U.S. operation moved its U.S. user data to U.S.-based data centers, according to TikTok’s Project Texas website . The company also created a new team to manage all business functions requiring sensitive user data, among other security measures.

Two years later, TikTok remains in the crosshairs. On March 13, the full House of Representatives voted 352–65 to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sold the app to a non-Chinese company. Biden said he would sign the bill, but the Senate has yet to decide its next step.

Cybersecurity experts differ on the significance of TikTok’s alleged data sharing.

Anton Dahbura, executive director of Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute and codirector of the school’s Institute for Assured Autonomy, says the alleged transfer of data to China in the incidents described by Turner is “very concerning.” “Even though a spreadsheet is probably a very tiny percentage of all of the information that TikTok collects, it can be extremely targeted and very damaging to certain people,” he says. Dahbura pointed out that geographic data can be used for phishing attacks. “Everyone should be really concerned.”

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech cybersecurity and privacy professor Jon Lindsay chalks up Turner’s story of sending U.S. user data to Chinese colleagues via email to growing pains, and therefore far less serious. “Companies are companies, and big bureaucracies are big bureaucracies; they’re stupid and silly and do all kinds of crazy things—it’s hard to change your own habits,” says Lindsay, who has written two books on information technology and national defense. “If you’re moving things to a new place, and your friends with expertise are in other places, then, yes, you’re occasionally going to be sending them things because, maybe, they can do things you can’t do or you haven’t hired the right people or you left some machines there.”

Who’s lurking on Lark?

In another example of potential data sharing between TikTok and ByteDance, Patrick Spaulding Ryan, who was TikTok’s lead technical program manager for security engineering until 2022, and another former TikTok U.S.-based employee, cited some of the company’s internal software systems that they said were maintained and monitored by China-based ByteDance teams. Lark, a Slack-like internal messaging system that ByteDance and TikTok share, is among the most important shared software systems used by the two businesses, say the former employees. Because Lark is run by ByteDance, ByteDance workers could see discussions by TikTok employees, including ones about U.S. user data.

Nnete Matima, who worked in business development at both TikTok and ByteDance in the U.S., sold Lark to corporate customers from July 2022 to August 2023. In her sales conversations, prospective customers would ask Matima where Lark stored data that users posted on the platform. In trying to find out the answer, Matima said she spent significant time getting the “runaround” and never received a firm answer from TikTok and ByteDance management. “You could never really get any straight answers that could be solid enough to bring back to your client to basically let them know that this is a trustworthy platform, and that their American data is safe,” she recalls. “They are not transparent to the point where I had to lose a deal because I couldn’t answer basic security questions that people are entitled to.”

Matima, who is Black, was fired from the company in August 2023. In her telling, the company terminated her employment because of performance issues, but she believes she was fired in retaliation for voicing her concerns about alleged racist treatment she endured during her tenure at TikTok, according to a complaint she filed after her dismissal with the Fair Employment Practices Agencies and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Matima says she has already spoken to an EEOC investigator about the complaint.

Last year, the New York Times reported about Lark storing critical data in China. The company did not respond to the Times’ questions about whether Lark data was stored in China and declined to answer questions about China-based workers sharing TikTok user data on Lark. It did say, however, that many Lark chat groups were shut down “after the service had reviewed ‘internal concerns.’”

Jacob Wallach, who worked at the company from June 2020 until August 2022 on the company’s global business solutions team managing relationships with enterprise clients, was unconcerned by ByteDance’s presence and oversight of Lark. “I didn’t feel uncomfortable that Chinese workers had access…it’s like with any global entity,” he says. Wallach believes the possibility for surveillance by his former employer was equal to those of other companies he’s worked for in the U.S. He noted the infrequent interactions he had with Beijing-based counterparts and said that a requirement that TikTok be sold, as the House recently endorsed, “doesn’t make any sense.”

Another service TikTok and ByteDance share is Seal, an authenticator app and VPN network that employees were required to download on their work phones to protect their identities, data, and systems from potential risks. Often those phones were personal devices because the company did not provide phones to employees, according to Ryan, who says he led the company’s core TikTok app security team until his departure in 2022. The software gave ByteDance a foothold on the personal devices of U.S. employees, which made them vulnerable to surveillance by Beijing-based ByteDance employees, says Ryan.

Seal, which was intended for managing mobile devices, remained “completely unknown to [TikTok U.S.] employees,” says Ryan, making the point that no one knew how it worked. Members of the App Security R&D team, TikTok’s core app security unit, were unable to test the technology, he adds. Ryan, who owns tens of thousands of TikTok shares, has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that alleges the company’s non-disparagement clause in its shareholder agreement violates employees’ right to unionize, constituting an unfair labor practice.

Georgia Tech’s Lindsay describes the ex-employees’ concerns about Seal and Lark as “paranoia.” He believes any spying by China-based workers via Lark and Seal would be highly unlikely because it would compromise ByteDance’s entire enterprise business of selling the software, which ByteDance reportedly hoped would hit $940 million in global revenue by 2026. “There is tremendous risk involved when you’re talking about putting generic backdoors in mass-produced commodities because the likelihood of [the backdoors] becoming discovered, compromised, and mitigated is so high—and then losing a massive amount of market share because of that one decision, which provides nothing to the company and very tenuous intelligence benefits to the State,” Lindsay says.

In contrast, Johns Hopkins’ Dahbura thinks the ties are evidence that “ByteDance and their Chinese government associates haven’t been trying very hard to create a true firewall between their Chinese operation and their U.S. operation.” He says the former employees’ allegations about Lark’s China connection is “unsurprising.”

In late March, Politico reported that the Federal Trade Commission had been investigating TikTok over alleged “faulty data and data security practices.” Politico’s source says the FTC was investigating allegations that the company deceived users by denying China had access to their data and violating a children’s privacy law. The agency could either proceed with a settlement or take the company to court, in partnership with the Department of Justice. Spokespeople for the FTC, DOJ, and TikTok declined to comment on Politico’s story.

Not all former employees are critical of the effort by TikTok and ByteDance to separate their collection of user data. Another ex-TikTok manager, who started at the company in 2020 and left recently, said that TikTok has made progress in separating user data originally shared between the two. He says that Project Clover, the European Union’s Project Texas equivalent, as well as Project Texas, have made a “significant difference” in securing the data of European and U.S. users. “When I joined there was less of a delineation between TikTok and the parent company. Now there’s been a lot of work done to delineate it…I can’t speak to leadership decisions, but in terms of the technology stack, there’s been a lot done to delineate them.”

Wallach, the former TikTok global sales manager, also dismissed the criticism around TikTok’s data practices. He argued that TikTok is facing undue criticism as a result of its Chinese parent and U.S. popularity. Wallach, who has worked at tech and consulting companies and was at TikTok for over two years, says that the data collection practices of Meta, Google , and Amazon are far more concerning. “TikTok has had to do things to the 10th or 11th degree compared to what Meta or Google has had to do—solely because they’re owned by a Chinese company,” he says.

TikTok ignored a detailed list of questions sent by Fortune about the allegations by its former employees. Rather, a TikTok spokesperson responded: “These are completely unfounded assertions brought forth by disgruntled ex-employees. It is incredible that Fortune would solely rely on individuals with clear motives and agendas to spread anonymous lies and distortions.”

Four of the ex-employees interviewed by Fortune were fired from the company, while the other seven exited voluntarily from 2021 through 2023. Four of those interviewed have filed complaints with government agencies related to their treatment as TikTok employees and shareholders. Matima and Jöel Carter, a former ad policy manager, filed a joint complaint with the EEOC. A third employee complained to the National Labor Relations Board and Internal Revenue Service. The fourth filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In public, TikTok executives are adamant that TikTok has changed its practices involving ByteDance. In an internal memo from December viewed by the Wall Street Journal , the company told workers it planned to provide Project Texas employees with new tools and devices for sharing data and communicating with one another after employees voiced concern about ByteDance potentially accessing their ByteDance-owned hardware and software.

In January of this year and March 2023, TikTok CEO Chew reiterated before Congress that the company is independent. He emphasized that three of ByteDance’s five board members are American (the other two are Chinese), and that the service has spent the last two years building a “firewall” that seals “protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access,” referring to Project Texas. “The bottom line is this American data is stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel,” he said during last year’s testimony.

TikTok is working hard to maintain its image of independence

Katie Puris, TikTok’s former head of global business marketing, sued the company in February for discrimination , saying her Beijing-based bosses expected her to be demure, and that it led to her firing in the fall of 2022. In her complaint, she also revealed details about the alleged involvement of ByteDance in TikTok’s business.

Beginning in 2020, Puris said in her complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in New York’s Southern District, that ByteDance executives began asserting more control over TikTok’s day-to-day operations, counter to what TikTok said in public. They did so by organizing bimonthly meetings led by ByteDance chairman Lidong Zhang so executives like Puris could talk about their achievements and form plans for the following two months with top officers at ByteDance. “Despite its attempts to appear independent, TikTok’s day-to-day management and business decisions came directly from ByteDance’s top-level management in China,” the lawsuit says.

Through her attorney, Puris did not respond to requests to be interviewed by Fortune . TikTok has not commented on the lawsuit.

The involvement of ByteDance in TikTok’s U.S. operations has been documented in a number of other publications. Last year, a worker at ByteDance in China told the Wall Street Journal that the Chinese government had accessed TikTok user data in 2018 to spy on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters, including their network information, SIM card IDs, and IP addresses . A TikTok spokeswoman told the Journal these allegations were “baseless claims” by an employee who had not spoken out in the five years following his 2018 termination and was now suing the company to “garner media attention.”

Additionally, in 2022, Buzzfeed News reported that ByteDance employees in China repeatedly accessed U.S. user data . A TikTok spokesperson denied the allegation to BuzzFeed, saying, “We aim to remove any doubt about the security of U.S. user data” and “continually work to validate” security standards by bringing in “reputable, independent third parties to test [its] defenses.”

Forbes also found that ByteDance and TikTok staff, including personnel in China, have access to top politicians’ and celebrities’ closest contacts on the app and that TikTok stored data in China of many top global users. In response, a TikTok spokesperson told Forbes it was impossible to answer the publication’s questions without the name of the “specific tool in question” and stated it remained “confident in the accuracy” of CEO Chew’s March congressional testimony. During the testimony, Chew said the “firewall protected U.S. data from unwanted foreign access,” noting that once the company finished deleting legacy data stored on servers in Virginia and Singapore, “all protected U.S. data will be under the protection of U.S. law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team.”

TikTok has tried to mitigate any damage caused by workers talking to reporters about China. One ex-TikTok worker who left in 2021, for instance, says TikTok gave him talking points to help deny links to China, if asked about the topic.

External criticism about China was a big topic inside the company, too. Yet another former senior employee, who left in 2022, recalls having to assuage fears internally across TikTok’s entire workforce about its dependence on ByteDance. “I would say things that just weren’t the case,” she says, admitting that she felt it was part of her job to downplay to colleagues the ties with ByteDance. “It undermined my credibility with the company, with the employees I was friends with, and everything else.”

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CEO Andy Jassy’s 2023 Letter to Shareholders

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Dear Shareholders:

Last year at this time, I shared my enthusiasm and optimism for Amazon’s future. Today, I have even more. The reasons are many, but start with the progress we’ve made in our financial results and customer experiences, and extend to our continued innovation and the remarkable opportunities in front of us.

In 2023, Amazon’s total revenue grew 12% year-over-year (“YoY”) from $514B to $575B. By segment, North America revenue increased 12% YoY from $316B to $353B, International revenue grew 11% YoY from $118B to $131B, and AWS revenue increased 13% YoY from $80B to $91B.

Further, Amazon’s operating income and Free Cash Flow (“FCF”) dramatically improved. Operating income in 2023 improved 201% YoY from $12.2B (an operating margin of 2.4%) to $36.9B (an operating margin of 6.4%). Trailing Twelve Month FCF adjusted for equipment finance leases improved from -$12.8B in 2022 to $35.5B (up $48.3B).

While we’ve made meaningful progress on our financial measures, what we’re most pleased about is the continued customer experience improvements across our businesses.

In our Stores business, customers have enthusiastically responded to our relentless focus on selection, price, and convenience. We continue to have the broadest retail selection , with hundreds of millions of products available, tens of millions added last year alone, and several premium brands starting to list on Amazon (e.g. Coach, Victoria’s Secret, Pit Viper, Martha Stewart, Clinique, Lancôme, and Urban Decay).

Being sharp on price is always important , but particularly in an uncertain economy, where customers are careful about how much they’re spending. As a result, in Q4 2023, we kicked off the holiday season with Prime Big Deal Days, an exclusive event for Prime members to provide an early start on holiday shopping. This was followed by our extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping event, open to all customers, that became our largest revenue event ever. For all of 2023, customers saved nearly $24B across millions of deals and coupons, almost 70% more than the prior year.

We also continue to improve delivery speeds, breaking multiple company records . In 2023, Amazon delivered at the fastest speeds ever to Prime members, with more than 7 billion items arriving same or next day, including more than 4 billion in the U.S. and more than 2 billion in Europe. In the U.S., this result is the combination of two things. One is the benefit of regionalization, where we re-architected the network to store items closer to customers. The other is the expansion of same-day facilities, where in 2023, we increased the number of items delivered same day or overnight by nearly 70% YoY. As we get items to customers this fast, customers choose Amazon to fulfill their shopping needs more frequently, and we can see the results in various areas including how fast our everyday essentials business is growing (over 20% YoY in Q4 2023).

Our regionalization efforts have also trimmed transportation distances, helping lower our cost to serve . In 2023, for the first time since 2018, we reduced our cost to serve on a per unit basis globally. In the U.S. alone, cost to serve was down by more than $0.45 per unit YoY. Decreasing cost to serve allows us both to invest in speed improvements and afford adding more selection at lower Average Selling Prices (“ASPs”). More selection at lower prices puts us in consideration for more purchases.

As we look toward 2024 (and beyond), we’re not done lowering our cost to serve . We’ve challenged every closely held belief in our fulfillment network, and reevaluated every part of it, and found several areas where we believe we can lower costs even further while also delivering faster for customers. Our inbound fulfillment architecture and resulting inventory placement are areas of focus in 2024, and we have optimism there’s more upside for us.

Internationally , we like the trajectory of our established countries, and see meaningful progress in our emerging geographies (e.g. India, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Middle East, Africa, etc.) as they continue to expand selection and features, and move toward profitability (in Q4 2023, Mexico became our latest international Stores locale to turn profitable). We have high conviction that these new geographies will continue to grow and be profitable in the long run.

Alongside our Stores business, Amazon’s Advertising progress remains strong , growing 24% YoY from $38B in 2022 to $47B in 2023, primarily driven by our sponsored ads. We’ve added Sponsored TV to this offering, a self-service solution for brands to create campaigns that can appear on up to 30+ streaming TV services, including Amazon Freevee and Twitch, and have no minimum spend. Recently, we’ve expanded our streaming TV advertising by introducing ads into Prime Video shows and movies, where brands can reach over 200 million monthly viewers in our most popular entertainment offerings, across hit movies and shows, award-winning Amazon MGM Originals, and live sports like Thursday Night Football . Streaming TV advertising is growing quickly and off to a strong start.

Shifting to AWS , we started 2023 seeing substantial cost optimization, with most companies trying to save money in an uncertain economy. Much of this optimization was catalyzed by AWS helping customers use the cloud more efficiently and leverage more powerful, price-performant AWS capabilities like Graviton chips (our generalized CPU chips that provide ~40% better price-performance than other leading x86 processors), S3 Intelligent Tiering (a storage class that uses AI to detect objects accessed less frequently and store them in less expensive storage layers), and Savings Plans (which give customers lower prices in exchange for longer commitments). This work diminished short-term revenue, but was best for customers, much appreciated, and should bode well for customers and AWS longer-term. By the end of 2023, we saw cost optimization attenuating, new deals accelerating, customers renewing at larger commitments over longer time periods, and migrations growing again.

The past year was also a significant delivery year for AWS. We announced our next generation of generalized CPU chips (Graviton4), which provides up to 30% better compute performance and 75% more memory bandwidth than its already-leading predecessor (Graviton3). We also announced AWS Trainium2 chips, which will deliver up to four times faster machine learning training for generative AI applications and three times more memory capacity than Trainium1. We continued expanding our AWS infrastructure footprint, now offering 105 Availability Zones within 33 geographic Regions globally, with six new Regions coming (Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and a second German region in Berlin). In Generative AI (“GenAI”), we added dozens of features to Amazon SageMaker to make it easier for developers to build new Foundation Models (“FMs”). We invented and delivered a new service (Amazon Bedrock) that lets companies leverage existing FMs to build GenAI applications. And, we launched the most capable coding assistant around in Amazon Q. Customers are excited about these capabilities, and we’re seeing significant traction in our GenAI offerings. (More on how we’re approaching GenAI and why we believe we’ll be successful later in the letter.)

We’re also making progress on many of our newer business investments that have the potential to be important to customers and Amazon long-term. Touching on two of them:

We have increasing conviction that Prime Video can be a large and profitable business on its own. This confidence is buoyed by the continued development of compelling, exclusive content (e.g. Thursday Night Football, Lord of the Rings, Reacher, The Boys, Citadel , Road House , etc.), Prime Video customers’ engagement with this content, growth in our marketplace programs (through our third-party Channels program, as well as the broad selection of shows and movies customers rent or buy), and the addition of advertising in Prime Video.

In October, we hit a major milestone in our journey to commercialize Project Kuiper when we launched two end-to-end prototype satellites into space, and successfully validated all key systems and sub-systems—rare in an initial launch like this. Kuiper is our low Earth orbit satellite initiative that aims to provide broadband connectivity to the 400-500 million households who don’t have it today (as well as governments and enterprises seeking better connectivity and performance in more remote areas), and is a very large revenue opportunity for Amazon. We’re on track to launch our first production satellites in 2024. We’ve still got a long way to go, but are encouraged by our progress.

Overall, 2023 was a strong year, and I’m grateful to our collective teams who delivered on behalf of customers. These results represent a lot of invention, collaboration, discipline, execution, and reimagination across Amazon. Yet, I think every one of us at Amazon believes that we have a long way to go, in every one of our businesses, before we exhaust how we can make customers’ lives better and easier, and there is considerable upside in each of the businesses in which we’re investing.

In my annual letter over the last three years, I’ve tried to give shareholders more insight into how we’re thinking about the company, the businesses we’re pursuing, our future opportunities, and what makes us tick. We operate in a diverse number of market segments, but what ties Amazon together is our joint mission to make customers’ lives better and easier every day. This is true across every customer segment we serve (consumers, sellers, brands, developers, enterprises, and creators). At our best, we’re not just customer obsessed, but also inventive, thinking several years out, learning like crazy, scrappy, delivering quickly, and operating like the world’s biggest start-up.

We spend enormous energy thinking about how to empower builders, inside and outside of our company. We characterize builders as people who like to invent. They like to dissect a customer experience, assess what’s wrong with it, and reinvent it. Builders tend not to be satisfied until the customer experience is perfect. This doesn’t hinder them from delivering improvements along the way, but it drives them to keep tinkering and iterating continually. While unafraid to invent from scratch, they have no hesitation about using high-quality, scalable, cost-effective components from others. What matters to builders is having the right tools to keep rapidly improving customer experiences.

The best way we know how to do this is by building primitive services . Think of them as discrete, foundational building blocks that builders can weave together in whatever combination they desire. Here’s how we described primitives in our 2003 AWS Vision document:

“Primitives are the raw parts or the most foundational-level building blocks for software developers. They’re indivisible (if they can be functionally split into two they must) and they do one thing really well. They’re meant to be used together rather than as solutions in and of themselves. And, we’ll build them for maximum developer flexibility. We won’t put a bunch of constraints on primitives to guard against developers hurting themselves. Rather, we’ll optimize for developer freedom and innovation.”

Of course, this concept of primitives can be applied to more than software development, but they’re especially relevant in technology. And, over the last 20 years, primitives have been at the heart of how we’ve innovated quickly.

One of the many advantages to thinking in primitives is speed . Let me give you two counter examples that illustrate this point. First, we built a successful owned-inventory retail business in the early years at Amazon where we bought all our products from publishers, manufacturers, and distributors, stored them in our warehouses, and shipped them ourselves. Over time, we realized we could add broader selection and lower prices by allowing third-party sellers to list their offerings next to our own on our highly trafficked search and product detail pages. We’d built several core retail services (e.g. payments, search, ordering, browse, item management) that made trying different marketplace concepts simpler than if we didn’t have those components. A good set of primitives? Not really.

It turns out that these core components were too jumbled together and not partitioned right. We learned this the hard way when we partnered with companies like Target in our Merchant.com business in the early 2000s. The concept was that target.com would use Amazon’s ecommerce components as the backbone of its website, and then customize however they wished. To enable this arrangement, we had to deliver those components as separable capabilities through application programming interfaces (“APIs”). This decoupling was far more difficult than anticipated because we’d built so many dependencies between these services as Amazon grew so quickly the first few years.

This coupling was further highlighted by a heavyweight mechanism we used to operate called “NPI.” Any new initiative requiring work from multiple internal teams had to be reviewed by this NPI cabal where each team would communicate how many people-weeks their work would take. This bottleneck constrained what we accomplished, frustrated the heck out of us, and inspired us to eradicate it by refactoring these ecommerce components into true primitive services with well-documented, stable APIs that enabled our builders to use each other’s services without any coordination tax.

In the middle of the Target and NPI challenges, we were contemplating building a new set of infrastructure technology services that would allow both Amazon to move more quickly and external developers to build anything they imagined. This set of services became known as AWS, and the above experiences convinced us that we should build a set of primitive services that could be composed together how anybody saw fit. At that time, most technology offerings were very feature-rich, and tried to solve multiple jobs simultaneously. As a result, they often didn’t do any one job that well.

Our AWS primitive services were designed from the start to be different. They offered important, highly flexible, but focused functionality. For instance, our first major primitive was Amazon Simple Storage Service (“S3”) in March 2006 that aimed to provide highly secure object storage, at very high durability and availability, at Internet scale, and very low cost. In other words, be stellar at object storage. When we launched S3, developers were excited, and a bit mystified. It was a very useful primitive service, but they wondered, why just object storage? When we launched Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (“EC2”) in August 2006 and Amazon SimpleDB in 2007, people realized we were building a set of primitive infrastructure services that would allow them to build anything they could imagine, much faster, more cost-effectively, and without having to manage or lay out capital upfront for the datacenter or hardware. As AWS unveiled these building blocks over time (we now have over 240 at builders’ disposal—meaningfully more than any other provider), whole companies sprang up quickly on top of AWS (e.g. Airbnb, Dropbox, Instagram, Pinterest, Stripe, etc.), industries reinvented themselves on AWS (e.g. streaming with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Fox, Paramount), and even critical government agencies switched to AWS (e.g. CIA, along with several other U.S. Intelligence agencies). But, one of the lesser-recognized beneficiaries was Amazon’s own consumer businesses, which innovated at dramatic speed across retail, advertising, devices (e.g. Alexa and Fire TV), Prime Video and Music, Amazon Go, Drones, and many other endeavors by leveraging the speed with which AWS let them build. Primitives, done well, rapidly accelerate builders’ ability to innovate .

So, how do you build the right set of primitives?

Pursuing primitives is not a guarantee of success. There are many you could build, and even more ways to combine them. But, a good compass is to pick real customer problems you’re trying to solve .

Our logistics primitives are an instructive example. In Amazon’s early years, we built core capabilities around warehousing items, and then picking, packing, and shipping them quickly and reliably to customers. As we added third-party sellers to our marketplace, they frequently requested being able to use these same logistics capabilities. Because we’d built this initial set of logistics primitives, we were able to introduce Fulfillment by Amazon (“FBA”) in 2006, allowing sellers to use Amazon’s Fulfillment Network to store items, and then have us pick, pack, and ship them to customers, with the bonus of these products being available for fast, Prime delivery. This service has saved sellers substantial time and money (typically about 70% less expensive than doing themselves), and remains one of our most popular services. As more merchants began to operate their own direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) websites, many yearned to still use our fulfillment capabilities, while also accessing our payments and identity primitives to drive higher order conversion on their own websites (as Prime members have already shared this payment and identity information with Amazon). A couple years ago, we launched Buy with Prime to address this customer need. Prime members can check out quickly on DTC websites like they do on Amazon, and receive fast Prime shipping speeds on Buy with Prime items—increasing order conversion for merchants by ~25% vs. their default experience.

As our Stores business has grown substantially, and our supply chain become more complex, we’ve had to develop a slew of capabilities in order to offer customers unmatched selection, at low prices, and with very fast delivery times. We’ve become adept at getting products from other countries to the U.S., clearing customs, and then shipping to storage facilities. Because we don’t have enough space in our shipping fulfillment centers to store all the inventory needed to maintain our desired in-stock levels, we’ve built a set of lower-cost, upstream warehouses solely optimized for storage (without sophisticated end-user, pick, pack, and ship functions). Having these two pools of inventory has prompted us to build algorithms predicting when we’ll run out of inventory in our shipping fulfillment centers and automatically replenishing from these upstream warehouses. And, in the last few years, our scale and available alternatives have forced us to build our own last mile delivery capability (roughly the size of UPS) to affordably serve the number of consumers and sellers wanting to use Amazon.

We’ve solved these customer needs by building additional fulfillment primitives that both serve Amazon consumers better and address external sellers’ increasingly complex ecommerce activities. For instance, for sellers needing help importing products, we offer a Global Mile service that leverages our expertise here. To ship inventory from the border (or anywhere domestically) to our storage facilities, we enable sellers to use either our first-party Amazon Freight service or third-party freight partners via our Partnered Carrier Program. To store more inventory at lower cost to ensure higher in-stock rates and shorter delivery times, we’ve opened our upstream Amazon Warehousing and Distribution facilities to sellers (along with automated replenishment to our shipping fulfillment centers when needed). For those wanting to manage their own shipping, we’ve started allowing customers to use our last mile delivery network to deliver packages to their end-customers in a service called Amazon Shipping. And, for sellers who wish to use our fulfillment network as a central place to store inventory and ship items to customers regardless of where they ordered, we have a Multi-Channel Fulfillment service. These are all primitives that we’ve exposed to sellers.

Building in primitives meaningfully expands your degrees of freedom . You can keep your primitives to yourself and build compelling features and capabilities on top of them to allow your customers and business to reap the benefits of rapid innovation. You can offer primitives to external customers as paid services (as we have with AWS and our more recent logistics offerings). Or, you can compose these primitives into external, paid applications as we have with FBA, Buy with Prime, or Supply Chain by Amazon (a recently released logistics service that integrates several of our logistics primitives). But, you’ve got options. You’re only constrained by the primitives you’ve built and your imagination.

Take the new, same-day fulfillment facilities in our Stores business. They’re located in the largest metro areas around the U.S. (we currently have 58), house our top-moving 100,000 SKUs (but also cover millions of other SKUs that can be injected from nearby fulfillment centers into these same-day facilities), and streamline the time required to go from picking a customer’s order to being ready to ship to as little as 11 minutes. These facilities also constitute our lowest cost to serve in the network. The experience has been so positive for customers that we’re planning to double the number of these facilities.

But, how else might we use this capability if we think of it as a core building block? We have a very large and growing grocery business in organic grocery (with Whole Foods Market) and non-perishable goods (e.g. consumables, canned goods, health and beauty products, etc.). We’ve been working hard on building a mass, physical store offering (Amazon Fresh) that offers a great perishable experience; however, what if we used our same-day facilities to enable customers to easily add milk, eggs, or other perishable items to any Amazon order and get same day? It might change how people think of splitting up their weekly grocery shopping, and make perishable shopping as convenient as non-perishable shopping already is.

Or, take a service that some people have questioned, but that’s making substantial progress and we think of as a very valuable future primitive capability—our delivery drones (called Prime Air). Drones will eventually allow us to deliver packages to customers in less than an hour. It won’t start off being available for all sizes of packages and in all locations, but we believe it’ll be pervasive over time. Think about how the experience of ordering perishable items changes with sub-one-hour delivery?

The same is true for Amazon Pharmacy. Need throat lozenges, Advil, an antibiotic, or some other medication? Same-day facilities already deliver many of these items within hours, and that will only get shorter as we launch Prime Air more expansively. Highly flexible building blocks can be composed across businesses and in new combinations that change what’s possible for customers.

Being intentional about building primitives requires patience . Releasing the first couple primitive services can sometimes feel random to customers (or the public at large) before we’ve unveiled how these building blocks come together. I’ve mentioned AWS and S3 as an example, but our Health offering is another. In the last 10 years, we’ve tried several Health experiments across various teams—but they were not driven by our primitives approach. This changed in 2022 when we applied our primitives thinking to the enormous global healthcare problem and opportunity. We’ve now created several important building blocks to help transform the customer health experience: Acute Care (via Amazon Clinic), Primary Care (via One Medical), and a Pharmacy service to buy whatever medication a patient may need. Because of our growing success, Amazon customers are now asking us to help them with all kinds of wellness and nutrition opportunities—which can be partially unlocked with some of our existing grocery building blocks, including Whole Foods Market or Amazon Fresh.

As a builder, it’s hard to wait for these building blocks to be built versus just combining a bunch of components together to solve a specific problem. The latter can be faster, but almost always slows you down in the future. We’ve seen this temptation in our robotics efforts in our fulfillment network. There are dozens of processes we seek to automate to improve safety, productivity, and cost. Some of the biggest opportunities require invention in domains such as storage automation, manipulation, sortation, mobility of large cages across long distances, and automatic identification of items. Many teams would skip right to the complex solution, baking in “just enough” of these disciplines to make a concerted solution work, but which doesn’t solve much more, can’t easily be evolved as new requirements emerge, and that can’t be reused for other initiatives needing many of the same components. However, when you think in primitives, like our Robotics team does, you prioritize the building blocks, picking important initiatives that can benefit from each of these primitives, but which build the tool chest to compose more freely (and quickly) for future and complex needs. Our Robotics team has built primitives in each of the above domains that will be lynchpins in our next set of automation, which includes multi-floor storage, trailer loading and unloading, large pallet mobility, and more flexible sortation across our outbound processes (including in vehicles). The team is also building a set of foundation AI models to better identify products in complex environments, optimize the movement of our growing robotic fleet, and better manage the bottlenecks in our facilities.

Sometimes, people ask us “what’s your next pillar? You have Marketplace, Prime, and AWS, what’s next?” This, of course, is a thought-provoking question. However, a question people never ask, and might be even more interesting is what’s the next set of primitives you’re building that enables breakthrough customer experiences? If you asked me today, I’d lead with Generative AI (“GenAI”).

Much of the early public attention has focused on GenAI applications , with the remarkable 2022 launch of ChatGPT. But, to our “primitive” way of thinking, there are three distinct layers in the GenAI stack, each of which is gigantic, and each of which we’re deeply investing.

The bottom layer is for developers and companies wanting to build foundation models (“FMs”). The primary primitives are the compute required to train models and generate inferences (or predictions), and the software that makes it easier to build these models. Starting with compute, the key is the chip inside it. To date, virtually all the leading FMs have been trained on Nvidia chips, and we continue to offer the broadest collection of Nvidia instances of any provider. That said, supply has been scarce and cost remains an issue as customers scale their models and applications. Customers have asked us to push the envelope on price-performance for AI chips, just as we have with Graviton for generalized CPU chips. As a result, we’ve built custom AI training chips (named Trainium) and inference chips (named Inferentia). In 2023, we announced second versions of our Trainium and Inferentia chips, which are both meaningfully more price-performant than their first versions and other alternatives. This past fall, leading FM-maker, Anthropic, announced it would use Trainium and Inferentia to build, train, and deploy its future FMs. We already have several customers using our AI chips, including Anthropic, Airbnb, Hugging Face, Qualtrics, Ricoh, and Snap.

Customers building their own FM must tackle several challenges in getting a model into production. Getting data organized and fine-tuned, building scalable and efficient training infrastructure, and then deploying models at scale in a low latency, cost-efficient manner is hard. It’s why we’ve built Amazon SageMaker, a managed, end-to-end service that’s been a game changer for developers in preparing their data for AI, managing experiments, training models faster (e.g. Perplexity AI trains models 40% faster in SageMaker), lowering inference latency (e.g. Workday has reduced inference latency by 80% with SageMaker), and improving developer productivity (e.g. NatWest reduced its time-to-value for AI from 12-18 months to under seven months using SageMaker).

The middle layer is for customers seeking to leverage an existing FM, customize it with their own data, and leverage a leading cloud provider’s security and features to build a GenAI application—all as a managed service. Amazon Bedrock invented this layer and provides customers with the easiest way to build and scale GenAI applications with the broadest selection of first- and third-party FMs, as well as leading ease-of-use capabilities that allow GenAI builders to get higher quality model outputs more quickly. Bedrock is off to a very strong start with tens of thousands of active customers after just a few months. The team continues to iterate rapidly on Bedrock, recently delivering Guardrails (to safeguard what questions applications will answer), Knowledge Bases (to expand models’ knowledge base with Retrieval Augmented Generation—or RAG—and real-time queries), Agents (to complete multi-step tasks), and Fine-Tuning (to keep teaching and refining models), all of which improve customers’ application quality. We also just added new models from Anthropic (their newly-released Claude 3 is the best performing large language model in the world), Meta (with Llama 2), Mistral, Stability AI, Cohere, and our own Amazon Titan family of FMs. What customers have learned at this early stage of GenAI is that there’s meaningful iteration required to build a production GenAI application with the requisite enterprise quality at the cost and latency needed. Customers don’t want only one model. They want access to various models and model sizes for different types of applications. Customers want a service that makes this experimenting and iterating simple, and this is what Bedrock does, which is why customers are so excited about it. Customers using Bedrock already include ADP, Amdocs, Bridgewater Associates, Broadridge, Clariant, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Delta Air Lines, Druva, Genesys, Genomics England, GoDaddy, Intuit, KT, Lonely Planet, LexisNexis, Netsmart, Perplexity AI, Pfizer, PGA TOUR, Ricoh, Rocket Companies, and Siemens.

The top layer of this stack is the application layer. We’re building a substantial number of GenAI applications across every Amazon consumer business. These range from Rufus (our new, AI-powered shopping assistant), to an even more intelligent and capable Alexa, to advertising capabilities (making it simple with natural language prompts to generate, customize, and edit high-quality images, advertising copy, and videos), to customer and seller service productivity apps, to dozens of others. We’re also building several apps in AWS, including arguably the most compelling early GenAI use case—a coding companion. We recently launched Amazon Q, an expert on AWS that writes, debugs, tests, and implements code, while also doing transformations (like moving from an old version of Java to a new one), and querying customers’ various data repositories (e.g. Intranets, wikis, Salesforce, Amazon S3, ServiceNow, Slack, Atlassian, etc.) to answer questions, summarize data, carry on coherent conversation, and take action. Q is the most capable work assistant available today and evolving fast.

While we’re building a substantial number of GenAI applications ourselves, the vast majority will ultimately be built by other companies. However, what we’re building in AWS is not just a compelling app or foundation model. These AWS services, at all three layers of the stack, comprise a set of primitives that democratize this next seminal phase of AI, and will empower internal and external builders to transform virtually every customer experience that we know (and invent altogether new ones as well). We’re optimistic that much of this world-changing AI will be built on top of AWS.

(By the way, don’t underestimate the importance of security in GenAI. Customers’ AI models contain some of their most sensitive data. AWS and its partners offer the strongest security capabilities and track record in the world; and as a result, more and more customers want to run their GenAI on AWS.)

Recently, I was asked a provocative question—how does Amazon remain resilient? While simple in its wording, it’s profound because it gets to the heart of our success to date as well as for the future. The answer lies in our discipline around deeply held principles: 1/ hiring builders who are motivated to continually improve and expand what’s possible; 2/ solving real customer challenges, rather than what we think may be interesting technology; 3/ building in primitives so that we can innovate and experiment at the highest rate; 4/ not wasting time trying to fight gravity (spoiler alert: you always lose)—when we discover technology that enables better customer experiences, we embrace it; 5/ accepting and learning from failed experiments—actually becoming more energized to try again, with new knowledge to employ.

Today, we continue to operate in times of unprecedented change that come with unusual opportunities for growth across the areas in which we operate. For instance, while we have a nearly $500B consumer business, about 80% of the worldwide retail market segment still resides in physical stores. Similarly, with a cloud computing business at nearly a $100B revenue run rate, more than 85% of the global IT spend is still on-premises. These businesses will keep shifting online and into the cloud. In Media and Advertising, content will continue to migrate from linear formats to streaming. Globally, hundreds of millions of people who don’t have adequate broadband access will gain that connectivity in the next few years. Last but certainly not least, Generative AI may be the largest technology transformation since the cloud (which itself, is still in the early stages), and perhaps since the Internet. Unlike the mass modernization of on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, where there’s work required to migrate, this GenAI revolution will be built from the start on top of the cloud. The amount of societal and business benefit from the solutions that will be possible will astound us all.

There has never been a time in Amazon’s history where we’ve felt there is so much opportunity to make our customers’ lives better and easier. We’re incredibly excited about what’s possible, focused on inventing the future, and look forward to working together to make it so.

Andy Jassy President and Chief Executive Officer Amazon.com, Inc.

P.S. As we have always done, our original 1997 Shareholder Letter follows. What’s written there is as true today as it was in 1997.

To our shareholders:

Amazon.com passed many milestones in 1997: by year-end, we had served more than 1.5 million customers, yielding 838% revenue growth to $147.8 million, and extended our market leadership despite aggressive competitive entry.

But this is Day 1 for the Internet and, if we execute well, for Amazon.com. Today, online commerce saves customers money and precious time. Tomorrow, through personalization, online commerce will accelerate the very process of discovery. Amazon.com uses the Internet to create real value for its customers and, by doing so, hopes to create an enduring franchise, even in established and large markets.

We have a window of opportunity as larger players marshal the resources to pursue the online opportunity and as customers, new to purchasing online, are receptive to forming new relationships. The competitive landscape has continued to evolve at a fast pace. Many large players have moved online with credible offerings and have devoted substantial energy and resources to building awareness, traffic, and sales. Our goal is to move quickly to solidify and extend our current position while we begin to pursue the online commerce opportunities in other areas. We see substantial opportunity in the large markets we are targeting. This strategy is not without risk: it requires serious investment and crisp execution against established franchise leaders.

It’s All About the Long Term

We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term . This value will be a direct result of our ability to extend and solidify our current market leadership position. The stronger our market leadership, the more powerful our economic model. Market leadership can translate directly to higher revenue, higher profitability, greater capital velocity, and correspondingly stronger returns on invested capital.

Our decisions have consistently reflected this focus. We first measure ourselves in terms of the metrics most indicative of our market leadership: customer and revenue growth, the degree to which our customers continue to purchase from us on a repeat basis, and the strength of our brand. We have invested and will continue to invest aggressively to expand and leverage our customer base, brand, and infrastructure as we move to establish an enduring franchise.

Because of our emphasis on the long term, we may make decisions and weigh tradeoffs differently than some companies. Accordingly, we want to share with you our fundamental management and decision-making approach so that you, our shareholders, may confirm that it is consistent with your investment philosophy:

We will continue to focus relentlessly on our customers.
We will continue to make investment decisions in light of long-term market leadership considerations rather than short-term profitability considerations or short-term Wall Street reactions.
We will continue to measure our programs and the effectiveness of our investments analytically, to jettison those that do not provide acceptable returns, and to step up our investment in those that work best. We will continue to learn from both our successes and our failures.
We will make bold rather than timid investment decisions where we see a sufficient probability of gaining market leadership advantages. Some of these investments will pay off, others will not, and we will have learned another valuable lesson in either case.
When forced to choose between optimizing the appearance of our GAAP accounting and maximizing the present value of future cash flows, we’ll take the cash flows.
We will share our strategic thought processes with you when we make bold choices (to the extent competitive pressures allow), so that you may evaluate for yourselves whether we are making rational long-term leadership investments.
We will work hard to spend wisely and maintain our lean culture. We understand the importance of continually reinforcing a cost-conscious culture, particularly in a business incurring net losses.
We will balance our focus on growth with emphasis on long-term profitability and capital management. At this stage, we choose to prioritize growth because we believe that scale is central to achieving the potential of our business model.
We will continue to focus on hiring and retaining versatile and talented employees, and continue to weight their compensation to stock options rather than cash. We know our success will be largely affected by our ability to attract and retain a motivated employee base, each of whom must think like, and therefore must actually be, an owner.

We aren’t so bold as to claim that the above is the “right” investment philosophy, but it’s ours, and we would be remiss if we weren’t clear in the approach we have taken and will continue to take.

With this foundation, we would like to turn to a review of our business focus, our progress in 1997, and our outlook for the future.

Obsess Over Customers

From the beginning, our focus has been on offering our customers compelling value. We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy- to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. We maintained a dogged focus on improving the shopping experience, and in 1997 substantially enhanced our store. We now offer customers gift certificates, 1-Click shopping℠, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. We dramatically lowered prices, further increasing customer value. Word of mouth remains the most powerful customer acquisition tool we have, and we are grateful for the trust our customers have placed in us. Repeat purchases and word of mouth have combined to make Amazon.com the market leader in online bookselling.

By many measures, Amazon.com came a long way in 1997:

Sales grew from $15.7 million in 1996 to $147.8 million – an 838% increase.
Cumulative customer accounts grew from 180,000 to 1,510,000 – a 738% increase.
The percentage of orders from repeat customers grew from over 46% in the fourth quarter of 1996 to over 58% in the same period in 1997.
In terms of audience reach, per Media Metrix, our Web site went from a rank of 90th to within the top 20.
We established long-term relationships with many important strategic partners, including America Online, Yahoo!, Excite, Netscape, GeoCities, AltaVista, @Home, and Prodigy.

Infrastructure

During 1997, we worked hard to expand our business infrastructure to support these greatly increased traffic, sales, and service levels:

Amazon.com’s employee base grew from 158 to 614, and we significantly strengthened our management team.
Distribution center capacity grew from 50,000 to 285,000 square feet, including a 70% expansion of our Seattle facilities and the launch of our second distribution center in Delaware in November.
Inventories rose to over 200,000 titles at year-end, enabling us to improve availability for our customers.
Our cash and investment balances at year-end were $125 million, thanks to our initial public offering in May 1997 and our $75 million loan, affording us substantial strategic flexibility.

Our Employees

The past year’s success is the product of a talented, smart, hard-working group, and I take great pride in being a part of this team. Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success.

It’s not easy to work here (when I interview people I tell them, “You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can’t choose two out of three”), but we are working to build something important, something that matters to our customers, something that we can all tell our grandchildren about. Such things aren’t meant to be easy. We are incredibly fortunate to have this group of dedicated employees whose sacrifices and passion build Amazon.com.

Goals for 1998

We are still in the early stages of learning how to bring new value to our customers through Internet commerce and merchandising. Our goal remains to continue to solidify and extend our brand and customer base. This requires sustained investment in systems and infrastructure to support outstanding customer convenience, selection, and service while we grow. We are planning to add music to our product offering, and over time we believe that other products may be prudent investments. We also believe there are significant opportunities to better serve our customers overseas, such as reducing delivery times and better tailoring the customer experience. To be certain, a big part of the challenge for us will lie not in finding new ways to expand our business, but in prioritizing our investments.

We now know vastly more about online commerce than when Amazon.com was founded, but we still have so much to learn. Though we are optimistic, we must remain vigilant and maintain a sense of urgency. The challenges and hurdles we will face to make our long-term vision for Amazon.com a reality are several: aggressive, capable, well-funded competition; considerable growth challenges and execution risk; the risks of product and geographic expansion; and the need for large continuing investments to meet an expanding market opportunity. However, as we’ve long said, online bookselling, and online commerce in general, should prove to be a very large market, and it’s likely that a number of companies will see significant benefit. We feel good about what we’ve done, and even more excited about what we want to do.

1997 was indeed an incredible year. We at Amazon.com are grateful to our customers for their business and trust, to each other for our hard work, and to our shareholders for their support and encouragement.

Jeffrey P. Bezos Founder and Chief Executive Officer Amazon.com, Inc.

Andy Jassy sits down for an interview with CNBC.

Watch: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy talks about our innovation in AI, faster delivery, and more

Amazon and Anthropic deepen their shared commitment to advancing generative AI

Amazon Q4 earnings call: Here’s what CEO Andy Jassy and CFO Brian Olsavsky had to say

Headshots of John Felton, AWS CFO, and Udit Madan, VP Worldwide Operations at Amazon.

An update on Amazon leadership in Operations and AWS Finance

Amazon CEO sits down for a conversation with CNBC's Jim Cramer that aired on Mad Money.

Watch Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s conversation with CNBC’s Jim Cramer

Two people stand on stage next to a Hyundai vehicle. There is an oversized Amazon box behind them.

Amazon and Hyundai launch a broad, strategic partnership—including vehicle sales on Amazon.com in 2024

Andy Jassy and Dave Limp welcome Panos Panay as Amazon's new Devices & Services leader

Side-by-side logos for Amazon and Anthropic.

Amazon and Anthropic announce strategic collaboration to advance generative AI

3 new leaders join Amazon Steam

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Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft
Professional Will Writing service for Norfolk and Suffolk providing Wills, Lasting Powers Of Attorney and Funeral Plans. We will come to you at a time that suits you. Call 01502 801401 for a free consultation with no obligation. ... Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft. 28 Rounces Lane.
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Lowestoft Suffolk NR32 1PA. Telephone: 01502 532 700 Fax: 01502 532 719. Goodwin Cowley Solicitors 52 Field Lane Kessingland Suffolk NR33 7QA. Telephone: 01502 377388 Fax: 01502 532 719. Office in Norfolk. Goodwin Cowley Solicitors 38-42 Bethel Street Norwich Norfolk NR2 1NR. Telephone: 0330 055 7598 Fax: 01502 532 719
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Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft
Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft, Lowestoft. 49 likes. Welcome to Anglian Will Writing Lowestoft.
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WSL Will Writing Reviews
Replies to negative reviews in < 2 days. Information written by the company. Established in 1992, WSL is a specialist Will writing company offering a home visit service, available daytime or evening, seven days a week. WSL Will Writing has 5 stars! Check out what 1,636 people have written so far, and share your own experience.
2024 Law Review Writing Competition
This year's competition runs from Thursday, May 23rd, at 12:00 p.m. (EST) to Tuesday, May 28th, at 5:00 p.m. (EST). All materials for this year's competition will be available at no charge on the TWEN webpage beginning at 12:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, May 23rd. However, the fee for a printed copy of the materials is $20. Click on "Buy Packet" and select the date you are making the purchase ...
Call for Submissions: 2024 Tobin Siebers Prize
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Marquette Law Review Summer 2024 Write-on Competition
Step 3: The 2023 Writing Competition will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, and end at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30. You must turn in your submission by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, for your materials to be graded. Late submissions will not be accepted.
David Jonsson Writing Drama Series 'Hype', Clerkenwell Films Attached
David Jonsson, star of 'Industry' and 'Rye Lane', is writing drama series 'Hype' (working title) with 'Baby Reindeer' producer Clerkenwell Films.
Some ex-TikTok employees say the social media service worked closely
Nearly every 14 days, as part of Turner's job throughout 2022, he emailed spreadsheets filled with data for hundreds of thousands of U.S. users to ByteDance workers in Beijing.
CEO Andy Jassy's 2023 Letter to Shareholders
For instance, for sellers needing help importing products, we offer a Global Mile service that leverages our expertise here. To ship inventory from the border (or anywhere domestically) to our storage facilities, we enable sellers to use either our first-party Amazon Freight service or third-party freight partners via our Partnered Carrier Program.