Publish a new Alexa skill this month and Amazon will give you an Echo Dot

Bent on encouraging new Alexa developers, Amazon is offering a new Echo Dot to first-timers who successfully publish an Alexa skill this month.

According to Amazon, 20,000-plus Alexa skill developers have registered with the company, and more than 50,000 skills have been certified already. In its pursuit of smart home voice assistant dominance, Amazon continues to add tools to the Alexa Skills Toolbox and to make it easy for developers and consumers to create new skills.

The new developer skills promotion is Amazon’s latest move to encourage engagement with the platform, to enlist new developers, and to add huge numbers of new skills to its libraries.

It’s not the case that Amazon will give you or anyone a new third-generation Echo Dot just for trying or for a poorly written, inconsequential skill. Timing matters, too.

To receive a free Echo Dot from Amazon, new skills must be published to the Alexa skill store between October 15 at 12:01 a.m. and October 31, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. Times are Pacific Time zone.

Amazon encourages early skill submissions in the announcement.

Any new US developer is eligible to enter the Alexa developer Echo Dot promotion. This will be a popular promotion, so please submit your skill for certification early. We realize some developers may need a little extra support from our certification team. If your skill is still in certification on October 31, we will give you until November 15 to complete the certification.

The promotion is only open to U.S. residents, but you can publish the skill in any country.

There are no limitations on skill types for this promotion. If you have an idea for a functional skill, an informational skill, or smart home skills, jokes, or just something random and silly, it’s fair game as long as it meets the certification standards for the Alexa skills store.

Amazon is also specific about the definition of a new developer.

To be considered a new developer, this must be the first skill published to the Alexa skill store whether via the developer console or a 3rd-party tool provider as of the start of the promotional period.

There are other specific conditions on the promotion announcement regarding the form and methods of submitting your skill and completing the form for the free Echo Dot — the free product form is valid only after your skill is published.