By Scott Lorenz"Do book awards matter?" YES!!
As a book publicist I am here to inform you that yes, they absolutely do matter! In fact, one of my clients won the prestigious Los Angeles Book Festival award. That then led to a flurry of media interest, which subsequently led to a major New York agent deciding to represent the book and pitch it to all the major publishing houses. This author, needless to say, was happy he decided to enter.
Another client won several awards and was contacted by two movie producers about her Young Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy Fiction book.
Pursuing and winning book awards will give you another opportunity to reach out to the media, booksellers and agents. As a book publicist I see the media perk up when an author client has received an award. It’s the added credibility that gives them the assurance that the book is worthwhile. It takes the risk out of the equation for the producer or reporter if it’s an 'award winning' book.
Awards also create interest in your book, which can lead to more sales and other opportunities. A book award may cause someone to stop in their tracks and consider picking up your book in a book store. A book award can give you an edge and sometimes that’s all the difference you need to propel your book into bestseller territory. If you win you can say you are an “award winning author.” Doesn’t that sound better? Of course it does, and you get a little magic that comes from a third party endorsement because an authority says your work is worthy, and that’s priceless.
Most awards charge a fee to enter. Not all awards have a category for your genre and not all of these will work for every book.
Here’s a list of my Top 37 book awards worthy of your consideration. Keep in mind that links change all the time and contests come and go. Some links are for the previous year because that’s all that was available at the time of this writing, and some may have already expired, so consider making a note of them for next year.
1. The 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards: the contest is for independent, university, small press, self-publishers and independent authors throughout North America and overseas publishers who publish books intended for the American market. https://secure.independentpublisher.com/cart/?process=product_detail&product_id=4
2. Entering IndieFab Awards should definitely be on your literary to-do list. Formerly ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards. https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/
3. Check out the National Book Critics Circle Awards: http://bookcritics.org/awards/award_submissions/
4. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction boasts that the prize is the world's most important literary award. Entry Forms are due March 6 and Finished Books are due June 19. http://www.themanbookerprize.com/node/20
5. The Newbery Medal was the world’s first children’s book award. Enter before December 31: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyapp/newberyapplication
6. Enter to win the Caldecott Medal before December 31 for your Children’s picture book: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottapp/caldecottapplication.cfm
7. Find out how your book can earn a Hugo Award and check out science fiction’s most prestigious award: http://www.thehugoawards.org/about/
8. Strive to be nominated and win the Nobel Prize in literature. Who can nominate? Professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and university colleges to name a few. (Another reason it pays to keep the ties to your alma mater!) http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/nomination/
9. See how to submit your book for The Edgar Allan Poe Award, “The Edgar.” http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=Edgars-Info
10. FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year.
http://www.ft.com/intl/management/business-book-award
11. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has two deadlines: June 15, 2015 (for books published between January 1 and June 14), and a final deadline for all books published in 2015 on October 1: http://www.pulitzer.org/how_to_enter
12. The National Book Award by the National Book Foundation. Learn how to submit your book here: http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaentry.html
13. The 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards, known as the “IPPY” Awards, were conceived as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry, and are open to authors and publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market. http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/IPAwards.php
14. Learn more about how to enter to win the Stonewall Book Award: http://www.ala.org/glbtrt/award
15. Enter Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards. Don’t miss this important ebook only award. http://globalebookawards.com/
16. The Deadline for the Autumn House Press award for poetry, fiction and non-fiction is June 30. Check it out here: http://www.autumnhouse.org/contest-submissions/
17. Enter to win the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for debut fiction: http://www.pen-ne.org/hemingway-foundationpen-award/
18. Poets & Writers has nice list of writing contest, grants and awards. Check it out at: http://www.pw.org/grants
19. Find out how to make it on the Indie Next List to win an Indies Choice Book Award: http://www.bookweb.org/indiebound/nextlist/view
20. Get your book recommended for The Discover Great New Writers award: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_publishers/discover_program/discover_program.html
21. The Nautilus Book Award seeks books that make a difference and inspire. http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/
22. Here’s a service where you can enter several book festivals at the same time for about $50 per festival. This is absolutely the best idea. I’ve used this several times. One entry form, one payment, two books, ten plus book awards spread out over a year. http://bookfestivals.com/
23. The National Indie Excellence Book Awards competition selects award winners and finalists based on overall excellence of presentation in dozens of categories. Created especially for indie and self-published authors. http://www.indieexcellence.com
24. Have you written a business book? The Axiom Business Book Awards celebrate excellence in business book writing and publishing by presenting gold, silver and bronze medals in 20 business categories. http://www.axiomawards.com/
25. The non-profit Independent Book Publishers Association's Benjamin Franklin Awards are now in their 27th year of awarding excellence in book publishing in 55 categories. All entrants receive direct judge feedback--unique in the industry. For more information, visit: http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/
26. USA Best Book Awards has a ten year track record of honoring and promoting books to the national and international community. The contest is sponsored by USA Book News which covers books from all sections of the publishing industry—mainstream, independent, & self-published. http://www.usabooknews.com/2015usabestbookawards.html
27. Reader Views Annual Literary Awards were established to honor writers who self-publish or who were published by small presses or independent publishers. http://readerviews.com/literaryawards/
28. Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The Grand Prize winner will receive a publishing contract and a $50,000 advance. All you need is a CreateSpace account. Check out this year’s winners and learn how to enter: http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011
29. Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Whether you’re a professional writer, a part-time freelancer or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the only self-published competition exclusively for self-published books. One winning entry will receive $8,000 with nine first-place winners who’ll receive $1,000 each. http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/selfpublished
30. Readers’ Favorite Awards receives submissions from independent authors, small publishers, and publishing giants like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, with contestants that range from the first-time, self-published author to New York Times best-selling authors. https://readersfavorite.com/annual-book-award-contest.htm
31. Romance Writer of America promotes the interests of career-focused romance writers by sponsoring awards that acknowledge excellence in the romance genre. RWA sponsors: “The RITA” for published romance fiction novels and “The Golden Heart” for unpublished romance fiction manuscripts. http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=525
32. Epic eBook Awards by The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition (EPIC) annually recognizes the best ebooks in many categories. (Books may also have been be released in print editions.) The awards were previously known as the "Eppies" https://www.epicorg.com/competitions/epic-s-ebook-competition.html
33. Rubery Book Award is the longest established book award based in the UK for independent and self-published books. “The key to our success is having a keen eye for quality from distinguished and reputable judges.” First prize is $1,500 and the winning book will be read by a top literary agent. http://www.ruberybookaward.com/
34. The Eric Hoffer Award for independent books recognizes excellence in publishing with a $2,000 grand prize and various category honors and press type distinctions. To enter, a book must be from an academic press, small press or self-published author. http://www.hofferaward.com/HAbooks.html
35. Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Thousands of dollars in prize money. Finalists and Winners receive a list in the Next Generation Indie Book Catalog distributed to thousands of book buyers, media and others. Plus the top 70 books will be reviewed by a top New York Literary agent for possible representation. http://www.indiebookawards.com/awards.php
36. The International Book Awards (IBA 2015) are specifically designed to be a promotional vehicle for authors and publishers to launch their careers, open global markets and compete with talented authors and publishers throughout the world. Winners get an extensive public relations campaign, social media promotion and more. http://www.internationalbookawards.com/
37. The Digital Book Awards celebrate quality and innovation in digital content. Each year, award winners and finalists in fifteen categories illustrate the cutting edge of digital publishing, showcasing creative approaches to design, technology integration and e-reading experiences.
https://app.wizehive.com/apps/DigitalBookAwards15
Need another reason to enter? Jim Cox of Midwest Book Review says, "The fact is award stickers help to convince buyers to purchase. I've seen this happen with librarians--when faced with two competing titles and a limited acquisition budget the librarians will take the one that won an award, any award, over the title that doesn't have an award to its credit. I'm confident that this same phenomena works for bookstore patrons browsing the shelves as well."
The Bottom Line: Book awards do matter. Enter a few and become an "award winning author." As Hockey great Wayne Gretzky said "YOU Can’t Score Unless You Shoot!" Get to it and let me know how it goes. If you know of another book award I should check out, please send me the details.
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