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What Types of Awards Have You Entered?
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Annette
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Nov 13, 2015 04:40AM
Assuming that author/book awards provide credibility if not outright sales down the line, which types of awards do you find worthwhile? There are many awards offered to authors with varying fees and one can easily exhaust marketing budgets.
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Most of those targeted to indie authors are scams--some outright, others less obvious. Victoria Strauss has a good summary on her website: http://www.victoriastrauss.com/advice...
Sorry, but I've never understood why anyone would pay a fee to possibly "win" an award. As far as I'm concerned anyone who asks me to pay to enter a "contest" is ripping me off. Not a chance I'll do it.Just my USD .02.
Eric
A great article confirming some of my suspicions. I wonder if there is a comprehensive list somewhere that lists all the reputable awards/organizations. Thanks for sharing!
For my money, the only awards with any clout are the ones you CAN'T pay to enter. It's a funny industry but the same maxim applies to publishers. If you should win one of these "awards", the chances are no one of consequence will ever get to know, and there's a real risk of your details/card etc being compromised.
My first book was chosen as one of the finalists in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards for 2013. I was pleased to know that my book was read by a circle of judges in London and another in Stockholm and I was interested in what they had to say in their review of my book on Goodreads and Amazon. My second book has been chosen as an indieBRAG Medallion Honoree. I just want people to read my books. That my first two books were granted awards was a pleasant surprise. It meant they had passed the test. Other people liked reading them.
Whether a particular contest charges a fee or not is not relevant. I have enter both kinds. What matters is whether the contest has competent, impartial judging and is a legitimate competition. I have two books out in contests right now, one for the Spur award (no fee), and the other for the IPPY Award (fee.) The IPPY has over five-thousand books in the competition, the Spur under five hundred. Yet both are considered 'prestigious.' I have yet to see any legitimate book competition that rewards trashy, incompetent writing.
I haven't actually entered any, but my most recent book was reviewed on the Historical Novel Society and selected as Editor's Choice, which I have discovered automatically long lists me for the 2016 HNS Indie Award. Gotta admit, I do like that li'l logo.
Loretta, congratulations. You can now authoritatively call yourself an 'award-winning' author.
Steven wrote: "Loretta, congratulations. You can now authoritatively call yourself an 'award-winning' author."Lol, well, not unless I win the award, Steven. But I can at least call myself a long listed author, and that feels pretty good. I didn't even expect to be entered, so even if I don't make the shortlist, I'm pretty happy. And thanks for your congratulations. :-)
I've just gotten a couple emails from Writers Digest. They were the judges commentary. I got such high marks and glowing commentary by one that I don't know why I didn't win.On the other hand, I found out awhile back that I'm in the finalists for Red City Reviews' Book Awards.
Way to go, Lenita. Feels good, doesn't it.
I entered the Indie Book Awards, and the Eric Hoffer Awards that will be decided this next spring. It cost a little bit of money. So Why? It's fun. Chances are slim, but it's fun.
I entered one where the entrance fee was a donation to the charity of the author's choosing (related to the genre). All you had to do was show them the receipt. I thought that was an excellent "entry fee". :-)
Philip wrote: "My first book was chosen as one of the finalists in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards for 2013."Philip, just a friendly note that self-promotion is discouraged in the Author Feedback Group so I've edited your post to remove this.
I love the comments. Thank you all for the good information.
The 2015 Drunken Druid's Book Award is still open for submissions -> http://www.drunkendruidawards.com/#!c...
I'm very choosey. I've only entered those contests that other people won.
There is no chance at all of my SF winning a Hugo or Nebula, and there are no awards suited to my erotica, so I can't see any purpose. Getting some award that nobody has heard of is unlikely to impress a potential reader. They certainly don't affect my choice of purchases.
I think I'm on the NY Times Worst Seller list. Don't think I can be salesman.
I have entered my recent memoir in the Lambda Literary Awards and the Publishing Triangle Awards- both contests are for LGBT authors. Would be honored to win or to even be a finalist in the memoir category.
Good luck. I wish you the best. I am in the memoir category. I think you are a winner. I wish you the best, I have entered my book " The Remembered Self: A Journey into the Heart of the Beast: by MJ Payne
I like contests. They are fun to enter. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There are many excellent books that are entered in contests. While judging is subjective, it does go through a specific process. The cream of writing does rise to the top when compared to other submissions entered. As authors we should know that there are very good authors out there besides ourselves. I entered six contests with my first book, it was chosen as a 2013 National Indie Excellence Award Finalists. I entered at least 12 since then with no success. We should buy books that were chosen as the Winner and Finalists in contests. It's good to read what judges have chosen. As a recent judge in a Regional Poetry contest, I was very impressed with the quality of work I read. Have fun with contests, don't take it too serious. There are WINNING manuscripts that are submitted beyond the winner and finalists who are chosen. Never give up.
I write because I love the process. I feel compelled to do it and enjoy crafting words. I do it for myself because creating well written books is an end in itself. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, but that isn't the main reason I write.
