Why You Should Pursue Book Awards
A friend of mine is having her book published through Beaver’s Pond Publishing (BPP). BPP is a mentoring press that offers a ton of services to their authors.
One of those services is ‘meet ups’ (group sessions) where BPP shares info on marketing, editing and other tips that may help the self publishing author. We’ll see how the whole Beaver’s Pond experience goes after my friend’s book is released. ;-)
Anyway, the topic of this particular meet-up was “The Do’s and Don’ts of submitting your book for awards.”
The presenter, Marly Cornell, is secretary and Midwest Book Awards chair for MIPA (Midwest Independent Publishing Association). She spoke candidly about the benefits of being an award winner, especially for those who are self publishing.
So what is a book award? A book award is a literary prize presented to authors to recognize quality American literature. Awards are presented annually for work published in the prior year.
These literary prizes are given in various genres: fiction, poetry, memoir, etc… And there are many types of award programs such as, specialty awards, trade awards, and major award programs (those well funded programs that receive more recognition).
The finalists and winners are usually chosen by a panel of writers.
How does this help the emerging writer? How many of us gravitate to books because we see that golden award sticker, I know I have. Especially those awarded the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Nobel Prize of Literature or the Pen/Faulkner Award or other major awards.
In addition to selling more books, being an award-winning author is a great title to add to your bio’s and cover letters.
After listening to Marly’s presentation, I was reluctant about applying. I’m a new writer, still unsure of myself; but to even make it as a finalist would be such a confidence builder!
It also adds to the credibility of your book, which is always beneficial for first time authors.
Most of the book award entries call for an entry fee. And as we all know, whenever there is money involved, we have to be careful of the wolves. So do a little research on the legitimacy of any award program you may be considering.
List of Book Award Programs:
