Hey there! Welcome to this blog about awards.
This is a short blog that provides an overview of awards.
I included this with the people section because I think people sometimes see books with awards as having a higher value. I know that could technically be seen as the product itself, but I decided to include it in the people section anyway. So, let’s begin. There are some benefits of winning awards for books. For one thing, an award sets a book apart from other books because now it is an “award-winning book.” Authors should be able to put a seal on their book and even on their website that shows that the book has won an award. Awards also set the author and illustrator apart from other authors and illustrators because they can now say they are “award-winning authors” or “award-winning illustrators” on that book. Even on future books, too.
So, they could say written by an award-winning author or illustrated by an award-winning illustrator even on future books. Also, awards may possibly provide more opportunities for speaking engagements, interviews, and other opportunities, which promotes the book even more. Some awards also offer prize money to the winners, which is a bonus. If you are going to want to possibly win an award for your book, you are going to need to know where to find award opportunities. One thing you can do is look at other books in the same genre as your book and see what awards they have won. Maybe you can do some research and see if you could also submit your book for those awards. Do an online search by typing the words “book awards” and your genre book or “book awards for self-published authors” or some other variation to see if you can find more award opportunities. I did provide some possibilities for awards in the additional resources handout that goes along with this course. That may be a place to start, but it does not include all of the available awards out there. Here are some additional things to consider concerning awards. Why do you want an award? Just like I had asked why you wanted to publish your book, it may be wise to consider why you want the award. Is it just to be an award-winning author, or is there some other reason? Most award places charge an entry fee. Some are relatively inexpensive but others cost hundreds of dollars to enter. With that being said, it is possible to not win. In all of the cases that I know of, you do not get the registration fee back if you do not win the award. So, is it worth the money to you to possibly not win the award?
Obviously, you don’t want to be giving your money to just anyone if the award is not real. Also, consider whether or not they accept self-published books. There are actually quite a few awards that are only available to traditionally published books, but there are also some awards that are focused on self-published books, so you will just have to look into the awards and their guidelines to determine if it is a match for you and your book.
Also, consider what books have won the award in the past. Does your book seem to match in some way the books that have won in the past? Do you think your book would have a chance against books similar to the ones that have won in the past. Is your book up to their standards? Does your book seem like a good fit? It’s also important to choose the right category.
There are some awards that have just a few categories and others that have a lot of categories. Finally, if you do decide to submit your book for an award, make sure to follow all of their guidelines. It’s up to you to decide whether or not it is worth your time and money to enter an award contest.
That’s it for this blog.
In the next blog, I will be talking about the product. Specifically, I’ll be talking about book covers. A lot of people think of marketing and promotion after they have published their book. If you have already published your book and are looking for marketing and promotion tips, then the next section on the product may not be as useful for you unless you want to watch the blogs to see if there is any way you can improve your book or ideas for ways to improve on future books you may publish. You are welcome to skip over the next section if you don’t feel it will benefit you in any way, or you could even skim through the transcripts if that would be better. Of course, you are welcome to skip over any sections if you don’t think they will be useful for you.
Until then, may you have a wonderful day! Take care!