Why We Care About Book Awards
Few things in life are as wonderful as getting recognized for great achievements. One of the most tantalizing aspects of a book award (or any award) is that much needed praise and recognition that we all crave. For an author, a book award feels like a heartfelt pat on the back. “Good job. You’ve done well.”
For the reader a book award is often a reassurance that their time will be well spent. But are these expectations from both authors and readers always met when a book receives an award? Or is there more to receiving book awards than initially meets the eye?
Do Book Awards Help or Hurt
Not all praise is good and not all book awards are beneficial. So how do you know what is a good award and what is a bad award? While it might seem tempting to take an award from a small unknown company with no track record of consistent judging practices or quality award recipients, does it really help you as an author or help your potential readers decide if they want to read your book? It’s easy to be sucked into the glowing glory of a sparkly award no matter who is doing the awarding, but you have an obligation both to yourself as the author and to your readers. Remember that the company you keep (so to speak) is the greatest reflection of your work.
Editor Note: Displays of winning awards, whether real or bogus, will turn a lot of heads. In fact, most “readers” will not take the time to determine if the awards given are indeed a reflection of the work they are about to purchase or just paid accolades. Ultimately, the quality of your work will eventually dull a shiny winning seal if your writing doesn’t accurately reflect the praise. In the long run, it pays to choose your contests wisely.
Pick award contests based on the quality of writing found in their past award recipients. You owe that to yourself and your readers. If you feel that your book is not yet to the level of writing required by the best awards, then don’t seek an award yet for your current book. This gives you a great opportunity to focus on improving your next book towards the desired quality of writing. Set your standards high and you will reward both yourself and your readers
What are some examples of Bad Book Awards?
- You haven’t heard of any of the indie presses when you look at lists of past winners. If you don’t recognize any of the presses chances are the bar set for quality of writing is lower than would be beneficial.
- You’ve never heard of the sponsor organization, and they don’t seem to do much of anything except run a fee-based award contest. This is a red flag. If the sponsor organization appears to only be involved in running a fee based contest instead of being involved in the growth of literature they most likely are not providing an award that you want.
- If a book award contest is vague or secretive about their judges. It should be very clear the literary qualifications of who, how and why a person is chosen to judge the competition. If a contest is not forthcoming then odds are the final decisions are not made by professionals in the literary world.
Here are some examples of Good Book Awards.
- The organization has specific judge criteria. If the organization clearly lists who their judges are and why they picked them you are on the right track. Look for organizations with judges who have written well-received books of their own, have extensive knowledge of the craft of writing, or extensive experience with judging quality contests.
- The Organization has a clearly conceived award program. If the organization has a well-established history of quality book awards and an easy to understand process that is clearly outlined, then they are more likely to give their awards to writers of higher caliber.
- Other books that have been given the reward are well-received. Remember the company you keep is a strong reflection on your own work and standards!
Some Suggestions for Good Award Companies
Indie Book Award Contests
IBPA’s Benjamin Franklin Awards and Foreword Magazine’s IndieFab Awards are two quality Indie award contests.
Genre Writer Association Prizes
The genre fiction scene has a strong, well-regarded contest presence, including SFWA, The World Science Fiction Society, Western Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, and The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Regional Organization Awards
These organizations are run by regional associations of writers, booksellers, librarians, or publishers. A good example for the Pacific Northwest is The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
Literary Fiction Awards
These contests are for categories of fiction that are literary. These include the Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, Lambda Literary Awards, and Anisfield-Wolf Awards.
In Conclusion
If you put the time and heart into a good quality book then take the time and energy to submit your book to the best award programs. Most importantly don’t waste your time and money submitting your book to a contest mill. Together we can improve the quality of books that receive awards and restore our readers trust in the book award as a consistent indicator of quality work.
Thank you to Indie Book Awards – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Philip Martin for some wonderful information.
