It's What the Winners Do

I think the value of an award is based more on what the winners do with the awards than the actual receiving of said award. It’s the same as book reviews. Heck, the same as publishing the book itself. If you enter the contest but don’t market the victory, solicit the review but don’t publicize the good words you receive, or print 10,000 copies but don’t try to sell the pile of paper, then it’s not worth it. But if you turn it into a success, then every award, every review, and every book is worth pursuing.

There are a few illegitimate book awards out there, but the majority can be used to promote the value of a book. We (ABPA) host the Arizona Book Awards, and as an Arizona publisher, or with a book about Arizona, or with a target audience in Arizona (seniors, Hispanics, outdoor enthusiasts, tourists, etc.), there is good reason to consider entering our awards program. But if you are based in Portland and have a book on fishing in Alaska, it might not be relevant to you. Also note that a Ben Franklin award might not be relevant to your marketing campaign in this situation, either – but an award from the Alaskan Fishing Association or National Outdoorsman’s Club might be a better promotional tool, especially when you want your book carried in fishing stores in that region.

The thing to do is to check out the audience of the organization hosting the competition. National vs regional vs state vs local; is it associated with your subject matter. As you investigate you will realize the legitimacy of the organization and the value of its award. This research isn’t something that an organization can answer en masse – because the legitimacy and value of award A will definitely be different than the legitimacy and value of award B (if A is a teachers’ award and B is a sportsman’s’ award, how valuable and legitimate it is to me vs you can be quite different).

But remember what I said at the beginning: don’t forget to shout “I won this award!” after you do win, or all the money you sent in was wasted.

Bill Fessler, Primer Publishers
PrimerPublishers.com
Great information about traveling the outdoors of the Southwest and Rocky Mountains.