Best Book Awards for Indie Authors



As the New Year begins, so you should start gearing up for book awards. Entering book awards is not as difficult as it seems. In a previous post I outlined the pros and cons of entering, and having achieved eleven awards and nominations, I find there are definite benefits. Your book’s recognition enhances its status, no doubt about it, and tells people you have reached a standard of excellence that meets the industry’s demands. I recently read four posts by industry marketing experts with their take on why you should enter book awards.

Advice from the Experts

• Donna M. McDine on children’s book awards:  The importance of entering children’s book award contests goes well beyond a win. There are two sides you can capitalize on. The obvious, if your book achieves book award recognition you and your publisher can reap the benefits of promoting you as an award-winning author. Second, even if you don’t place in the contest your book does gain additional exposure through the judging process.

Donna includes a list of helpful places to find the best contests.

• Dana Lynn Smith on choosing wisely: Begin by considering which contests are most appropriate for your book. Some are very general, while others focus on a specific type of book. Some book award contests accept entries with the current or previous year’s copyright date, while others allow entries spanning several years. Some are geared toward self-published books and others accept all books. When deciding which contests are the best fit, look for those that offer book categories most related to the type of book that you write. For example, “historical romance” is much more specific than “romance.” Also consider the entry fees and the relative prestige and publicity value of the contest. Some contests even offer cash prizes for the top winners.

Dana also includes a list of popular/best known contests. Her advice on e-book vs. print is: If a contest accepts both e-books and printed books, it’s usually best to submit a printed book if you have one because it’s more tangible.

• Sherrie Wikolaski has advice on getting the best out of your entry fee: Investment. Book awards can range from as little as $10 per submission to a few hundred dollars. Most fall somewhere in the middle, plus the cost of mailing in a copy of the book for review. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways to market your book, especially if you win.
• Marketing your winnings. Congratulations! You’ve won! Now what? When the time comes and you’ve found out that your book has won an award, you should maximize the win. Find out what the awards committee is doing to promote your award status. Take advantage of everything they are offering to you. If they invite you to guest blog, take it. If they want to promote a book excerpt, let them. Whatever they offer be sure to work with their marketing team to maximize your exposure.

Sherrie includes a list of top book contests as well as marketing tips to maximise on your win.

• Smith Publicity, book promoters for authors in every genre worldwide, includes a long list of book awards ranging from general fiction to science fiction, mystery, indie, self-help, non-fiction, cultural and youth.

The Indie Issue

Many indie authors are put off by thinking that so many contests only accept traditionally published books. Not true. I am a self-published author and by keeping an eye on industry events, I was able to enter and achieve something in most of the contests. I have compiled a list of indie awards, by date, to make it easier for authors to enter their books. Expense is also a big issue with authors battling to pay for editing, layout, cover images etc. The beauty of the e-book revolution is that many contests organisers now accept e-books. This makes entering a whole lot easier. Please visit the links from the experts above. They have many tips to offer ranging from why enter, to how to organise your entries, to the benefits, to author beware.
Here is a calendar of the most useful contests for indie authors

January:

Childrens’ Literary Classics Awards (e-book accepted if print copy not available)
Foreword Book of the Year Awards (print and e-book)
Eric Hoffer Awards (e-book accepted)
e-Lit Awards (e-book)
Beverly Hills Book Awards (print only)

February:

Next Generation Indie Book Awards (e-book accepted)
Wise Bear Book Awards (e-book accepted)

March:

Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) (print and e-book)
Indie Reader Discovery Awards (both print and e-book)

April:

National Indie Excellence Book Awards (print only)
Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards (print only)
Global E-book Awards (e-books)

May:

Readers Favorite Awards (e-book accepted)

June:

Readers Digest Self-Published Awards (print only)

September:

Rubery Book Awards (e-book accepted)
National Best Book Awards (e-book accepted) 
Sharpwrit Book Awards (e-book accepted)
Nautilus Book Awards (print only)

December:

Reader Views Literary Awards (e-book accepted if print copy not available)

Start planning and remember you can't win if you don't enter!

The Great Amazon Book Review Scam

Every author knows that book reviews are important. Why? Simple. Reviews guide the readers (your potential buyers) in the right direction. It helps to have rave 5-star reviews; it hurts to get dismal 1-star reviews. Most authors dream of having hundreds, nay thousands of reviews, like some of the top authors out there.


The NY Times says: “Reviews by ordinary people have become an essential mechanism for selling almost anything online; they are used for resorts, dermatologists, neighborhood restaurants, high-fashion boutiques, churches, parks, astrologers and healers—not to mention products like garbage pails, tweezers, spa slippers and cases for tablet computers. In many situations, these reviews are supplanting the marketing department, the press agent, advertisements, word of mouth and the professional critique.”

But getting reviews is hard work, even when there are helpful guides, such as Dana Lynn Smith’s resource page which, among other useful ‘how to’ publications, actually has a book called How to Get Your Book Reviewed. (It’s brilliant!)

Aha, but therein lies the rub. The ‘hard work’ part. The author has to hunt down people (friends, relatives, colleagues, bloggers, and perfect strangers) and persuade them to read and review the book, giving up their time for no reward. You, the author, get the reward because ultimately their opinion will maybe persuade a (huge!) number of people to purchase your book/s.

Isn’t it soooooo much easier to cut to the chase, eliminate the middle man (reviewers), and write them yourself?

Brilliant idea! And at the same time you’re elevating your own work to the stars, you can trash the opposition, or anyone who might possibly sell more books than you.

Enter the Great Amazon Book Review Scam

This ugly phenomenon first reared its head in a 2010 article in The Guardian revealing how historian Orlando Figes praised his own work and denounced that of his rivals by using fake Amazon accounts to post reviews. He first denied it; even suggesting his wife had done this without his knowledge, and then finally crumbled and confessed, citing ‘intense pressure’ as the reason. Hmmm. One wonders. But then, academics live in the rarified atmosphere of academia and they are fond of saying, “Publish or perish,” so maybe he did just go temporarily off the rails.

However, the lurgy struck again, this time in the world of fiction writing. In August 2012, the NY Times reported a book review scam—masses of paid Amazon reviews.

“Suddenly reviews, of anything in fact, have become vitally important. … But not just any kind of review will do. They have to be somewhere between enthusiastic and ecstatic.”

A site called GettingBookReviews.com (now defunct) created 4531 reviews, mainly for self-published authors, historically the desperadoes of the publishing world and possibly capable (Ha! Ha!) of the lowest of tricks to get positive reviews. Owner Todd Jason Rutherford could not keep up with the demand, so he created a mini industry of reviewers who churned out the reviews. Even John Locke admits (unblushingly) to using his services. The axe fell when an unhappy client criticized the site and demanded a refund. Google cancelled Rutherford’s advertising services and Amazon removed many of his reviews.

Still, ‘real’ (traditionally published) authors seemed to be above all these tacky tactics.

But wait! There’s more! In late August 2012, an article appeared in Forbes alerting readers to another shocking development in the fake review department: at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, successful author Stephen Leather confessed, during an on-stage panel discussion, that he used fake accounts to promote his own books. For the uninitiated or the ethically minded, this is called ‘Sock Puppetry’ (with apologies to all sock puppets out there)

Can it get worse? Yes.

Suw Charman-Anderson reported in an article (3/09/2012) in Forbes that: “Best-selling crime writer RJ Ellory has turned out to be the latest author exposed in the ongoing saga of fake Amazon reviews, a can of worm that just keeps on wriggling. Ellory was the winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010 for his novel, A Simple Act of Violence.”

So, at the end of this dismal list, what can one derive? That even traditionally published, successful authors who actually have the advantage of a publisher at their back, grinding away at the publicity machine, seem to think it’s okay to lie, it’s okay to cheat the public, treating them like a bunch of ignorant sheep.

Although Ellory said it was a lapse of judgement in his apology, one wonders how it is possible for anyone to have multiple lapses of judgement. One assumes a lapse of judgement happens when blind rage or intense emotion takes over, and one does something stupid … once … and regrets it thereafter. Somehow, these guilty parties managed to think their way through creating fake Twitter and review profiles; managed to create brilliant reviews for themselves, and also thought up horrible snipes about their rivals—all while in the grip of lapses of judgement.

Lying is lying. Cheating is cheating.

Let’s talk about cheating.

In February 2012, The Guardian posted a cautionary article entitled Plagiarist Beware: The Internet Will Find You Out.

It did in the case of Kay Manning, who had plagiarised sections of a number of romance books. Her excuse? She thought they were parts of her own work on her computer… Huh?

Clearly, the lesson was not learned. Even worse was a report in the New Yorker about Q.R. Markham (real name Quentin Rowan), the author who pieced together his lauded debut from an amalgamation of spy thrillers. Famous spy thrillers. It was inevitable that someone would notice. In Assassin of Secrets, there were thirty-four instances of plagiarism in the first thirty-five pages. He’d cobbled together his novel from a variety of great novels. Rowan later blamed his publishers for putting him under pressure.

The bottom line is this: in all these cheating, jiggery-pokery, and smoke ‘n’ mirrors tactics, how much time did these authors waste in faking it, time that could have been more usefully employed in actually writing more books?

Although some opinions veer towards blaming Amazon, ask yourself: is Amazon the moral police officer of publishing? Amazon is a big shop front. It’s a gigantic store that sells loads of products. That’s their job.

It’s our job, as humans, to self enforce the rules for living. Thou shalt not cheat/steal/lie/dissemble/pull the wool etc. Everyone knows right from wrong. How much more reprehensible is it when writers, traditionally (like artists, playwrights, and poets) the people who hold a mirror up to society and point out our foibles/faults etc in their wonderful stories, deliberately and on numerous occasions seek to puff themselves up, and obtain praise by fraudulent means. It’s like cheating in an exam or faking your qualifications.

Although others have thought there will be little or no impact on these authors, it seems that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. There has been a backlash. Crime writers like authors Ian Rankin, Lee Child, and Val McDermid were among the 49 writers to condemn the “underhand tactics” of colleagues.

A last word from the CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker about what makes a book great:

“The most powerful marketing secret is to write a super-fabulous book that markets itself. If a book can’t market itself through the passionate word-of-mouth of readers, the author’s marketing will be less effective. How does an author create a book that markets itself? The secret is to write a book that touches the reader’s soul. The reader must love it, and this holds true for both fiction and non-fiction.

If they feel passion for the book, they’ll leave you a five star review, not a three star review, and they’ll tell all their friends and family to purchase it as well. Reader passion gets you word of mouth and social media buzz, and this drives sales.”

Bring back ethics, morality and good, hard work on creating fantastic books. Then the sales, and the reviews, will come.

The Beauty of Book Reviews

Just how important is a book review and why should writers bother with them? The benefits to any author are mind-boggling in terms of the potential reviews have to boost an author from obscurity into the stratosphere. Dana Lynn Smith’s How to Get Your Book Reviewed opens many possibilities that encompass not just reviews and their benefits, but also the add-ons of marketing and promotion.

How to Get Your Book Reviewed is a step-by-step method to creating a winning book marketing strategy. Beginning with understanding the book review process and why many submitted books do not get reviewed, this guide takes the writer through the entire process. Given the hundreds of thousands of book published each year, the author stresses the need for writers to make sure their product meets the industry standards. This book also offers great tips on the extras that can draw positive attention and ensure their book is chosen above others: a media kit, a good press release and sell sheet—simple elements that are actually a valuable tool to further publicity.

Each chapter is laid out in user-friendly fashion, with details that will save a writer time and money: how to search for favorable outlets, how to approach potential reviewers, timelines attached to review publications, and details on print and online options. The guide also explores the formal (literary and review journals, newspapers, magazines etc.) and informal avenues (blogs, book and author sites, virtual reader communities) available to the writer seeking reviews. Approaching people or experts for endorsements and testimonials is also covered. Interspersed throughout are the succinct savvy tips for which Dana Lynn Smith is renowned. The author also provides many useful web links to review sites, and explains the process of getting reviews uploaded. A section on Amazon gives great advice on how to successfully utilize the Amazon tool.

This gem is the definitive guide for any writer who wants to get their book out there. I highly recommend this publication!

Are You Wasting Time Reading...?

The complete question reads like this: Are you wasting time reading about writing when you should be writing? This awful question reared its ugly head when I began packing to move house. Ah yes, the joys of moving. I think it’s number two on the list of Most Terrible Things To Happen In Life. Along with death and divorce, moving house is one of the most traumatic experiences known to man, woman, and writer. Of course, there’s always the chance that while packing, as you scrabble among the dust balls under your desk, you might just find a vital piece of paper with a plot link you thought of in the middle of the night, wrote down, but then couldn’t find... There’s also the chance you could find money, the winning lottery ticket, or the missing library book that has accumulated thousands in fines...

However, the worst part of moving is thinking about what you have been doing for the past few months. Is there a link? Yes, for me there is. You see, I can’t move into my beautiful new house yet, the one with a stunning TWO (yes, two) room office. This is an incredible step up as far as office space goes, and I just can’t wait to fill it with books, lost library books, missing pieces of paper, and dust balls (My housekeeper very wisely put a clause in her contract that prevents her from cleaning my current office and I guess it extends to the new one...) How is this connected to what I have (not) been doing for the past few months? Let me explain. Alas, I have to camp out in a rented flat for two months while the current owners make their own moving arrangements. This means no access to the Internet unless I go down the road to an Internet cafe and log on. So, I’ll only be doing that once or twice a week. I decided I should pare down my subscriptions. It was a shock to find out just how much mail I was receiving.

Last week I did not open my email for two days. When I did, there were over 100 messages in my inbox. Apart from the ever-present ‘you have won the UK lottery’ spam mail, I found I had recklessly subscribed to just about anything that had ever presented me with an interesting article. I was receiving mail from all sorts of blogs and newsletters, some with remarkable articles, some with run-of-the-mill stuff. In my eagerness to learn more about honing my writing skills and developing a marketing strategy, I had accumulated so many subscriptions that basically my time on emails had gone from 10-15 minutes every morning to 90 minutes. Unacceptable. I was spending more time reading about writing than actually doing any writing.

I also found that while many of these articles were extremely informative, I had begun to question my writing, my characters, the back story, the inner story, the action, the dialogue, the adjectives, the adverbs ... I had begun to tear my writing apart. So, I had to cut off the source of my addiction and ... unsubscribe! I have, however, kept the few stalwarts that I began with. I expect that once I am settled in my new abode I shall be tempted to start subscribing again. But my resolve is firm: forge ahead with more writing, and not so much reading about writing. I shall leave the ‘fixing’ to my editor!

Here’s my TOP Ten List of best blogs, sites and newsletters about writing and marketing. I just know I will start adding to my list again....

• Adventures in Children's Publishing
• Daily Writing Tips
• Nathan Bransford Blog (Nathan Bransford)
• WordPlay (K.M Weiland)
• Book Marketing Maven (Dana Lynn Smith)
• The Creative Penn (Joanna Penn)
• Author Marketing Expert (Penny Sansevieri)
• Marketing Tips for Authors (Tony Eldridge)
• Writers Digest
• Book2Book

Do Book Reviews Matter? - The Savvy Book Marketer

Do Book Reviews Matter? - The Savvy Book Marketer

What are your feelings about book reviews? Some people say reviews don't sell more books; some say they do. A few authors feel that a negative review can impact badly on a book; others say no publicity is bad publicity and even a bad review still means your book gets a mention. In this week's guest post on The Savvy Book Marketer, Terry Whalin, the author of numerous books including "Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams," discusses the role of book reviews in publicizing books. He has good advice and some links for finding reviewers. Remember, everything counts when it comes to marketing...

The Benefits of Book Reviews

I never thought much about book reviews until I wrote my first children’s book and was desperate for reviews. Suddenly I began seeing book review pages everywhere—in magazines, in newspapers, online … everywhere! Why wasn’t my book there? I began reading other people’s reviews, appraising other people’s opinions, and wondering how I could get my book reviewed. Although my publishers did send out review copies, I came to the conclusion that it was up to me to drive my own marketing machine.


Are Book Reviews Vital?
Book reviews, in my opinion, are very necessary. Perhaps they aren’t vital, but how many people rush to see a movie without first watching a trailer? That’s why movie makers have trailers—to entice viewers. Book reviews are written book trailers, to entice readers. People don’t want to spend money on something they might not enjoy. They read a book review, hoping to extract some idea of whether the author will appeal.

In her article How to Submit Your Books for Review, marketing guru Dana Lynn Smith has this to say about the value of book reviews: “Book reviews can be a powerful marketing tool for books of all types. Potential customers learn about books by reading reviews in newspapers, consumer magazines, professional journals, newsletters, e-zines, book review Web sites, online bookstores, and other blogs and Web sites. In addition to bringing books to their attention, well-crafted book reviews also help the reader determine if a book is a good fit for them.”
Dana’s excellent article also includes lists of online sites, people, and organizations that do book reviews.

How to Get Your Book Reviewed
How do you get book reviews? You ask for them. Your options are: dedicated book reviewers, bloggers, an organization, library, journal, or company.

Rule Number One: don’t just send a book in the post with a hastily scribbled note begging for someone to review it. All sites, magazines, journals, and libraries will have submission requirements that may include: a cover letter, power testimonials, book excerpts, a marketing plan, and ARC’s or book copies. They may also prefer only pre- or post-publication material. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully, especially if you are a self-published author. Some people won’t accept a self-published book. However, don’t panic, there are many sites and organizations that do. For step-by-step guidelines, read this excellent article on 1st Turning Point: Getting Your Book Reviewed—Preparing the Book Kit by Lillian Cauldwell.

Is Your Book Right For The Reviewer?
Another consideration is whether your material fits the reviewer’s criteria and target market. Don’t send a children’s book to a romance book site or general interest publication. Don’t waste your and other people’s time sending to a tiny niche market outlet if you are an author with a general appeal book. Spend some time reading reviews on various sites or publications to get a feel for the tone and style of the reviews. Get an idea of what kind of readership the publication or site has, or if it’s an individual, what kind of following that person has. School and public librarians are great for children’s books because the reviewer will have a captive, interested audience on hand.

Dead Ends?
Yes, you can send 100 books out for review and not get much back in the way of reviews. So, before you do the ‘spray and pray’ method, really refine and hone your targets carefully. If individuals have agreed to review your book, always keep in mind that this is not their job, and they may not have time to fit you in for a while, if at all. Some people (alas) promise to review but spend more time enjoying the free books they get than actually doing a review. Big sites, journals, or newspapers may not even get back to you. There are many other smaller sites that can still, through sheer volume and hard work on your part, give you enough of a response. Big sites and publications also may not be able to give your book the personal attention you feel it deserves.

Are You a Book Review Snob?
If so, don’t be. Perhaps you think that a big important review site is going to give you more sales than Fred Bloggs from Baltimore or Shirley Jones from Florida? Maybe … but then again, maybe not. Fred Bloggs may just tell twenty or thirty friends about the fantastic book he read, and put a review on Amazon to express his admiration. Shirley Jones may be a very active member of a book club and her praise could result in other book clubs picking up on your novel. While professional reviews are both hard to come by and great to have, it’s the average person out there who is buying your book and their opinion does count. Amazon has some excellent advice to offer authors looking for Amazon reviewers, and explains how these reviews can benefit sales.

What About Bad Book Reviews?
This brings me to the next point. What to do about a ‘bad’ book review? The old adage “There’s no such thing as bad publicity. No publicity is bad publicity” should hold true. Most people realize that a book review is an opinion, that’s all. Top authors like Dan Brown and James Patterson have also been criticized for a variety of perceived writing defects. It’s important to remember that if a reviewer criticizes an author’s writing techniques (style, grammar, plot construction, dialogue), then there is a problem with the book. One always hopes the person reviewing a book will go for the genre he or she enjoys. However, the mark of a good reviewer is someone who is able to judge a book on how it will appeal to a general or (in some cases) a niche market. That’s why authors on specialist subjects should really aim for niche market review outlets to get the best results.

A book reviewer’s job is to tell the potential reader about the book, not about themselves. At the end of the review, the reader should have a very clear vision of the book and its contents and a very fuzzy picture of the person contributing the review. A book review is not about self or personal views, but about the book and how it can benefit others.

I recently began reviewing books and deliberately offered my services in other genres, books I would not go for as my first choice. I have reviewed women’s fiction, romantic suspense, and am about to tackle a collection of horror short stories. That’s a challenge for me and I am enjoying it, keeping in mind my advice above.

Should You Pay For Book Reviews?
The jury is still out on this one because there is an opinion that paid-for reviews are generally more favorable because the author has paid for it. Professional sites and publications usually have too much integrity to risk their reputation on this score and most times advise the author that honesty is their policy. Paying for a review also means that there is a motivation to get it done. Free reviews end up with the site or publication being inundated with demands. You may have to wait a while to get reviewed.

Good old Google is a wealth of information on book reviews sites. Some other leads to pursue are: the Virtual Book Review Network; The Midwest Book Review; ReaderViews. Check out Anastasia Suen’s Literacy Blog for children’s books as well as the list of 100 Best Book Reviewers on Twitter. John Kremer offers a list of magazines that review books.

Book reviews are just one part of the wide scope of marketing possibilities available to authors. Don’t say no to review requests because you never know where your book will end up. It could just arrive on the desk of someone very important to your book’s future.

Are you a book reviewer? Share your opinions with us!