Top Book Awards Authors Should Pursue

Today I’m happy to turn over the blogging wheel to book publicist Scott Lorenz is president of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm . He’s going to cover a topic I’ve never written about before: how entering–an winning–contests helps publicize (and sell) your book. Plus, he’s provided a great list of contests you can enter with deadlines and all! You might want to print out this post and hand it up for easy reference!

Top Book Awards Authors Should Pursue
By Scott Lorenz

Do book awards matter? Absolutely YES! In fact, just recently one of my clients won the prestigious Los Angeles Book Festival award. That then led to a flurry of media interest, which then led to a major New York agent deciding to represent the book and pitch it to all the major publishing houses. Deals are in the offing. This author, needless to say, is happy he decided to enter.

Pursuing and winning book awards will give you another opportunity to reach out to the media, booksellers and agents. Awards create interest in your book, which can lead to more sales and other opportunities.  A book award may cause someone to stop in their tracks and consider picking up your book in a book store.  A book award can give you an edge and sometimes that’s all the difference you need to propel your book into bestseller territory. If you win you can say you are an “award winning author.” Doesn’t that sound better? Of course it does, and you get a little magic that comes from a third party endorsement because an authority says your work is worthy, and that’s priceless.

Most awards charge a fee to enter. Not all awards have a category for your genre and not all of these will work for every book.

Here’s a list of my top 25 book awards worthy of your consideration:

1. Enter to win The 2011 Independent Book Publisher Awards between January 1 and March 15 at https://secure.independentpublisher.com/trans_entry.php?srcg=ipggl1
2. Entering the Book of the Year Awards should definitely be on your end-of-the-year to-do list. Check it out here http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/
3. Check out the National Book Critics Circle Awards and enter by December 1 http://bookcritics.org/awards/award_submissions/
4. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction boasts that the prize is the world’s most important literary award. Enter to win by July 1 http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/about/rules-and-entry
5. The Newbery Medal was the world’s first children’s book award. Enter before December 31 http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyapp/newberyapplication.cfm
6. Enter to win the Caldecott Medal before December 31 for your Children’s picture book http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottapp/caldecottapplication.cfm
7. IACP Cookbook Awards deadline is October 29. Check out how to enter http://www.iacp.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=745
8. Hugo Award deadline is March 26, check out science fiction’s most prestigious award details http://www.thehugoawards.org/about/
9. Strive to be nominated and win the Nobel Prize in literature. Who can nominate? Professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and university colleges to name a few. (Another reason it pays to keep the ties your alma mater!) http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/nomination/
10. The Edgar Allan Poe Award for books submission deadline is August 15. See how to submit your book http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=Edgars-Info
11. FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year submission deadline is June 30 https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=22298&categoryid=74822
12. Enter to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction before February 2 http://www.pulitzer.org/how_to_enter
13. The National Book Award deadline is June 15. Learn how to submit your book here http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaentry.html
14. Submit your work by October 31 to win the Stonewall Book Award. Click for details http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/glbtrt/stonewall/index.cfm
15. The Deadline for the Autumn House Press award for fiction is June 30. Check it out here http://www.autumnhouse.org/contest-submissions/
16. Enter to win the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award deadline is December 17. Click for more details http://www.pw.org/writing_contests/hemingway_foundationpen_award
17. The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction deadline is October 31. Check out how to enter http://www.pw.org/writing_contests/award_fiction
18. Get your book nominated for a Quill Award http://www.thequills.org/
19. Voting for the Indies Choice Book Awards ends March 31 http://www.bookweb.org/icba.html
20. Get your cook recommended for The Discover Great New Writers award http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_publishers/discover_program/discover_program.html
21. The Nautilus Book Award seeks books that make a difference and inspire. The deadline is February 25 http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/Guidelines_for_Entering.html#How_to_Send
22. Enter your ebook to win Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards by June 30 http://awardsforebooks.com/
23. The National Indie Excellence Book Awards competition selects award winners and finalists based on overall excellence of presentation in dozens of categories. April deadline. www.indieexcellence.com
24. Have you written a business book? The Axiom Business Book Awards celebrate excellence in business book writing and publishing by presenting gold, silver and bronze medals in 20 business categories. They have a year-end deadline http://www.axiomawards.com/
25. ForeWord Reviews sponsors the Book of the Year Awards. It’s open to all independently- and self-published books released that year. There are sixty categories, and in each category a gold, silver, and bronze winner. The deadline to enter is January. Check out: www.forewordreviews.com

With book trailers being an important part of all book marketing strategies be sure to enter your book trailer in the Moby Awards. They are looking for the best…and worst book trailers. Deadline in April. http://www.mobyawards.com/

Plus, here’s a service where you can enter several book festivals at the same time for about $50 per festival. This is absolutely the best idea.  Just do it. www.diyconvention.com. http://bookfestivals.com/PORTAL/library/entry_form.pdf

Need another reason to enter a contest? Jim Cox of Midwest Book Review says, “The fact is award stickers help to convince buyers to purchase. I’ve seen this happen with librarians — when faced with two competing titles and a limited acquisition budget the librarians will take the one that won an award, any award, over the title that doesn’t have an award to its credit. I’m confident that this same phenomena works for bookstore patrons browsing the shelves as well.”

The bottom line, book awards do matter. Enter a few and let me know how it goes. If you know of another book award I should check out, please send me the details.

About the Author

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is president of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at http://www.book-marketing-expert.com  or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist.