And the Award for Best Book Goes To…
It’s that time of year. Time for literary awards.
In Canada, the publishing industry is buzzing with the recent announcements of who won the prestigious Giller Prize, Governor General’s Literary Awards, and the Writer’s Trust Non-Fiction Prize, among others. Not only are the prize purses significant, but the prize insignia on the cover designates the book as a winner. It stands out on the shelves and encourages holiday sales.
What’s frustrating for “do-it-yourself” authors — though hardly surprising — is that none of these high-profile awards are available to self-published books.
But that’s not to say that self-publishers are out of luck altogether. There are several awards programs that focus exclusively on self-published works, or that warmly welcome a self-published effort.
While these smaller awards don’t have the profile of the mainstream prizes, they are certainly a boost to crediblity and exposure. Adding “award-winning” to the list of terms that describes your book is always a good thing.
With that in mind, it can be very worthwhile to submit your book to one or more awards programs. Here are four of the bigger and better known prizes for self-published books:
- The Benjamin Franklin Awards
- The IPPYs
- The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
- The Axiom Business Book Awards
The Ben Franklin, IPPY, and Writer’s Digest programs are all currently accepting entries for their 2009 awards. The Axioms just closed submissions for their 2009 awards, but if you have a business book, check back with them in May 2009 when the 2010 program will open up.
And may the best books win!
Tags: Awards for self-published books, literary awards, literary awards season
December 10th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Self-published books are also eligible for this environmentally-friendly book award:
The 2009 Green Book Festival has issued a call for entries to its annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.
The 2009 Green Book Festival will consider published, self-published and independent publisher works in the following categories: non-fiction, fiction, children’s books, teenage, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/graphic novels, poetry, science fiction/horror, biography/autobiography, gardening, cookbooks, animals, photography/art, e-books, wild card (anything goes!), scientific, white paper, legal and spiritual.
Entries can be in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian. Our grand prize for the 2009 Green Book Festival Author of the Year is $1500 and transportation to our April, 2009 Earth Day celebration in Los Angeles OR an equivalent amount donated in your name to the environmental charity of your choice.
A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the following criteria:
– The overall writing style and presentation of the work; — The potential of the work to enhance understanding of the environment and its issues;
TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at http://greenbookfestival.com