October 3, 2025 • 17 mins
Book awards can transform your author platform, yet they remain one of the most overlooked marketing opportunities for writers at every stage of their journey. Whether you're traditionally published or self-published, these accolades are more accessible than you might think—and they pack a powerful promotional punch.
When your book displays an award seal or mention, readers take notice. Our research shows that award recognition can boost Amazon click-through rates by up to 25%, with an average increase of 5%. In a marketplace where standing out is increasingly difficult, that gold seal or award mention signals quality and credibility to potential readers who may be unfamiliar with your work. As we often say, people like what other people like, and awards provide that crucial social proof.
In this episode, Penny and Amy unpack what it takes to successfully select and submit books for awards. The duo offers guidance on picking the right book award genre/placement (because this matters!) and finally, how to find the best book awards for your book as well as guidlines for successful book award submissions!
Book awards aren't just about prestige; they're about connecting with readers who value curated recommendations in an overwhelming sea of publishing options.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansevierie andAmy Cornell, and this is a show
we've been wanting to do for awhile.
We love book awards.
We get authors that ask us allthe time like what about book
awards?
What about book awards?
I think book awards arefabulous, so that's going to be
(00:24):
the focus of this show, andwe've had I mean, you get that
all the time too, don't you, amywhere they're asking about book
awards and stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Oh yes, and I think I'm glad we're doing this show,
because a lot of times I thinkauthors get overwhelmed and
think it's something that theydon't have access to when they
actually do yeah.
So we actually get authorsasking us a lot, lot like do you
guys do that?
And I'm like you know we canalways talk about that,
depending on your campaign.
Like you know, we try to helpauthors out and customize what
(00:53):
kind of admin support they needand things like that.
But these are actually veryaccessible.
It's just a matter of figuringout and we're going to talk
about that figuring out whatworks and making smart decisions
about which ones to apply toand things like that.
So we make sure that ourclients have I think we include
a couple different, really greatlists that they can bet that
will that they can decide, like,what matches up with their
(01:15):
books and their qualificationsand all the different parameters
and things like that.
But it really is something thatyou know for all of you out
there that are actually activelylooking for homework and things
to do to kind of take your book, your brand, your exposure, to
the next level submittingyourself to book awards put it
on your list, because I empoweryou all.
(01:37):
You are very capable of this.
Again, it's just about knowinghow to go about it, and that's
why we wanted to cover that onthis show, because this is
absolutely something an authorcan do to support their own
success, whether they have ateam supporting them in other
ways or not.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, exactly.
And the other thing, though,too, is that you know I mean a
book award to a consumer.
Even if a consumer doesn't know, and let's say, you got an
honorable mention or you gotfirst, second or third place,
whichever Mentioning that inyour marketing materials and on
your Amazon retail page cansometimes boost click-through
(02:14):
rates up to 25 percent, with anaverage bump, according to some
research that we did prior tothe show of 5 percent.
We did prior to the show of 5%.
So the visibility of bookawards, as I said, even if the
consumer doesn't know theparticular award and the
majority of consumers don't likeconsumers know the Grammys, the
Oscars, you know what I mean.
Like we know, like Emmys, likewe know those, but in terms of
(02:37):
book awards, it's a great way,it's a great boost to your
marketing.
It's a great way.
It's a great boost to yourmarketing, it's a great boost to
the visibility of your book,and people like what other
people like.
So it's another piece, you know.
It's another great way to getin front of more readers and
(02:58):
potentially even more reviewers.
So I think the Sorry, I cut youoff, I was going to say,
because we harp on the Amazonstuff all the time.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
it's also something that really makes you stand out
on Amazon.
Yeah, because, it's true, sofew authors take advantage of
these, you know, and it's one ofthose.
So I, honestly, every timethere I visit a book page and
there's a mention of an award, Iabsolutely perk up and take
notice, because you just don'tsee it a lot.
(03:27):
So this is an amazingopportunity for those of you
listening to really get in andbe one of those authors that,
like I, do have an award and Iyou know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, exactly, and I think the first piece of this is
so.
I've judged for both IBPAs whatthey used to call them, ben
Franklin's they renamed themrecently, I don't know, I think
they're just called the IBPAAwards now and also Writers
Digest, and one of the thingsthat I can say one of the
biggest first piece of this isis that you may find an award
(04:02):
that you think is superprestigious and you want to
submit your book.
Choose wisely, so not just.
I mean, the majority of awardprograms are universal, so you
can fiction, nonfiction, poetry,memoir, whatever they take them
all, but they have differentcategories.
Some awards, though, are veryfocused on specific genres, so
(04:28):
you want to.
That's the first piece of thisis you want to look out for this
.
But the second piece and I cantell you this as someone who has
judged awards if you aresubmitting to an award, for an
award, be sure to pick the rightgenre.
Be sure to pick the right genre.
(04:51):
I cannot tell you.
So I had for IBPAs I think Idid it two years ago for their
book awards.
I got a lot of books.
I picked the business categorybecause it's something that I,
you know, it's a genre that Iread a lot of anyway and I
cannot tell you I got memoirs, Igot, actually I got a poetry
book in the, which was poetryabout work, life, but I know,
(05:21):
but it was, but but you know Icouldn't.
So you can't just give it.
Like, not everybody gets atrophy.
Sorry, but it's the truth.
If you're sitting in the wronggenre, if you submitted your
book to the wrong genre, thenyou're basically just going to
get disqualified.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I know, and you want to be really careful about that,
because some of these do havesubmission fees, right, penny?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'sanother thing, do you want to
talk about that?
Well, yeah, I mean, it's justanother.
And again, that's why choosingwisely and I mean I would say
not to tell y'all how to runyour lives, but, you know, go
through and start with a list,maybe your top 10 or whatever,
(06:07):
and then kind of whittle it downfrom there.
You know, based on what yourbudget is, things like that what
makes the most sense?
You can see books that have wonpreviously.
Almost always, that informationis public.
Usually, these sites are proudto show books that have won
before, so I think that's alsosomething to keep in mind.
You know, check out books thathave won before.
So I think that's alsosomething to keep in mind.
You know, check out books thathave won before, look at their
covers.
You know, consider all thosethings and try to figure out
what makes the most sense forwhere.
(06:28):
How your book is placed in themarket and your current branding
and all those kinds of thingsreally should come into play.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, that's yeah, that's absolutely true, and a
lot of times, so many of thesecontests.
The other thing that I reallyliked about judging is it's not
you're not just looking at thebook and saying, oh, this is
good or this is not good.
The majority of these contestsalso invite judges to give
(07:00):
feedback to the author, so it'salso another really great way to
get some potentially reallygood feedback.
I mean, some of it obviously isgoing to be subjective, right,
but it's another great way toget some really good feedback,
along with the opportunity topotentially you know, to
potentially win an award.
So genre match.
The other piece is going to bethe publishing route, so
(07:22):
traditional versusself-publishing.
Some award companies are veryparticular about like.
No, I mean, a lot of this haskind of fallen by the wayside
because so many people areindependently publishing, but
sometimes just make sure to readthe rules.
That's the.
That's just the other piece ofit.
You know, if you're submittingto award companies for awards
(07:47):
rather not necessarily awardcompanies there's a.
So the Alliance of IndependentAuthors has.
We're not going to go throughall the awards that we like or
don't like, and I always sendauthors Right Because you know,
amy and I have strong feelingsabout just about everything but
(08:08):
the Alliance of IndependentAuthors and if you search this
on Google and we can also put itin the show notes for sure.
But if you want to, you know ifyou've hopped off, you're like,
oh, I'm ready to do this.
The Alliance of IndependentAuthors actually have a page
that they keep updated.
It's super helpful and I sendthis to authors all the time and
it lists awards particularslike do they take, you know,
only traditionally published.
(08:30):
Are they genre specific?
It's a really, really great wayto figure out where you might
want to.
You know, you might want tosubmit to.
The other thing is going to bethe date.
So many awards are datesensitive so they don't want.
You know, if your book is fiveyears old, you may be kind of
out of the running for that, butfor any new-ish books, even a
(08:50):
year old, there's probably a tonof award companies that you can
submit to.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and I think it's worth making
sure and I'm sure the list thatyou mentioned, penny, is updated
regularly but I think it'sdefinitely worth also doing a
little research to see if thereare any awards that are very
specific to your, because thereare awards for inclusivity for
emerging authors too, sospecifically for debut authors.
(09:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there areawards for that specifically.
There are awards for authors indifferent demographics,
different markets, things likethat that are always opening up,
and so it is definitely worthseeing, because what I love
about those options is thatsometimes you end up being a
fish in a smaller pond versussome of these really, really big
(09:42):
ones where absolutely go afterthat if it fits, you know, if
all the parameters work for you,there's nothing wrong with that
by any means, but there's alsono reason not to take advantage
of being a part of a potentialaward for very specific writing
communities as well, becausethose can be really great for
your brand, especially if thoseare also your readers, you know,
(10:03):
because that makes a differencetoo.
As Penny said, a lot of readersdon't necessarily know all the
big name awards, you know andwhat they mean, but there are
certain awards that are going tostand out to certain reading
demographics as well, and thatcould be really great for again
for your brand and just makingthat added, creating that added
(10:24):
connection and resonating withthose particular reading
communities as well.
So absolutely look for those.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, and it's also potentially because you know a
lot of these awards well, manyof these awards, I should say
not.
They also have events wherethey give out the awards and so
you know if you've won or you'reon the honorable—and, by the
way, honorable mentions.
Don't discount honorablementions, because I will tell
(10:50):
you that when I have judged forcontests, sometimes it's really
really hard to say these are mytop three because the books that
get sent are so good.
It's a high-quality problem tohave.
So in those cases, some ofthese books, like I, get the
first tier of them and then theygo to somebody else.
(11:10):
A lot of times the honorablementions are just because the
book was fantastic, but maybethere was one thing that
somebody thought oh, this one isjust slightly better than the
other.
So honorable mentions are alsoterrific, but they have events a
lot of times that you can go to.
It's great for networking,great for meeting people, great
(11:32):
for getting out of your comfortzone, right, just be aware that
you know.
And the thing is, do yourresearch on the Ali website.
So it's really funny because Iwent on to so prior to the show,
I just I went on chat, justchat, tpt.
Just curious.
I'm like, hey, tell me aboutsome book awards.
I'm super curious about bookawards and chat TPT threw out
like the Nobel Peace Prize,right, and I'm like, uh, yeah,
(11:58):
we're not.
So the Alliance of IndependentAuthors is a great, trusted
resource where they do thevetting.
So just make sure, like I said,just make sure that you're, that
you're finding you know, awardsthat are, that are actually
going to be actionable, that youcan actually, you know that you
can actually submit to, andthen I guess the final piece of
(12:19):
this Amy, unless you thought ofsomething else but the final
piece is going to be your packet.
So every award, every awardthat you submit to, is going to
have you submit some kind of apacket, right, and sometimes
it's just like, in some casesit's just, you know, write a
description about your book.
Sometimes they'll ask for theelevator pitch about your book,
(12:41):
which that's actually anothershow that we need to do is on
elevator pitches, because Ithink we've alluded to the fact
that we were gonna do a show onelevator pitches and we are
adding that to the list, sothat'll probably be coming up in
the next couple of weeks, butthe materials are really
important.
So don't just you know, ifyou're in a rush to submit your
award, don't rush through thematerials.
(13:04):
So if they allow you to includea press kit, make sure that it
looks professional.
Your book description again, wehave tons of shows on book
descriptions.
Cycle back through those andfind those super important.
They may ask you, for you know,one to two sentence description
about your book.
Make that super good.
You're going to want to tuneinto our elevator pitch show
(13:25):
coming up in the next few weeksto you know to refine that.
But the materials generally are.
They aren't extensive but theyare very, very important.
So I've actually gottensubmissions that I've, you know,
been ferreting through and thesubmission information is
basically blank, like the authorname and the book title, and
(13:47):
there's nothing else about thebook, which is a little
discouraging, you know,especially if you're spending
your time judging, and it kindof sends a message to the judge
and I can speak to thisfirsthand that you're really not
interested, that you just sortof willingly sent this out.
And then it's interestingbecause sometimes, like I'll go
onto the Amazon retail page andthe book description on the
Amazon retail page is like threesentences Right.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
They clearly don't listen to the show Right.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
They're not a listener of the show.
Amy, did we cover everything?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, I think we did.
I mean, I think the main points, like we said, this is very,
this is very accessible to allof you listening.
So add this to your list.
I know there's a lot out therethat's like where do I start?
What can I do?
I feel like I'm spinning mywheels trying to support my book
and figuring out how to get myfooting and all that kind of
stuff.
The awards are actually verystraightforward and for those of
(14:41):
you that thrive on rules andparameters and checklists, this
is where you are going to shine.
You know, just get a hold ofthese lists and start pulling
out the ones that seem the mostpromising.
Whittle it down based on whatreally makes sense.
Again, I think you know qualityover quantity here, penny, you
know I would say, do a mix ofsome of the big ones and some of
(15:03):
the genre-specific ones.
You know they do children'sbook awards specifically.
I mean, there's just so manydifferent ways to go about this
and give yourself an opportunityto to you for a while.
You know what I mean.
So this is not something that,if your book's already out,
you're going oh, I probablymissed the boat.
(15:30):
Not at all.
So you could also do these inphases.
I would think, if you don'twant to take it all on at once,
do it in phases, submit to somenow or as soon as you're able to
get around to it, and then dosome additional research and see
where you might want to submitfor phase two.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
And then, like I said, checkthe show notes.
We'll include the link so thatyou can find book awards and
really excited for you if youare going to take this journey
of submitting to book awards.
And let us know, send us anemail, let us know.
Our contact details are alwaysin the show notes.
Oh, and here's one reallyexciting thing that we are going
(16:07):
to be doing in the coming weeks.
I don't have an exact date forit, but we're going to start
doing call-ins, not necessarilyon the show, but we're going to
give you the opportunity toleave a voicemail with your
questions that we are then goingto address on the air.
So sometimes it's just easy,like you're listening to the
show, you're listening to theshow, you're like, oh, I really
want to know about such and such.
Boom, you could dial the numberand we'll pick a question for
(16:28):
every show and maybe a couplewho knows how many calls we get
that we can answer on the show.
And I'm really excited thatwe're going to be bringing that
to you as we approach, quicklyapproach our sixth year of doing
this show, which is amazing.
So I know I can't believe that.
I know right, six year, whatthat's so crazy, but anyway,
listen, and we've gotten so manygreat reviews recently and we
(16:50):
have so many new listeners andpeople emailing us.
In fact, we just got an emailthis morning from somebody who
just found the show and is goingback through the episode.
So if you are new, welcome,welcome.
We love that you're here.
Be sure, we have five yearsworth of show shows, um, to
listen to.
So be sure to go back to thearchive and, you know, find a
(17:10):
show that really inspires youand then get caught up and and
we will see you next next friday.
Bye-bye, bye.
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sansevierie andAmy Cornell, and this is a show
we've been wanting to do for awhile.
We love book awards.
We get authors that ask us allthe time like what about book
awards?
What about book awards?
I think book awards arefabulous, so that's going to be
(00:24):
the focus of this show, andwe've had I mean, you get that
all the time too, don't you, amywhere they're asking about book
awards and stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Oh yes, and I think I'm glad we're doing this show,
because a lot of times I thinkauthors get overwhelmed and
think it's something that theydon't have access to when they
actually do yeah.
So we actually get authorsasking us a lot, lot like do you
guys do that?
And I'm like you know we canalways talk about that,
depending on your campaign.
Like you know, we try to helpauthors out and customize what
(00:53):
kind of admin support they needand things like that.
But these are actually veryaccessible.
It's just a matter of figuringout and we're going to talk
about that figuring out whatworks and making smart decisions
about which ones to apply toand things like that.
So we make sure that ourclients have I think we include
a couple different, really greatlists that they can bet that
will that they can decide, like,what matches up with their
(01:15):
books and their qualificationsand all the different parameters
and things like that.
But it really is something thatyou know for all of you out
there that are actually activelylooking for homework and things
to do to kind of take your book, your brand, your exposure, to
the next level submittingyourself to book awards put it
on your list, because I empoweryou all.
(01:37):
You are very capable of this.
Again, it's just about knowinghow to go about it, and that's
why we wanted to cover that onthis show, because this is
absolutely something an authorcan do to support their own
success, whether they have ateam supporting them in other
ways or not.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, exactly.
And the other thing, though,too, is that you know I mean a
book award to a consumer.
Even if a consumer doesn't know, and let's say, you got an
honorable mention or you gotfirst, second or third place,
whichever Mentioning that inyour marketing materials and on
your Amazon retail page cansometimes boost click-through
(02:14):
rates up to 25 percent, with anaverage bump, according to some
research that we did prior tothe show of 5 percent.
We did prior to the show of 5%.
So the visibility of bookawards, as I said, even if the
consumer doesn't know theparticular award and the
majority of consumers don't likeconsumers know the Grammys, the
Oscars, you know what I mean.
Like we know, like Emmys, likewe know those, but in terms of
(02:37):
book awards, it's a great way,it's a great boost to your
marketing.
It's a great way.
It's a great boost to yourmarketing, it's a great boost to
the visibility of your book,and people like what other
people like.
So it's another piece, you know.
It's another great way to getin front of more readers and
(02:58):
potentially even more reviewers.
So I think the Sorry, I cut youoff, I was going to say,
because we harp on the Amazonstuff all the time.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
it's also something that really makes you stand out
on Amazon.
Yeah, because, it's true, sofew authors take advantage of
these, you know, and it's one ofthose.
So I, honestly, every timethere I visit a book page and
there's a mention of an award, Iabsolutely perk up and take
notice, because you just don'tsee it a lot.
(03:27):
So this is an amazingopportunity for those of you
listening to really get in andbe one of those authors that,
like I, do have an award and Iyou know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, exactly, and I think the first piece of this is
so.
I've judged for both IBPAs whatthey used to call them, ben
Franklin's they renamed themrecently, I don't know, I think
they're just called the IBPAAwards now and also Writers
Digest, and one of the thingsthat I can say one of the
biggest first piece of this isis that you may find an award
(04:02):
that you think is superprestigious and you want to
submit your book.
Choose wisely, so not just.
I mean, the majority of awardprograms are universal, so you
can fiction, nonfiction, poetry,memoir, whatever they take them
all, but they have differentcategories.
Some awards, though, are veryfocused on specific genres, so
(04:28):
you want to.
That's the first piece of thisis you want to look out for this
.
But the second piece and I cantell you this as someone who has
judged awards if you aresubmitting to an award, for an
award, be sure to pick the rightgenre.
Be sure to pick the right genre.
(04:51):
I cannot tell you.
So I had for IBPAs I think Idid it two years ago for their
book awards.
I got a lot of books.
I picked the business categorybecause it's something that I,
you know, it's a genre that Iread a lot of anyway and I
cannot tell you I got memoirs, Igot, actually I got a poetry
book in the, which was poetryabout work, life, but I know,
(05:21):
but it was, but but you know Icouldn't.
So you can't just give it.
Like, not everybody gets atrophy.
Sorry, but it's the truth.
If you're sitting in the wronggenre, if you submitted your
book to the wrong genre, thenyou're basically just going to
get disqualified.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I know, and you want to be really careful about that,
because some of these do havesubmission fees, right, penny?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'sanother thing, do you want to
talk about that?
Well, yeah, I mean, it's justanother.
And again, that's why choosingwisely and I mean I would say
not to tell y'all how to runyour lives, but, you know, go
through and start with a list,maybe your top 10 or whatever,
(06:07):
and then kind of whittle it downfrom there.
You know, based on what yourbudget is, things like that what
makes the most sense?
You can see books that have wonpreviously.
Almost always, that informationis public.
Usually, these sites are proudto show books that have won
before, so I think that's alsosomething to keep in mind.
You know, check out books thathave won before.
So I think that's alsosomething to keep in mind.
You know, check out books thathave won before, look at their
covers.
You know, consider all thosethings and try to figure out
what makes the most sense forwhere.
(06:28):
How your book is placed in themarket and your current branding
and all those kinds of thingsreally should come into play.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, that's yeah, that's absolutely true, and a
lot of times, so many of thesecontests.
The other thing that I reallyliked about judging is it's not
you're not just looking at thebook and saying, oh, this is
good or this is not good.
The majority of these contestsalso invite judges to give
(07:00):
feedback to the author, so it'salso another really great way to
get some potentially reallygood feedback.
I mean, some of it obviously isgoing to be subjective, right,
but it's another great way toget some really good feedback,
along with the opportunity topotentially you know, to
potentially win an award.
So genre match.
The other piece is going to bethe publishing route, so
(07:22):
traditional versusself-publishing.
Some award companies are veryparticular about like.
No, I mean, a lot of this haskind of fallen by the wayside
because so many people areindependently publishing, but
sometimes just make sure to readthe rules.
That's the.
That's just the other piece ofit.
You know, if you're submittingto award companies for awards
(07:47):
rather not necessarily awardcompanies there's a.
So the Alliance of IndependentAuthors has.
We're not going to go throughall the awards that we like or
don't like, and I always sendauthors Right Because you know,
amy and I have strong feelingsabout just about everything but
(08:08):
the Alliance of IndependentAuthors and if you search this
on Google and we can also put itin the show notes for sure.
But if you want to, you know ifyou've hopped off, you're like,
oh, I'm ready to do this.
The Alliance of IndependentAuthors actually have a page
that they keep updated.
It's super helpful and I sendthis to authors all the time and
it lists awards particularslike do they take, you know,
only traditionally published.
(08:30):
Are they genre specific?
It's a really, really great wayto figure out where you might
want to.
You know, you might want tosubmit to.
The other thing is going to bethe date.
So many awards are datesensitive so they don't want.
You know, if your book is fiveyears old, you may be kind of
out of the running for that, butfor any new-ish books, even a
(08:50):
year old, there's probably a tonof award companies that you can
submit to.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and I think it's worth making
sure and I'm sure the list thatyou mentioned, penny, is updated
regularly but I think it'sdefinitely worth also doing a
little research to see if thereare any awards that are very
specific to your, because thereare awards for inclusivity for
emerging authors too, sospecifically for debut authors.
(09:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there areawards for that specifically.
There are awards for authors indifferent demographics,
different markets, things likethat that are always opening up,
and so it is definitely worthseeing, because what I love
about those options is thatsometimes you end up being a
fish in a smaller pond versussome of these really, really big
(09:42):
ones where absolutely go afterthat if it fits, you know, if
all the parameters work for you,there's nothing wrong with that
by any means, but there's alsono reason not to take advantage
of being a part of a potentialaward for very specific writing
communities as well, becausethose can be really great for
your brand, especially if thoseare also your readers, you know,
(10:03):
because that makes a differencetoo.
As Penny said, a lot of readersdon't necessarily know all the
big name awards, you know andwhat they mean, but there are
certain awards that are going tostand out to certain reading
demographics as well, and thatcould be really great for again
for your brand and just makingthat added, creating that added
(10:24):
connection and resonating withthose particular reading
communities as well.
So absolutely look for those.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, and it's also potentially because you know a
lot of these awards well, manyof these awards, I should say
not.
They also have events wherethey give out the awards and so
you know if you've won or you'reon the honorable—and, by the
way, honorable mentions.
Don't discount honorablementions, because I will tell
(10:50):
you that when I have judged forcontests, sometimes it's really
really hard to say these are mytop three because the books that
get sent are so good.
It's a high-quality problem tohave.
So in those cases, some ofthese books, like I, get the
first tier of them and then theygo to somebody else.
(11:10):
A lot of times the honorablementions are just because the
book was fantastic, but maybethere was one thing that
somebody thought oh, this one isjust slightly better than the
other.
So honorable mentions are alsoterrific, but they have events a
lot of times that you can go to.
It's great for networking,great for meeting people, great
(11:32):
for getting out of your comfortzone, right, just be aware that
you know.
And the thing is, do yourresearch on the Ali website.
So it's really funny because Iwent on to so prior to the show,
I just I went on chat, justchat, tpt.
Just curious.
I'm like, hey, tell me aboutsome book awards.
I'm super curious about bookawards and chat TPT threw out
like the Nobel Peace Prize,right, and I'm like, uh, yeah,
(11:58):
we're not.
So the Alliance of IndependentAuthors is a great, trusted
resource where they do thevetting.
So just make sure, like I said,just make sure that you're, that
you're finding you know, awardsthat are, that are actually
going to be actionable, that youcan actually, you know that you
can actually submit to, andthen I guess the final piece of
(12:19):
this Amy, unless you thought ofsomething else but the final
piece is going to be your packet.
So every award, every awardthat you submit to, is going to
have you submit some kind of apacket, right, and sometimes
it's just like, in some casesit's just, you know, write a
description about your book.
Sometimes they'll ask for theelevator pitch about your book,
(12:41):
which that's actually anothershow that we need to do is on
elevator pitches, because Ithink we've alluded to the fact
that we were gonna do a show onelevator pitches and we are
adding that to the list, sothat'll probably be coming up in
the next couple of weeks, butthe materials are really
important.
So don't just you know, ifyou're in a rush to submit your
award, don't rush through thematerials.
(13:04):
So if they allow you to includea press kit, make sure that it
looks professional.
Your book description again, wehave tons of shows on book
descriptions.
Cycle back through those andfind those super important.
They may ask you, for you know,one to two sentence description
about your book.
Make that super good.
You're going to want to tuneinto our elevator pitch show
(13:25):
coming up in the next few weeksto you know to refine that.
But the materials generally are.
They aren't extensive but theyare very, very important.
So I've actually gottensubmissions that I've, you know,
been ferreting through and thesubmission information is
basically blank, like the authorname and the book title, and
(13:47):
there's nothing else about thebook, which is a little
discouraging, you know,especially if you're spending
your time judging, and it kindof sends a message to the judge
and I can speak to thisfirsthand that you're really not
interested, that you just sortof willingly sent this out.
And then it's interestingbecause sometimes, like I'll go
onto the Amazon retail page andthe book description on the
Amazon retail page is like threesentences Right.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
They clearly don't listen to the show Right.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
They're not a listener of the show.
Amy, did we cover everything?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, I think we did.
I mean, I think the main points, like we said, this is very,
this is very accessible to allof you listening.
So add this to your list.
I know there's a lot out therethat's like where do I start?
What can I do?
I feel like I'm spinning mywheels trying to support my book
and figuring out how to get myfooting and all that kind of
stuff.
The awards are actually verystraightforward and for those of
(14:41):
you that thrive on rules andparameters and checklists, this
is where you are going to shine.
You know, just get a hold ofthese lists and start pulling
out the ones that seem the mostpromising.
Whittle it down based on whatreally makes sense.
Again, I think you know qualityover quantity here, penny, you
know I would say, do a mix ofsome of the big ones and some of
(15:03):
the genre-specific ones.
You know they do children'sbook awards specifically.
I mean, there's just so manydifferent ways to go about this
and give yourself an opportunityto to you for a while.
You know what I mean.
So this is not something that,if your book's already out,
you're going oh, I probablymissed the boat.
(15:30):
Not at all.
So you could also do these inphases.
I would think, if you don'twant to take it all on at once,
do it in phases, submit to somenow or as soon as you're able to
get around to it, and then dosome additional research and see
where you might want to submitfor phase two.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
And then, like I said, checkthe show notes.
We'll include the link so thatyou can find book awards and
really excited for you if youare going to take this journey
of submitting to book awards.
And let us know, send us anemail, let us know.
Our contact details are alwaysin the show notes.
Oh, and here's one reallyexciting thing that we are going
(16:07):
to be doing in the coming weeks.
I don't have an exact date forit, but we're going to start
doing call-ins, not necessarilyon the show, but we're going to
give you the opportunity toleave a voicemail with your
questions that we are then goingto address on the air.
So sometimes it's just easy,like you're listening to the
show, you're listening to theshow, you're like, oh, I really
want to know about such and such.
Boom, you could dial the numberand we'll pick a question for
(16:28):
every show and maybe a couplewho knows how many calls we get
that we can answer on the show.
And I'm really excited thatwe're going to be bringing that
to you as we approach, quicklyapproach our sixth year of doing
this show, which is amazing.
So I know I can't believe that.
I know right, six year, whatthat's so crazy, but anyway,
listen, and we've gotten so manygreat reviews recently and we
(16:50):
have so many new listeners andpeople emailing us.
In fact, we just got an emailthis morning from somebody who
just found the show and is goingback through the episode.
So if you are new, welcome,welcome.
We love that you're here.
Be sure, we have five yearsworth of show shows, um, to
listen to.
So be sure to go back to thearchive and, you know, find a
(17:10):
show that really inspires youand then get caught up and and
we will see you next next friday.
Bye-bye, bye.
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