Winning an award presents a wonderful opportunity to take the next steps in your marketing efforts. After all, once your book wins an award (regardless of whether it is an EVVY Award, a ForeWord Book of the Year Award, a Writer’s Digest Award, or some other recognized award, the quality of your book has now been recognized (vetted) by an independent 3rd party source.
It’s time to strike while the iron is hot!
So if you are the author of an award-winning book, here are 5 steps take advantage of your award-winning author status:
1. Modify your cover to display your accomplishment
One of the advantages of publishing on-demand is the ability to quickly, conveniently, and affordably make necessary changes to the book. What better reason is there for making a change than to draw attention to a book award? Mention it on the back or in your author bio.
Or, better yet, add an “award-graphic” to the front cover of your book, to communicate your accomplishment visually. (See right for an example of how multiple-award winner Dawn Menge has promoted her award-winning book by adding a graphic to the cover.)
2. Write a press release and distribute it
Publishing a book is a big deal and deserves a press release. And marketing efforts may be able to coast on the publication of the book for a while. Ultimately, however, the news media requires something “new” and that’s where winning an award can really help! A press release about an award-winning book can help attract local media attention to your book.
3. Pursue book reviews aggressively
Perhaps when your book was first published you pursued some book reviews. Perhaps you had some success, or perhaps you didn’t. Don’t let that experience prevent you from repeating this important tactic again.
Book reviewers enjoy reviewing award-winning books. After all, they are book reviewers because they like to read good books. Give them a chance to do that by submitting your award-winning book to reviewers who review self published books. Make sure your cover displays your award first so they know they’re in for a special treat (see #1).
4. Submit your book to other book awards and contests
It’s a widely held misconception that “legitimate” book awards don’t charge fees. Simply not true. From the Benjamin Franklin Awards to the National Best Books Awards, they all have entry fees. Perhaps these fees have prevented you from submitting your book to them in the past. Now that your book has won an award, don’t delay! Award winning books often win multiple awards. Why? Because a good book is a good book. Imagine how effective your promotional efforts will be if you can string together a laundry list of awards you have won…
5. Get some marketing help
As you can tell, there’s a lot to do once your book has won an award and you want to strike while the iron is hot. Sure, it’s possible to do everything yourself, but sometimes it’s more cost-effective in the long run to use the services of a marketing professional. It all comes down to how valuable your time is.
If your book has recently won an award, congratulations! Now it’s time to tell the world! These steps are a good place to begin.
Important news exclusively for Outskirts
Press published authors: We can help you accomplish
all these steps easily and conveniently. Check out the Marketing
Options tab of your Author’s Center for details about our:
- Award Recognition Cover Enhancement Option
- Custom Press Release & Distribution
- Book Review Submission Service
- The Writer’s Digest Book Awards Submission Service
- The Personal Marketing Assistant or the PR Publicist Campaign Option
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