One of the best ways to create a buzz about your book is by winning an award! Winning a book award is a great feeling, and sometimes it even comes with prize money — best of all, it can be a powerful marketing tool.
There are hundreds of thousands of self-published books released each year, and competition is fierce. Authors who are serious about getting their book noticed will need to put extra effort into the promotional department. By entering legitimate writing contests, authors can up their chances of winning recognition…and so much more.
When you win a book award…
- You receive third-party validation that your book is worthy.
- You may win prize money…
- The awards website will feature a list of all the winners and send out a press release announcing the winners — resulting in more publicity for you!
- You can send out your own press release to announce your award — again, more publicity.
- You can add an award sticker to your book cover that consumers, librarians, and booksellers will see immediately, and this can influence their buying decisions.
- You gain credibility as a writer and an edge in the market.
- You can call yourself an award-winning author, not only with friends and family but in promotional materials and interviews as well!
New writers publishing with the New & Improved Outskirts Press starting in August will receive the Book Marketing RoadMap at publication, and one article is devoted to helping our authors identify reputable book contests to enter. So, in recognition of our amazing 16 award finalists in the Colorado Independent Publisher Association EVVY Awards, we are going to give you an excerpt from the free Book Marketing RoadMap right now by listing a few of the upcoming book award contests to consider entering after your book is published. The contests listed below have approaching deadlines, so act fast!
And if you didn’t see our 16 EVVY Award finalists, you can see them here.
Top National Contests and Book Awards
USA Best Book Awards
- Deadline: Fall
- Website: USABookNews.com
- Details: This contest is another option to spread your marketing dollars, as they accept manuscripts up to two years after publication. All winners receive industry and media exposure.
Benjamin Franklin Awards
- Deadline: Fall/Winter
- Website: IBPABenjaminFranklinAwards.com
- Details: Held by the Independent Book Publishers Association, the annual Benjamin Franklin Awards is one of the premiere contests in independent publishing today, where Gold Medal winners in each category receive an engraved crystal trophy acknowledging their accomplishment.
Reader Views Literary Awards
- Deadline: December of your copyright year
- Website: ReaderViews.com/literaryawards
- Details: With numerous categories and various awards per category (including cash prizes and publicity packages), the Reader Views Literary Awards should not be missed. And it’s easy to miss them! They have the earliest deadline among all these contests, so plan early.
INDIEFAB Awards
Deadline: Dec/Jan
Website: IndieFab.ForewordReviews.com
Details: Held by the prestigious review journal Foreword Reviews, the INDIEFAB Awards are a cornerstone of the independent publishers marketing foundation. Not only are winners featured in the print and digital editions of Foreword Reviews, but they play a role in a national publicity campaign.
Eric Hoffer Book Awards
- Deadline: January
- Website: HofferAward.com
- Details: One submission automatically makes you eligible for numerous category considerations, including most-thought provoking work, best cover, best first-time author, and best over-all book, which comes with a $2,000 Grand Prize.
The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Awards
- Deadline: By invitation only
- Website: OutskirtsPress.com
- Details: Every year Outskirts Press recognizes one book as our official Best Book of the Year with this prestigious award that comes with a $1,500 Grand Prize for the winning author. The prerequisite for becoming one of the three special Semi-Finalists in this contest is winning a Colorado Independent Book Publishers Association EVVY Award.
This year’s EVVY Awards take place in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, August 20th. Outskirts Press executives will be on-hand to accept awards on behalf of authors unable to attend. Once our EVVY Winners are announced, three of them will be hand-selected as our Semi-Finalists for the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award. Stay tuned!
Submitting your book to contests can be rewarding. It can also be time-consuming and frustrating. Let Outskirts Press help you!
Outskirts Press authors can automatically enter six reputable, vetted book contests with one click of a button!
The Book Awards Submission package, exclusively from Outskirts Press, takes care of everything by automatically entering your book into the following book award contents for you: Benjamin Franklin Awards, INDIEFAB Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Reader Views Literary Awards , Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, and the USA Best Book Awards. If you’re already published with Outskirts Press, look for this Marketing Service in your Publishing Center under “Marketing Options.”
I am in the final stages of having my third novel published by Outskirts Press. Besides some wonderful assistance they have given me in sprucing up the book”s front cover to make it even more attractive than it was, I’m once again very pleased by how they have listened to my interests in designing the book”s interior. MURDER in MURRELLS Inlet should be released by September 1st. Very exited to see my latest work published.
This is wonderful news. Glad that we can help. Please feel free to always reach out.
Very helpfu)l publisher.
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