Won an award? Did it have an effect on your sales?

V. L. Dreyer

· #2 · May 13, 2015

Nobody has ever loved me enough to give me an award, except for my mummy. *tiny tear*

That said, lack of awards has not hurt my sales one bit. Will be interested to see what the award-winners say, though. Good topic!

Reply

Save

Like

T

Taking my troll a$$ outta here

· #3 · May 13, 2015

I haven't won, but I was finalist in a few awards & I list them in my bio. The two I think are most recognizable are what I put in my author bio (I left out the others), and I know it has opened doors for me. Waaay back in 2013, the ABNA quarterfinalist tag was enough to get me an exclusive full read request with an agent from Trident.

Lol, of course, that was back when I still cared about that sort of thing. :-[

My, how things have changed!!

As for actual book sales? It's tough to say for sure since there is no way to track it, but I do think it adds something extra to grab the reader's attention. <Shrug> I'm proud of those milestones, so I keep it in the author bio.

Reply

Save

Like

MarilynVix

· #4 · May 13, 2015

deanna c said:
I've tended to avoid book contests because the cost to enter can be high and it didn't seem that it would have much effect on sales. But I wonder if I've been short-sighted. Do you think it matters to readers if a book is an award winner? Or if the author has won awards?
Just wondering...

I just won an award at the San Francisco Book Festival. I got honorable mention in the wild card category for my new novella, Never Cross A Warlock. I'm totally excited, and am planning to go to the ceremony in the City on May 23. I have to prepare a speech and except at a podium. It's pretty exciting. Not sure on the sales front yet, because it just happened. But it's the first award I've won so far, and I've entered a few. I'm guessing it will help sales when people see it's won. And that digital books are winning. Will have to let you all know. ;-)

Here's the winner's list if you want to check it out:
http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com/winners_2015.htm

Book Listing in the awards book store

Table of Honor)
http://tableofhonor.com/

Reply

Save

Like

N

N.D. Taylor

· #5 · May 13, 2015

I submitted my book to Reader's Favorite under their paranormal category, and I know the contest closes at the end of this month. I know others who won last years and her books are selling far better than they did before hand. Is it because she won their gold? No idea, but the time is very convenient... On the other hand, people claim that any time you have to pay to submit your book, the award isn't valid because you're paying to win. So, I don't know. It could be a psychological thing where a reader sees the shiny badge on your book and decides it must be worth trying. If it works, and they love it, it caused no harm.

Reply

Save

Like

Jim Johnson

· #6 · May 13, 2015

deanna c said:
I've tended to avoid book contests because the cost to enter can be high and it didn't seem that it would have much effect on sales. But I wonder if I've been short-sighted. Do you think it matters to readers if a book is an award winner? Or if the author has won awards?
Just wondering...

If it's a big award like a Hugo or Nebula, maybe.

I'd avoid book contests that have entry fees. I think the awards worth mentioning are the ones that don't cost a writer to enter. Probably be better off putting that money toward editing, covers, ads, etc.

Reply

Save

Like

MarilynVix

· #7 · May 13, 2015

N.D. Taylor said:
I submitted my book to Reader's Favorite under their paranormal category, and I know the contest closes at the end of this month. I know others who won last years and her books are selling far better than they did before hand. Is it because she won their gold? No idea, but the time is very convenient... On the other hand, people claim that any time you have to pay to submit your book, the award isn't valid because you're paying to win. So, I don't know. It could be a psychological thing where a reader sees the shiny badge on your book and decides it must be worth trying. If it works, and they love it, it caused no harm.

It is a type of marketing. It's easy to make an award. I could do it for my blog, charge a fee, and then give out awards. The fee helps pay for the award and expenses. How much the award helps sell depends on the award itself. There are a lot of awards Indies can enter, and I've seen them all cost money. I haven't come across an award that is free. They wouldn't pay for themselves then.

It's sort of like trying to pay for ads. The difference is that it's not a guaranteed win; it's just the opportunity. I did find an indie self-pub award that listed all the entries for a year on their website. So, even if you didn't win, you still got a listing. I've also seen writing awards, and sometimes those lead to opportunities. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Entering a few is good to try to win so you can get at least win one. I think the writing cred is worth it. It also means you're doing something right, and keeps you going.

So, yeah, when you see a digital badge saying the author's book won an award, what do you think? Does your thoughts about them go up a notch? I know it does with me. Then I check out the award to see if it's worth it for me to check out.

See less See more

Reply

Save

Like

deanna c

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 13, 2015

Thanks for the feedback. I agree about being wary of those with costs, but -- at least in the romance genre -- it's a given that there will be costs. Many of the RWA chapters & the national org. run fee-based contests and they use the income to cover costs and raise funds for the group. I get that, and don't disparage it at all. I just haven't been convinced that money isn't better used to advertise or market other ways.

I wish there was a way to track an award's effectiveness, but I guess -- like just about everything else with general marketing -- you can never say precisely what's working and what's not.

Reply

Save

Like

NoCat

· #9 · May 13, 2015

Well, getting nominated for a Hugo was worth about 30 extra sales. Withdrawing that nomination was worth about 80 extra sales.

The drama of it all and the month of my life I lost to it? Not worth the sales

Reply

Save

Like

deanna c

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 13, 2015

Dang, Annie -- so sorry to hear that. That kind of drama is never good... :-X

Reply

Save

Like

Trans-Human

· #11 · May 13, 2015

I would say to anyone reading this, that contests that need you to pay a sum in order to enter are not worth a millisecond of your time and energy. You can only lose (time, energy, money) whil gaining, and perhaps, not even gain anything back (you may not be awarded, and even if you are, it may not translate into more sales or readers).

With free contests, you can only gain and not lose much (you don't waste money, free contests mean you can not only practice, but also experiment with your craft, possibly genres you never tried before), you may lose time and energy, but it may be worth it since you are practicing or experimenting other literary waters. And yeah, there's potential that you gain more readers, and thus, more sales from these.

Reply

Save

Like

MarilynVix

· #12 · May 13, 2015

Annie Bellet said:
Well, getting nominated for a Hugo was worth about 30 extra sales. Withdrawing that nomination was worth about 80 extra sales.

The drama of it all and the month of my life I lost to it? Not worth the sales

Wow! I heard that's hard to get nominated for. How did that happen? Grateful fan?

Reply

Save

Like

NoCat

· #13 · May 13, 2015

It takes a lot more than one fan to get nominated for a Hugo...

Reply

Save

Like

John Hamilton

· #14 · May 13, 2015

Annie, did you get caught up in that Sad Puppies thing?

Reply

Save

Like

Steve W.

· #15 · May 13, 2015

Contests can be a very big boost to sales, assuming you're competing in contests that people know about. If all the contestants are self-published, it's probably best you just avoid it. Ask your local librarian what awards they're familiar with (for books in your genre) and enter those. Look at smaller, but reputable (i.e. successful) publishers, and see what contests they enter their books in. Then when you win or place or get honorable mention promote those wins to people who care about such things. That's how you translate winning contests into selling books.

Reply

Save

Like

John Hamilton

· #16 · May 13, 2015

I would be very wary of any contest that charges an entry fee. Those are usually profit centers for the people running them. I also see that kind of thing a lot on photography contests (where rights grabs are also a problem).

When my Lewis & Clark book was a Minnesota Book Award nominee, it made a big impact on sales. I put it up on Kindle last month, and have heard from people who said they knew of the book from the awards and wanted an e-book copy, so the tail can be quite long depending on the award. My dead tree publisher is still getting traction on books I wrote years ago that won two Golden Duck Awards (for excellence in science fiction literature, the children's book equivalent of the Hugo Awards). And this year another one of my trad-pubbed nonfic children's book is a Spur Award Finalist, and I'm getting spillover for my indie Western novel. So yes, the right award can make a difference. But be careful out there! There are a lot of scams.

Reply

Save

Like

G

· #17 · May 13, 2015

John Hamilton said:
I would be very wary of any contest that charges an entry fee. Those are usually profit centers for the people running them.

Just to clarify, it is not unusual for legitimate contests to charge entry fees. Operating a legitimate contest is a huge undertaking in both time and resources.

What you SHOULD always ask is, "What does this organization actually do?" For example, if the award is tied to a university, chances are high the reading fees cover the cost of operating the contest and it isn't just a money-making venture. But you are correct that there are far too many "contest mills" where the only reason the company exists is to run contests (and awards ceremonies, which cost additional money to attend).

The biggest reason why an award WON'T help with sales is that the author has no infrastructure or plan in place to capitalize on it. This is something I discussed on my blog in the past (I actually judge for a large competition). Most people just aren't prepared to capitalize on the win even if they do win one of the big prizes. As a judge, half the books that come across my desk are from authors that don't even have their own websites or social media presence! Awards aren't a magic wand. They are simply an excuse to promote your book and lend it some credibility to those that value a third-party endorsement.

See less See more

Reply

Save

Like

John Hamilton

· #18 · May 13, 2015

Good advice, Julie.

Reply

Save

Like

NoCat

· #19 · May 13, 2015

Heh. Yes. I was caught up in the mess this year. Until I took my ball and went home. Toughest decision ever, but staying in with all the drama wasn't worth it. Not even a little.

Reply

Save

Like

G

Gone 9/21/18

· #20 · May 13, 2015

Beautiful Bad Man won InD'Tale magazine's American Historical RONE award for 2012. It didn't have any noticeable impact on sales, but it is an all indie contest, and the whole thing was very new in 2012. They start with every book that their reviewers gave a 4-star or better review to, after that narrow their finalists by reader votes (which I dislike because it seems to be nothing more at that point than who can round up the most friends, fans, etc.), and then the award is given based on points from judges who actually read the books. So I didn't pay to enter the contest, didn't even know the contest existed at the time.

This year there are about 3 times as many books in my category (Without Words is eligible this year). In the unlikely event Words wins, I'll get to see if the fact InD'tale has been in existence longer and has more readers makes a difference.

Reply

Save

Like

Top Contributors this Month