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Yesterday I posted that I had just received my silver medal for "Hang On" (formerly "All Torc'd Up") for an IPPY-sponsored book awards contest. I never see other authors posting things like that, and never see posts that mention writing competitions. Each winter everyone gears up for the ABNA, but seriously. Come on.
Someone doing research for an article posted here, looking for authors who had won awards, and only I replied to him. I suspect I'm the only one here who entered. Am I right?
When I wrote Threads, my first order of business was to send it to competitions. I think I sent it to three or four. One of them, the William Faulkner, only judges unpublished manuscripts (I think you can't even post your work on your website and still qualify, but I could be wrong), and they judge it blind. The IPPY judges published books, and you must be a small publishing house or an indie author to qualify. The entry fees range from about $40 to $95 (if you enter late). I was a finalist for the Faulkner - I placed fourth - but it's been working for me ever since, even though I didn't come out on top.
There are other, smaller contests out there, some regional, some national. Some cheaper, some more expensive. The entry fee covers the massive work involved in running a literary competition - it's totally fair, to pay for your entry. You can check a contest's credibility easily enough in Google. Some contests are good for some types of books, but not others. There are literary competitions, sci-fi and fantasy competitions, romance competitions. Do your research. But you can't win if you don't enter.
It's far easier to sell an indie book that won an award, or placed in a competition. That's also one of the few ways you can get your book into libraries. It gives you credibility as a writer, rather than just as an author who sells books.
Furthermore, it addresses the issue we have been discussing lately, of quality. You are going to work harder at making your book its absolute best, if you're writing out a check to someone to judge it. That's my opinion, anyway.
So, here you go:
William Faulkner: http://www.wordsandmusic.org/2010%20Winners-Finalists.html.
Writers Digest - Short Stories: http://www.writersdigest.com/annual.
IPPY awards: http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/ipawards.php.
Living Now Book Awards (Part of IPPY): http://www.livingnowawards.com/how_to_enter.php.
Most of them are over for 2011, but spruce up your books for next year!
Someone doing research for an article posted here, looking for authors who had won awards, and only I replied to him. I suspect I'm the only one here who entered. Am I right?
When I wrote Threads, my first order of business was to send it to competitions. I think I sent it to three or four. One of them, the William Faulkner, only judges unpublished manuscripts (I think you can't even post your work on your website and still qualify, but I could be wrong), and they judge it blind. The IPPY judges published books, and you must be a small publishing house or an indie author to qualify. The entry fees range from about $40 to $95 (if you enter late). I was a finalist for the Faulkner - I placed fourth - but it's been working for me ever since, even though I didn't come out on top.
There are other, smaller contests out there, some regional, some national. Some cheaper, some more expensive. The entry fee covers the massive work involved in running a literary competition - it's totally fair, to pay for your entry. You can check a contest's credibility easily enough in Google. Some contests are good for some types of books, but not others. There are literary competitions, sci-fi and fantasy competitions, romance competitions. Do your research. But you can't win if you don't enter.
It's far easier to sell an indie book that won an award, or placed in a competition. That's also one of the few ways you can get your book into libraries. It gives you credibility as a writer, rather than just as an author who sells books.
Furthermore, it addresses the issue we have been discussing lately, of quality. You are going to work harder at making your book its absolute best, if you're writing out a check to someone to judge it. That's my opinion, anyway.
So, here you go:
William Faulkner: http://www.wordsandmusic.org/2010%20Winners-Finalists.html.
Writers Digest - Short Stories: http://www.writersdigest.com/annual.
IPPY awards: http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/ipawards.php.
Living Now Book Awards (Part of IPPY): http://www.livingnowawards.com/how_to_enter.php.
Most of them are over for 2011, but spruce up your books for next year!
I don't know why, but I hadn't thought about Indie writing contests/awards.
