By
Tim Bishop
Would
you rather write a best-selling book or an award-winning one?
Two
years ago, a business partner urged my wife, Debbie, and me to enter Wheels of Wisdom in some book contests.
“If you win,” he said, “it will help your book stand out.” So, we did as he suggested.
With
Wheels of Wisdom recently garnering more
awards, I can no longer stay silent. Fellow authors, there’s something you need
to know about book awards.
How
they work
Book
contests are pay-to-play marketing opportunities. On average, you can expect to
pay $75 to enter your book in one genre in one competition. Programs are run either
by marketing firms who are trying to make money or by non-profit literary advocates.
Organizers rarely disclose the judging criteria and seldom provide feedback to
entrants on their titles.
Many
contests sell overpriced seals, certificates, and medals to winners. Some even offer
awards ceremonies alongside industry tradeshows to provide photo opportunities.
Those “perks” can add credibility to a book and help get the word out about it.
But make no mistake, winners pay coming and going.
Managing
expectations
Don’t
get me wrong. Winning a book contest can help grab the attention of readers in
your genre. The accolades feel good and attest to the quality of your work. Furthermore,
a medaling book is newsworthy.
Depending
on your budget, contests may be a worthwhile component of your marketing plan. Our
book awards have helped land interviews, speaking engagements, media exposure,
and conversations with potential buyers.
To
date, however, our awards have done astonishingly little to boost lagging
sales. We’ve discovered that an award-winning book is no more guaranteed to
become a bestseller than a best-selling book is certain to win an award. A book
award suggests the author and the publisher have done an outstanding job producing
a book, but it doesn’t mean there’s an audience on standby who can’t wait to devour
the content.
Despite
years of history, publishing experts can only surmise that a popular figure
whose name appears as author is likely to sell more books than an obscure writer.
Content and quality have little bearing on that trend. Ultimately, readers buy
a book because it interests them, not because it won an award. Therefore,
authors should view their awards as merely one facet of their selling efforts.
Debbie
and I periodically remind ourselves that sharing with excellence the hope and
encouragement God has given us is what He called us to do. More book sales
would also be affirming, but we realize that God can do with our content and
marketing as He sees fit. Our prayer is that He touches some lives with this
book regardless of how well it sells.
Would
I enter these contests again? Absolutely! We are grateful for the honors and
the encouragement. Next time, though, my expectations for book sales will
remain guarded. There’s a big difference between an award-winning book and a
bestseller.
Tim Bishop left a
successful career as a corporate treasurer, married his dream girl, and
embarked with her to parts unknown – on bicycles! Tim and Debbie have since
coauthored four books about their midlife bicycling adventures. Wheels of Wisdom has won three first-place book awards (in
Inspiration, Devotional, and Christian Nonfiction). It
also earned a bronze medal for Devotional in the Illumination Awards behind
books by New York Times best-selling authors Sarah Young and Christine Caine. Publishers Weekly dubbed the book “a roadmap for
life.”A three-time Maine chess champion, a CPA, and a consultant for small
businesses, Tim has also written a business book, Hedging
Commodity Price Risk. He is still out to prove that the writing
contest he won as a college freshman was not a fluke. Learn more at OpenRoadPress.com. Social Media links: https://twitter.com/TimBishop4/,
