Fellow authors, if you’ve spent much time browsing the various self-publishing resources available thanks to this magical thing we call the Internet, you’ll already be more than aware that awards are a big deal for self-publishing authors for a lot of reasons. In fact, a quick search of our own archives here at SPA reveals dozens of articles and hundreds of mentions over the years (our first post on the subject was in 2009, a quick blurb discussing the Reader Views annual awards). We’ve even spent some time discussing why awards are important for self-publishing authors in a way they aren’t for traditionally published authors; I particularly like Kelly’s retrospective on the those very same Reader Views annual awards from 2016.
My favorite thing about indie and self-publishing awards is that there are simply so many of them now, when once they didn’t exist at all. The diversification of awards has been a slow process, but now there are lots to choose from (I recommend choosing them all; they’re all excellent). Below I’m including a list of some of my favorites, as well as the submission dates for 2018 to ensure that your book gets in on time. Before you submit, you’ll need to double-check your copyright dates, as each of these awards has unique dating requirements, and you certainly don’t want to pay a submission fee only to discover your book was published outside of the acceptable date range!
- The Next Generation Indie Book Awards (DEADLINE: February 23)
- The Reader Views Literary Awards (DEADLINE: passed for 2018)
- The Benjamin Franklin Awards (DEADLINE: September 30 OR December 15; there are separate periods for different copyright dates, so read the website instructions carefully in advance)
- ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards (DEADLINE: January 15)
- The Writer’s Digest Annual Self-Published Book Awards (DEADLINE: April 2)
There are more awards competitions you can enter, of course. Just make sure to budget ahead for them, as most (if not all) of these awards are only made possible by the entry fees they charge. Publisher’s Weekly has a list of additional award competitions to consider (with some overlap), and while I haven’t had a chance to verify each on Curiosity Never Killed the Writer‘s list, I like that it includes a cookbook-specific award as well as several newer awards which might prove fertile ground for new authors. The work that the Watchdog Desk of The Alliance of Independent Authors does is also impressive, and their curated list of awards may prove helpful, when taken with a grain of salt.
And lastly, if you’d love to submit your book for awards but are worried about meeting all of the necessary requirements or are worried about meeting those various deadlines, you might consider exploring options like the various awards submission packages available from indie and self-publishing companies. There are a number of them out there, and they really do take the hard work out of the process, allowing you to focus on what you love best: writing! Keep these kinds of services on the table, as the financial investment often repays itself in the time, energy, and logistics they save you. But in the meantime, take a look around that fabulous Internet … there are simply too many awards to list here, today, and we’d love to hear from you what awards you endorse or warn against!
Oh, and keep an eye on that deadline for ForeWord Reviews–it’s coming up this next Monday!
You are not alone. ♣︎
