On the heels of our discussions about covers, front matter and back matter contributing to an author’s marketing juice, we wanted to delve just a bit deeper into what winning a writing competition can offer your own author marketing efforts.
In today’s crowded book market it is imperative that you find ways make your book stand out from the rest and sell more — contests can be a great place to start. If prominent, they’ll boost your discoverability, increase book sales, and grow your readership. Some are savvy enough to promote an author and their winning status long after the competition ends, giving an author maximum impact for what usually amounts to a small entry fee.
The prizes don’t hurt either. Most won’t be huge, but as we like to say about small victories around here, “better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.”
WWW maintains an ever growing list of contests and competitions in our Winner Circle, numbering in the hundreds, for indie and traditional authors, authors-to-be, fiction writers, poets and more. If you haven’t checked that out yet, explore entering just one contest a month and putting yourself and your work out there.
Meanwhile, here’s highlights of a few upcoming competitions that we know have gotten authors plenty of attention, and in many cases, lucrative publishing deals! And yes, these are awards you’ll want to boast about on your book covers…
Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards
The INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards recognize the best in indie book publishing, and have been doing so for nearly 20 years. But hurry – the deadline for this year’s competition is this Friday, January 15, 2016!
Along with two cash prizes, finalists and winners can count on abundant recognition from all aspects of the book industry. In March, finalists are revealed. In June, winners are announced at the American Library Association Annual Conference. They’re also featured in the print and digital edition of Foreword Reviews. The finalists and winners lists are promoted on their website and in their e-mail newsletter Foreword This Week as part of a national publicity campaign.
INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards help connect your book to readers excited to discover what’s new and top quality.
How to Enter: Visit this LINK for more info and entry instructions — both digital and print entries are accepted. Good luck!
Chanticleer Writing Competitions: 15 Genre Competitions, 15 Deadlines
Chanticleer Book Reviews hosts several competitions each year in a variety of genres (see graphic below), as well as short story awards and a nifty NaNoWriMo Raw competition.
Finalists and winners get active promotion from Chanticleer across their social media platforms and website, and public recognition via their annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala. They award over $30,000 in cash and prizes each year, plus throw another $1,000 at a grand prize winner across all genres.
William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition
The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition is sponsored annually by The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society, Inc, a non-profit literary and educational organization. The majority of their winners, as well as runners-up and shortlisted finalists, have gone on to publishing success!This competition is for previously unpublished work only. Self-published and print-on-demand books are considered published, unless authors can present documentation that less than 500 copies have sold. Also considered as published and not eligible are books, stories, essays, and poetry previously published in their entirety on the Internet.Divisions include Novel/Book Length Fiction – Prize: $7,500; Non-Fiction Book – Prize: $2,000.00; Novella – Prize: $1,500.00; Short Story – Prize: $1,500; Novel-in-Progress – Prize: $1,500; Essay – Prize: $750; Poetry – Prize: $750; Short Story by a High School Student – Prize, $750; Sponsoring Teacher, $250.
How to Enter: Visit this LINK for full competition guideline and 2016 entry form. The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Competition is open to all writers anywhere working in the English language.
Have you entered and won (or placed high) in a competition? Share your experience and what value it’s brought to you as an author!