An Award-Winning Marketing Strategy

What: Book awards are given on a regular basis to recognize books that are the best of their type. Here are a couple of websites that list book awards:

www.bibliobabe.com/all_awards.php?awardid=1

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/awards-and-prizes/article/4801-the-year-in-awards-.html

Each year we typically nominate a selection of books for the following awards: Axiom Business Book Award, 800-ceo-read Business Book Award, the Ippys (Independent Publisher Awards), the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Ben Franklin Awards, the Nautilus Book Award, and ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year Award. These awards encompass many of the topics and subject areas we publish in, and we’ve had some success in winning these awards in the past. Other more specific awards we have nominated books for recently are the Association for Human Resource Development’s Book of the Year Award and the John Humphreys Award, among others.

How much : Many, but not all awards, have an entry fee, which can be something nominal like $50, or sizeable, like $150 to 200. We also have to factor in the cost of the books submitted for the award and the cost of shipping books either to a central location or to award department chairs across the nation or planet. BK doesn't have an infinite budget for awards so if you want us to nominate your book for a whole lot of awards, we might ask you to share the cost of applying. But cast your net widely and then we can work together to craft a cost-effective strategy. And don't worry. Many awards don't have an entry fee.

How: Besides considering the more general awards listed above, as part of your marketing campaign you should do research to find awards that may be specific to the content of your book. A number of organizations and publications offer these types of awards.

For instance, J. Kirk Boyd’s new book 2048, which was published in April, is centrally concerned with human rights. In particular, 2048 aims to build on the work done by Eleanor Roosevelt and John Humphrey, a Canadian human rights advocate, who were both instrumental in drafting the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

It turns out that an award called the John Humphrey Award is given to individuals or works that promote human rights. Kirk Boyd, author of 2048, pointed this out to me many months ago, and I nominated his book for it at the end of April.

2048.berkeley.edu

I imagine other human rights advocates may be in contention, but I am fairly certain that no one’s work more directly fulfills the intent of the award, and so specifically. Due to Kirk’s research and preparation he has a great chance of winning. In this case no fee is charged, and the prize is a $30,000 grant and a paid speaking tour in Canada.

So do your research. The more specific and timely the award, and the better it matches your content, the more likely it is that you will win.

This plays out with more general awards through categorization. Awards like the Independent Publisher Awards have dozens of different categories. Your book could conceivably fall into several different categories, but you have to pick one, so choose your category wisely. If you aren't sure what category your book fits into, think about your answers to these questions:

  • Which is the closest match for the content, author, and audience?
  • Which might have fewer contestants?
  • What would the judges in this category be looking for, and does the book provide that?

You can also make your case through ancillary materials. Many award committees will ask for ancillary material, like a press release or cover letter, to go along with the nomination. Whether or not the award guidelines ask for this, include at least a cover letter. In the letter, explain how the title best fits with the award or category and anything else relevant for the book that may set it apart from other entries when it reaches a judge. Differentiating is good.

Check the due dates: be sure to be aware of when the due dates are if you have your heart set on nominating the book for a particular award. Most awards are yearly, but many are given only every 2 to 5 years! If you miss the deadline, there is no turning back. Some awards are flexible, but it’s not good to count on that. Be prepared.

Also, if some deadlines are too early in the production process to nominate your finished book, you can either wait a year or see if the organizers will allow you to submit page proofs or galleys. This is an option for the higher-level awards. It’s another reason to have all your ducks in a row.

So, you've entered, and against uncertain odds, your title has won an award. What do you do now? Here's a list of actions to consider taking:

  • Email everyone on your email list and let them know you’ve won.
  • Promote your win in your e-newsletter.
  • Ask for or purchase some stickers and send them out with a book to key contacts, clients, or others.
  • Order stickers or seals and afix them to your stock of books.
  • Send out a press release.
  • Announce the award on your website.
  • Add a mention of the award to your email signature or create an award seal to add to it.
  • Update your biography and resume.
  • Create some buzz on your social networking sites.

Here's what BK can do for you:

  • Send out a press release.
  • Announce it on our website.
  • Create some buzz on our social networks and our community site.
  • Mention it in our e-newsletter.

Our distributor, IPS, will often announce the achievement to its sales reps, who in turn will tell the book buyers.

Often the award giver will offer promotional opportunities such as having the books on display in a booth at BookExpo America or other conferences, sending out a press release, or featuring the book along with other winners as part of a paid advertisement. We typically do not pay for these because we find they aren't very effective at building awareness for titles or driving sales, but you may want to pursue them.

Writing a book is a big deal, and many people won't have multiple chances to get it right, so if contending for book awards is important to you, make sure to bring it up early on, and we can build it into your marketing process. Generally, book award deadlines occur throughout the year for various awards; however many are announced in May at BookExpo America.

To get an idea of what BookExpo America is all about, go to: www.bookexpoamerica.com/.

Good luck, and don't forget to mention us in your acceptance speech!

Please contact Kristen Frantz or Zoe Mackey about any of the content included here.

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

www.bkconnection.com

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