If you’re asking, should I be submitting my book to awards? The answer is a resounding yes! As a publisher, we whole-heartedly encourage authors to submit their books for awards. Not only is it a great honor, but with hundreds of programs to choose from, awards help set books apart and give readers a all the more reason to pick yours off the shelf.

Why Should You Submit to Awards?

Here are some of the benefits of submitting to awards:

Awards Add Credibility

Awards are a great way to make your book stand out in the sea of literature. When a reader wants a new book, there are hundreds of thousands of options to choose from. But if you are selected as a finalist or winner of a book award, your book gains an endorsement that people pay attention to. Readers will be more willing to take a chance on a book with an honorary sticker on the cover. And luckily, librarians and booksellers notice that too—books with awards are more likely to be included in prominent displays in stores or in a roundups online.

 . . . And Generate New Interest

For the most part, excitement for a book has a limited lifespan. In the book world, after the season has passed—around three months—those titles are now considered “backlisted.” Though retailers and publicists might push new releases, after a while, a book’s hype naturally fades.

Awards are a useful sales tool that can breathe new life into a backlisted book. The more awards you submit to, the higher probability you have of winning. The more awards you win, your more your title is in the public eye. Winning also gives you reason to send out the news to your newsletter subscribers, post on social media, and create buzz.

You Can Tap into New Audiences

Winning awards can help your book find new audiences to resonate with.

Award-winning books gain media hits, essentially granting your book a new bout of relevancy in a quickly changing industry. Many award programs include their winners in newsletters, blogs, on their websites, and in social media posts. In the age of online promotion, this is the best way for your book to reach new groups of people.

She Writes Press author Kate Raphael wrote an excellent article about her personal experience with awards, which you can read here.

Things to Know About Book Awards

You have to take the time to research. Every award program is different. There are awards for self-published books, for traditionally published books, and even for unpublished books. Some awards might only accept books from authors who are part of a certain community, while others may be genre specific. Most awards have a list of categories that your book has to fall under. If you don’t do the proper research as to what the program accepts, you risk wasting your time and money. BookBub has a great list of “30 Book Awards You Should Know About” for authors to use as a starting point.

Most award programs charge a submission fee. This fee typically ranges from $30 to $150. It all depends on the program you’re interested in and the reputation it holds.

It will take a while. Typically, if you apply for an award, the winners won’t be announced for a good four to six months later—maybe longer. These programs get thousands of submissions, so you should submit to more than one and don’t expect a quick answer. Winning is worth the wait!