Self-Publishing and POD Awards and Contests

Glynn

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Peter Bowerman gives the following list of awards and contests for self-publishing in his book The Well-fed Self Publisher which I have reviewed at my book review blog. I can't vouch for the integrity or worth of any of them personally, but I intend to enter my novel Arise Beloved if it meets the entry criteria. Does anyone have any information on any of the others?

Bejamin Franklin Awards
Sponsor: PMA,the Independent Book Publishers Association
Web site: www.pma-online.org

The IPPY Awards
Sponsor: Independent Publisher
Web site: www.independentpublisher.com
Aydy Press the publisher of my first novel A Perfect Peace was a finalist in the IPPY competition last year for Brian S. Matthews's sci-fi novel New Wilderness.

ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards
Sponsor: ForeWord magazine
Web site: www.forewordmagazine.com

Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards
Sponsor: Writer's Digest magazine
Web site: www.writersdigest.com

And, for a larger list of competitions (including ones for conventionally published books)
www.writing-world.com/contests/index.shtml

I also received the following email inviting me to enter the Nautilus Books Awards 2007. This is a new one for me, so I am including the entire text of the email. Note that the Nautilus Awards are associted with Jenkins Group Inc. which has been mentioned before in this forum.

The Nautilus Book Awards 2007 – Call for Entries "Recognizing Books
> that Promote Spiritual Growth, Conscious Living, and Positive Social
> Change" Orcas Island, WA -- The sixth annual Nautilus Book Awards are
> now accepting entries in 20 subject categories, honoring books that
> contribute to our society’s awareness and well-being, and that embrace
> spiritual and ecological values such as compassion, sustainability,
> simplicity, and global peace. Any book copyrighted or released in 2005 or
> 2006, in English, is eligible. Final deadline for entering is January 15,
> 2007. A downloadable, four-page PDF with complete guidelines and entry form, and online, secure entry are both available at
> www.independentpublisher.com/nautilus. Why Nautilus? Since ancient
> times, storytellers and scribes worldwide have gathered and shared the
> culture’s words and ideas in ways that encourage its people to think,
> feel, and improve the lives of upcoming generations. For centuries, the
> world’s great philosophers and leaders have used books to inspire the
> masses and affect their attitudes and emotions – not always for the
> better. Today, with mass global communication, political unrest, and
> religious and secular fanaticism all growing at an alarming rate, the
> need for books that promote “green living” and positive social change is
> great, and the phrase, “Changing the World One Book at a Time” is more
> meaningful than ever before. Authors and publishers and their books CAN
> and ARE making a difference. The Nautilus Book Awards were conceived
> to recognize and reward these world-changing books, and celebrate how
> they contribute to positive social change, spiritual growth, high-level
> wellness, and responsible leadership. 20 categories in all, including
> three children’s book categories and both adult and juvenile Visionary
> Fiction, will showcase the most creative, inspirational, and
> life-changing books available today. Award winners will be announced
> during a Nautilus Book Awards presentation at BookExpo America on
> Saturday, June 2, 2007, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. A winner, runner-up, and 3-4 finalists will be named for each category, a special award will be given to the top small press or self-published title, and
> two overall Grand Prize winners (one adult and one children’s) will be
> presented with the Nautilus Book of the Year Awards. Winning titles will
> be featured in a Nautilus Book Awards exhibit booth at BookExpo America,
> and will be promoted on the Nautilus website for one year. Visit the
> Nautilus Book Awards website at www.marilynmcguire.com for background information, or contact Awards Producer Marilyn McGuire at
> [email protected] with any questions. A downloadable,
> four-page PDF with complete guidelines and entry form, and online, secure entry are both available at www.independentpublisher.com/nautilus. The Nautilus Book Awards 2007 are presented by Marilyn McGuire & Associates, Inc. of Eastsound, WA and co-sponsored and administered by Independent Publisher Online of Traverse City, MI.
>
> Marilyn McGuire & Associates, Inc. have assisted and supported the
> creation, publication, marketing and sales of books, music and other
> products that make a distinguished contribution to the world in the areas
> of holistic health, self-help & psychology, responsible leadership,
> spiritual growth, positive social change, and the principle of
> sustainability in all human enterprise for twenty years.
> www.marilynmcguire.com Independent Publisher Online is an electronic
> magazine containing news and features about the world of independent
> publishing. It is owned and operated by Jenkins Group Inc., a provider of
> marketing and custom book publishing services for independent publishers. www.bookpublishing.com
>
 

Glynn

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$100.00 Cash Award for the best POD/Self-Published Book I Review At My Blog

I prefer to review POD and conventional self-published fiction, but it is difficult amidst the numerous blogs, review sites, etc., to get much attention for my book review site and I don't get as many submissions as I would like. In order to generate more interest in my reviews, I am offering a prize of $100.00 for the best POD/self-published book published in 2006 that I review at my site.

Although I have no special credentials as a reviewer, I am a self-published author myself. I have written two novels, and I assume that the prize money will provide an incentive for submission; in other words, an author will have nothing to lose by making a submission other than one copy of his/her book.

Although I may make criticisms of the books I review, I will review only those titles I think have merit and are worth buying and reading. I will make no negative, humiliating or "slash and burn" reviews.


My motives for this competition, other than to generate interest in my book reviews, are to see what my fellow, self-published writers are doing, and to draw attention to POD/self-published works of fiction and works of fiction published by small (10 titles or fewer) publishers.


Interested? The guidelines for submission are here.

 

Debutauthorsblog

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Self-Publishing Contest

Hey I am hosting a self publishing contest at the Debut Authors Blog. There isn't a huge prize and there is no entry fee. The purpose of the contest is to give first time authors who have chosen the self-publishing route the chance to be reviewed on the blog. If anyone is interested in participating please go check it out!

Read the rules and enter here
 

Justmee

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Self publishing award (merged into Awards and Contests stickie)

Just thought you guys might be interested in this. As the title of this thread says, it is a self publishing and independent press award for any book. It is based in the UK but is open to international entries.

It has some very reputable judges. The winner also gets their book read by a literary agent.

Website is:
http://www.ruberybookaward.com
 

JimMastro

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Contests

Hi all (especially Glynn),

Thanks for the info on competitions. It is probably a good idea to enter as many as possible, and I have been doing so. However, I am becoming suspicious of the ones offered by the Jenkins Group, and I wonder how useful they are. They offer at least three awards (IPPY, Moonbeam Children's, and Nautilus). It costs $75 per book per category to enter each one, so the whole thing is beginning to seem like a money-making scam for that company.

Does anyone have any information on whether winning one of their awards is worth anything? Does the publishing industry even notice? Or does it collectively write them off as a self-publishing, narcissistic self-pat on the back?
 

BBB

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Hi,

If you are interested in entering your self-published book in a UK-based Award, try The Wishing Shelf Awards at www.thewsa.co.uk. It is non-profit making, run by a self-published author and the prizes are pretty good.
 

FocusOnEnergy

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I got this in my inbox today, and it sounded like a fun challenge. It also says some interesting things about self-publishing.

This contest is for self-published photography books only (just in case there are other self-publishers who are professional photographers or photography students). Blurb.com announced the Photography Book Now 2011 international juried competition.

There are four categories. Three are for professionals: fine art, documentary and travel. The other is the student category which is not restricted to a particular subject matter. It costs $35 to enter, but as long as you are using Blurb to self-publish the book, you can do it online, so there is no cost for a hard copy book. The deadline for submissions is 7/14/2011.

The grand prize is $25,000. First prize winners in each category are awarded $5,000.

http://photographybooknow.blurb.com/

Focus
 

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Just thought you guys might be interested in this. As the title of this thread says, it is a self publishing and independent press award for any book. It is based in the UK but is open to international entries.

It has some very reputable judges. The winner also gets their book read by a literary agent.

Website is:
http://www.ruberybookaward.com

I took part in the Rubery this year and found the admin and judges very professional and helpful. Even better, my first book, INCEPTIO was shortlisted. :)

They're introducing categories next year which will widen the attraction.
 

Nimyth

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Writer’s Digest Self Publishing Competition

Do not know anything about it, came across it in my email. Thought it might be of interest/use.

"Whether you’re a professional writer, a part-time freelancer or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the premier self-published competition exclusively for self-published books. Writer’s Digest hosts the 22nd annual self-published competition–the Annual Self-Published Book Awards. This self-published competition, co-sponsored by Book Marketing Works, LLC, spotlights today’s self-published works and honors self-published authors.Early-Bird Deadline: April 1, 2014

What’s in it for you?

  • A chance to win $3,000 in cash
  • National exposure for your work
  • The attention of prospective editors and publishers
  • A paid trip to the ever-popular Writer’s Digest Conference!
More info at this link
http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/selfpublished/
 

aruna

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The Guardian monthly prize for self-published books

Only for UK SP authors.
The Guardian is set to become the first national newspaper to champion self-publishing on a regular basis with the launch of a new monthly prize that aims to find the best DIY novels.

The paper is teaming up with publisher Legend Times to support and showcase what it said was "the fantastic quality of writing that can be found from independent authors", as the sector continues to boom. New figures from Nielsen's Books & Consumers survey show that self-published books accounted for one in five of the 80m ebooks purchased in 2013. "No longer can the mainstream industry ignore what the general public have been reading and enjoying for a number of years, with many self-published authors outstripping the sales of novels published traditionally," said the Guardian.

A little bit of rah-rah indie authors in the article but thought I'd post it anyway. And I think they might live to regret this decision. Only 20 judges?
 
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Old Hack

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What a shame it's doing this in conjunction with Legend Press.

Legend Press was involved in YouWriteOn's ridiculous attempt to publish 5,000 writers in about ten minutes, a few years ago. It was touted as a self-publishing thing but was of course vanity publishing, and there was a huge number of writers who were involved who ended up extremely unhappy indeed.

Since then Legend has started New Generation Publishing, I think, which is another pay-to-play publishing scheme.