Book Awards, Seals of Approval, and Shiny Things

Ok, admit it. You like shiny things. Things with bling stick out among the vast array of choices. We like shiny things too. Shiny things often come with someone else saying sparkling things about your book, and we like that too!

Are Awards Competitions and Seals of Approval Worth the Cost?

After decades of entering books, I have to say that experience with the award helps me make better decisions about them. If their Call for Entries says "Winners will be announced to the media in a National press release," I suggest Googling the award to see if they indeed did that last year!  If their Call for Entries says you'll get additional exposure from winning, Google that too.

We find there are many fantastic awards programs that we enter frequently because they do what they say they will do. Here are a few of my personal favorites (and yes, we know there are lots more!):

Once a year competitions with approaching deadlines:
Foreword Reviews IndieFab (formerly Book of the Year):  https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com

IBPA Ben Franklin Awards http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/

Eric Hoffer Awards http://www.hofferaward.com/

Next Gen Indie Book Awards http://www.indiebookawards.com/

IPPYs http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/ipawards.php

Global E-book Awards http://globalebookawards.com/

You can enter this one all year:

Mom's Choice Seal of Approval http://www.momschoiceawards.com/enter.php

Be aware that sometimes when you win, you have to purchase a license to use their seal -- they don't want just anyone saying they won their award, so they charge a fee to use it.  

It's very simple really. 

#1 Write a great manuscript

#2  Produce a great book

#3  Enter it and win lots of awards. 

See it's easy!  :)  Do it!  Enter something. You'll get good feedback on your book, and you just might win something shiny.  And here's proof that shiny things make a difference... 

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Ethics, Integrity and an Honest Day's Work

I recently joined the Business Ethics Alliance (BEA) founded here in Omaha. It's an amazing amalgamation of industries, business models, diversity, and energy. It's a thought-provoking exercise just milling through their printed materials, so I'm looking forward to their workshops, too.

A headline jumps out today in one of their pieces of literature:

What is our "Ethical Legacy?"  

Now that's a question for us all.  The answer lies in our Core Business Values as business leaders and members of a community. The pamphlet silently instructs what "Ethical Legacy" means and it begs us to figure out what our core business values are and when/where they apply in our lives. The organization has formed The Ethical Legacy Project, whose goal is to identify, articulate and communicate core values of the Omaha business community. Sounds pretty good.

For me, the relative importance of the task I am completing at any given moment put the values in slightly different places on the scale, but it certainly is good to have a strong base of equally important compasses. Whether I am estimating a job, ordering supplies for a client, creating a marketing plan, reporting the results of a campaign, inspecting delivered materials, entering an award contest or sending out a press release, I strive to remember and adhere to these values, which I have adapted for my company from the Legacy Project:

CORE BUSINESS VALUES

• Accountability: Hold myself and others answerable; communicate expectations, provide feedback and ask for and implement fair corrective actions when appropriate.
• Community Responsibility: Realize that my actions and the actions of my company carry a responsibility not just to me, but to my employees and vendors, clients and their customers, their families, my neighborhood, my different "communities," and my organization.
• Financial Vitality: Strive to achieve sustainable financial success, driven by ethical management and systems. When the systems don't work, strive to improve them.
• Integrity: Be genuinely respectful, honest, fair and trustworthy in all and to all. Do the ethical thing even when no one is looking. Hold others to the same standard of integrity and do business with others who share your values.
• Moral Courage: Behave consistently, even when it is difficult, unpopular and comes at a cost. Don't look the other way when someone shows poor judgment or character against their community.

It's a good start for a Monday.

If you haven't heard of this organization, you should look them up: www.businessethicsalliance.org.

Small Press Month, Tip # 13

March 13 - Enter your book in award programs. The worst thing that can happen is the judges, who are usually appointed because they specialize in a specific genre or sales channel, will see and have to read and examine your book. A nice thing that happens is that the judge loves the book, provides excellent feedback, is a librarian at a large library system and places an order. The best thing to happen is all of the above, plus the award organizer sends out press releases of their winners, buys ads to celebrate their competition and markets the heck out of winners and finalists for that season. Really, no bad things happen.