In 2016, when BETWEEN WILL AND SURRENDER won first place for General Fiction in the NCPA’s 23rd Annual Book Awards, I thought sales would hit the roof.
Wrong.
The resulting sales more closely resembled a bleep than a leap.
Same thing in 2018 when BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAWN won two major awards and in 2019 with two more coveted awards for BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW.
What the heck?
After some research, I made the shocking discovery that even the most prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and Edgar Awards don’t affect book sales in the way you’d suspect.
There are simply too many books in the marketplace demanding readers’ attention, which means even award-winning novels have a difficult time rising above the pack.
So, why bother, right?
Wrong.
Awards still matter in ways that may surprise you.
Contest wins…
- go far in validating an author’s work and are a huge incentive for the author to keep at it until someone takes notice.
- create a renewed opportunity for the author to connect with existing and new readers and talk up their books.
- can lead to speaking and teaching opportunities.
- help an author gain the respect of family, friends, and writing peers.
- elevate the author’s work from hobby to vocation and/or career.
So, this week when the last book in my “Enter the Between” series BETWEEN NOW AND FOREVER won GOLD for General Fiction in NCPA’s 26th Annual Book Awards, I no longer weighed its value via book sales.
Instead, I found myself doing a happy dance for what I knew in my soul was a great accomplishment.
To learn more about book awards, join me in the podcast below: FINDING AND APPLYING FOR INDIE AWARDS.
As always, thanks for stopping by.
