In this episode, we’re discussing book awards and how authors can earn their accolades. As an awards judge for three book award programs, Jennia D'Lima shares her behind-the-scenes knowledge of how winners are selected and how to stand out to judges.

Automatically generated transcript:

Welcome to Published, a podcast by Greenleaf Book Group, where we'll discuss the ins and outs of the publishing industry, from writing a book and finding the right publisher, to gearing up for a book launch. And now, here's your host, Greenleaf Book Group CEO, Tanya Hall.

Welcome back to Published. Today, we're joined by Jennia D'Lima, the creative non-fiction expert at the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. In this episode, we're discussing book awards and how authors can earn their accolades.

Literary prizes may require an entry fee or a time-consuming submission package, so it's wise to research and decide which awards are most relevant to your book and the audience you're trying to reach. As an awards judge for three book award programs, Jennia will share her behind the scenes knowledge of how winners are selected and how to stand out to judges.

If you enjoy our show and you'd like to be included, please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now.

It means a lot to have your feedback and it helps us to make sure we're answering your publishing questions. Now let's dive into the interview.

Tanya: Jennia, welcome to Published. It's great to have you.

Jennia: Thank you for having me.

Tanya: Absolutely. So why don't we start by having you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do.

Jennia: My name is Jennia D'Lima and I am a book editor for fiction and creative nonfiction. And that really is what I do all day, so it is a full-time career.

Tanya: And we're talking today about book awards. So how did you get involved in judging book awards?

Jennia: I am now an awards judge for three different awards. The first one is because I knew someone else within the editing circle. And she'd asked, is anyone else here interested in being an awards judge? We're looking for a few more. So she was coming to people who were already vetted to some degree. But I still had to then fill out an application and describe my experience and so on. So it's not as if they will just pick whoever, you have to really prove that you deserve to be a judge. And so I've been with that one for a few years now and really enjoy it.

And then the other two, I was invited. And I think it's just because I'm known for editing that genre. And so my name somehow got out and then I was invited to be a judge.

Tanya: Well, that's pretty high compliment, isn't it? I would think so.

So for the authors who are listening or would be authors, what are some of the reasons that they might consider submitting their book for an award and what kind of impact can winning or even maybe you can talk about being on the shortlist, those types of things, what can that do for them in their career?

Jennia: Yeah. So there is social proof. We think about the books that we see online and we tend to gravitate toward them. There's something called the frequency bias, where the more often we see something, the more we pay attention to it.

And so if you think about even these award ceremonies, if they're sharing their shortlist or they're sharing their winners, and then all the conferences and conventions they might go to, and then they're sharing it there as well. So just think too about that level of visibility and what it would take you on your own to market to that same amount of people.

And there's also some prestige that comes with winning an award, being able to say, I won. You know, there is something to that. And I think that most of us understand why that would be, because even think about grade school when you win like third place in your art class or something, you know, there's pride that comes along with it.

Tanya: It's also, I think, a good differentiator, right? From a marketing standpoint, to add that into even your Amazon copy, or I know when we're submitting our titles for foreign rights translation consideration, you know, the awards are an important thing to highlight because it is, like you said, social proof. It's being recognized for its merits in the marketplace. So that's definitely worth noting.

Now, authors who maybe don't know where to begin, don't know how to evaluate the many, many, many, many awards programs out there. Can you give them some pointers, maybe the names of some of the legitimate and recognized and esteemed ones and what they judge on?

Jennia: Yeah. So as you mentioned, there are many. And I think there are something like over 6,000 awards just within the US. So part of it is going to be also asking yourself what you're looking for or which awards you believe are a good fit for your book. So if you write genre fiction, you might want to look into genre fiction.

We have the Edgars for mystery or the Christie's for Christian fiction. Or if you write children's books, you might want to look at something like the Purple Dragonfly. So just narrowing it down a little bit can help you as well.

But look for a place that has a really good social media presence because you'll see them posting about, you know, the awards that they've given out the year before or the people who are being nominated this year. Because you want to see that they have an online presence because that sort of establishes them as a legitimate company and not a place that is just offering an award to offer an award and maybe doesn't have any real backing behind it.

We talked about a little bit before about why you should enter one. Well, would you really want to enter one if they aren't doing anything on their end to help showcase your book and prove that it's won this award? So there's that to look for as well.

Tanya: Maybe for authors who haven't started the process of entering all of these awards, the reason you might want to be selective is it can get expensive. Most of them do have entry fees, right?

Jennia: Yeah. There are a lot of administrative tasks that go into it and there are literally hundreds of hours of work that go into each awards session. So a lot of them, the judges are volunteers. We're not getting paid. I know there are a few really prestigious ones where judges receive some sort of stipend, but it's so minimal that you're still basically volunteering.

But if you think about just the cost to ship out all these books to the judges or running the website, having someone on hand during the award ceremony in case there's some sort of technical glitch, you need to make sure that all of that is there and ready for you because, again, that's also adding to the legitimacy of these people and what they're doing versus someone who's just trying their hand at it and seeing how it goes.

Tanya: Yeah, and I'm sure, unfortunately, as in many areas of publishing, there are some bad players out there and scams that authors need to be aware of, even in the world of awards, sadly. Are there any red flags that folks should be looking out for?

Jennia: Yes. Luckily, unlike a lot of other areas of publishing, the scams are pretty rare, which feels like an anomaly when we're talking about anything related to publishing lately. That is the one good news.

Anyone who approaches you and says, we're looking for submissions because at least with every award ceremony or book award program that I've been a part of, and the others that I'm familiar with, they receive submissions. They're going to be receiving so many submissions that they're going to have to decline most of them. So again, it's sort of like with other publishing advice, we say if a marketer approaches you, it's the same thing with an award ceremony.

If they come to you first and pop up in your inbox, you probably need to just delete it. That's a sign it's a scam because again, they're receiving so many submissions, they don't need to go seek them out. So you have to ask yourself, why are they doing this?

The entry fee itself, that's totally fine. But if they start tacking on other charges or for instance saying, well, to receive the award, we need an extra payment of this amount. Or if you want to come to this award ceremony, you need to pay this amount and they're not going to front any of that cost.

Because I know a lot of the award ceremonies, even when they occur somewhere in person, they'll also have that online option. And it's never pushed upon you that you have to attend in order to receive your award. With some of the scam sites or scam award companies, they will do that. Well, if you don't show up, we have to give your award to somebody else. And so then, of course, that creates that sense of urgency about, well, I don't want to give up this award, so I guess I'll go ahead and pay this admission fee or whatever it is that they're asking you.

Tanya: Wow. It's a shame, isn't it? But I'm glad you're here to talk about these things so people aren't taken advantage of.

Jennia: Yeah, and then you can look at Book Award Pro. They will go through and list all of the different awards. And they are very, very thorough. They do have a free option, which is helpful, and that will give you enough information.

But you can also reach out to people if they provide a list of previous authors who've won an award, and even just contact them. Ask them what the process was like.

Ask them what fees they had to pay. Did they think it was worth it? What opportunities have they seen as a result? This is going to help you gauge to and figure out, okay, is this worth it for me, or is maybe this one I should pass on?

Tanya: Yeah, great advice. Switching gears, can you pull back the curtain a little bit on the judging process? I'm sure people are fascinated and really curious to know how you arrive at your winners, so maybe talk about what it is that you're looking for, especially as you're looking at nonfiction books, I believe is your expertise, is that correct?

Jennia: Right. I do narrative nonfiction for one award ceremony, and then I do romance for the other two.

Tanya: Interesting, that's quite interesting.

Jennia: It is, but it keeps it exciting because I'm not reading just a lot of the same type of stuff over and over.

Tanya: Yeah, interesting. So what are in either of those examples, then what are the judges looking for? What makes something stand out? Do they read the whole book?

Jennia: Yes, we do have to read the whole book. So that's something that we really have to commit to. So just know that we are also reading it analytically. We're not just reading it as a reader. And so we probably are bringing in an editorial perspective or something similar. With a lot of the books is going to start with your cover.

We are asked to judge the cover and to say if it drew us in, if the font was hard to read, did we think there was too much white space? Did the cover depict what we found inside? Did it give us a hint as to what this book is about, what the themes might be, that sort of thing. And I know in some cases that can be as heavy as like 20 percent of your overall score.

Tanya: With the exception of a book cover award, I had never thought about the actual cover being that impactful.

Jennia: Well, it shows that you have familiarity with the market and that you understand your genre. And so it's kind of like when you're doing a query and we want to see comps. This in a way is showing that you really paid attention to comps and that you understand like the genre expectations and that sort of thing.

Because also too, they have to think about the marketability of a book or even the recognition that people are going to have with it. So if they put it out on a shelf or they're at a convention because I know like one of these award ceremonies is going to a large librarians' convention soon, where they're going to have over 600 librarians present. And so they might be going through these books and seeing which ones do they want to add to their libraries.

But if they can't instantly tell that this is narrative nonfiction, fantasy, YA, they're likely to pass by it even with the award emblem on there just because they don't know how to categorize it. So my advice really too is to make sure that when you are submitting your book to an award, you need to be taking it as seriously as you would be if you were submitting this to an agent or an acquisitions editor because we really are looking at the entire package. It isn't just one thing.

We're not looking at just story or just character arcs or just character development or if you brought a new view to something, which are also all things that we look at.

Tanya: So if the book cover is as much as 20 percent, can you break down the rest of it for us?

Jennia: Yeah, it does depend on the awards programs. Then it also depends on the round of judging you're in. So if I'm possibly in the third round of judging, I might just be asked to list in order one, two, three. I give this first place, second place, or third place.

But earlier on, we'll receive a virtual online packet. We are going through and answering all these questions usually on a scale of one to 10, and then providing paragraphs of text explaining our answers.

Why do I think that the character arc was flawed and didn't come to fruition? Why do I think this person didn't establish that they really are an authority on this subject? Do I think this person had anything new to add? Do I agree with the genre that this was placed in?

And then with romance, of course, we have to answer whether it has a happily ever after, because that's a really big part. And if it doesn't have that, it's an automatic no. So that's another reason why we have to read all the way to the end.

Tanya: So that must make this a very long process to get through all of these submissions and reading them in their entirety. And how long typically does this deliberation go on?

Jennia: For months. Some of the books will come out, I believe, we'll start receiving them in June. And then the judging for them isn't due until something like the end of October. And then the other one, I think it was, I received books in April and then they were due last month.

So they do give you a large timeframe in order to do all this, because they understand that it's going to be a massive time commitment. And you're going to need time, not just to read the book, but to really thoughtfully go through it and think about each of these questions and ask yourself, is this a book that stands out?

I like to give it a bit of time after I read it anyway, just to see, did it really resonate with me? Because you might have strong feelings when you finish, but you want to make sure that those strong feelings remain even a week or a month later, and that there's still something about that book that has stuck with you, that it has gone beyond just that, okay, I enjoyed this in that short amount of time frame, when you're still all fresh and new.

Tanya: Now, you mentioned the book cover being a big part of that first impression. Are there other things an author can do to make their book stand out when they're first sending it in?

Jennia: I would say first, make sure you've really established your author voice before you decide to commit to an awards program, because we want to make sure that this sounds like you. It doesn't sound like you're trying to copy someone else who's popular within this genre, or maybe even just a book that is trending right now, because that's going to lend an air of authenticity to the work that isn't going to be there otherwise. And again, if you have any sort of emotional impact on the reader, no matter what your genre is, that's going to really push you up the ranks, because for instance, if a book makes me sob, and with as much as I read, that's not always easy to do, I know that that book has really affected me in some way.

Or even if it lends itself to share a different perspective that you may not have seen before. And again, that can work with any genre or fiction, nonfiction. Because like some of the nonfiction entries, as an example, it might be talking about a topic that I've read about a dozen times.

But maybe they're looking at it from a different viewpoint, or they're adding something new to the conversation that I've never even thought about before. That's going to get me thinking, and that's the type of book that really does stick with you.

Tanya: Let's talk about timing. So authors typically, I imagine, are submitting books that published that year for a certain year's awards. But is that always the case? Are there opportunities for backlist authors maybe to get in on some of these awards? And generally, when should authors be anticipating they need to start sending in those awards submissions?

Jennia: Yeah. So you can enter books that have been published in previous years. IPNE, which is Independent Publishers of the Northeast, they just opened up a category or a set of awards, I think, in the last year, where you can enter a book that has been previously published. And it is only for books that have been previously published. So I think that's really exciting and neat because, you know, sometimes we missed those opportunities, or we weren't even aware that we had the possibility to enter books in an award.

So that just helps open that up to people so it doesn't feel like they missed their chance. Or maybe a book where they don't feel that it got the amount of benefit it should have when it first came out. So this gives you sort of that second chance, that extra boost. And you don't have to live in the Northeast to enter their program either, which is also, I think, fantastic.

So yeah, there are going to be opportunities available to you, no matter when your book came out. The point is, again, you're just going to have to look for them and start digging for them, and then weighing those options for yourself with what matters most to you.

Tanya: Yeah. Out of curiosity, would a second edition count? If your book came out 10 years ago and you do an updated edition, is it new enough to enter into awards, or are you looking for just the initial publication very often?

Jennia: Usually, a lot of them are looking for the initial publication, but you're going to have to go through the criteria and just again, seep yourself because with 6,000 awards, it's difficult to say for certain. There's no one that will accept that book. I mean, it's impossible to know what the criteria are for every single award ceremony.

But I have seen some where books that are older are given an award for whatever reason. Sometimes it's like a lifetime achievement award for an author, and it might extend to all the books that are already in their catalog, that sort of thing.

Tanya: Now, let's fast forward and assume we've won our award. So what are some of the ways that an author can take advantage of that and leverage that award for promotional purposes and so on?

Jennia: Like you were saying earlier, definitely take that little medal, which is probably going to be a digital item, and go ahead and put that in your book cover, put it on your website, share it on social media posts, let people know about it, because that's really going to be the biggest part is that you have to make people aware. Announce it in your newsletter, go to conventions in your area, or signings in your area, and announce it there.

Approach libraries, local bookstores, that sort of thing, because I'm sure we've all walked into Barnes and Noble or something similar, and we've seen those tables in the front that will say award-winning books or books that won such and such award, and the same with libraries. So I know our library, for instance, will almost always have a shelf of some kind of award, and it will have books that have won those awards just placed out on display.

Tanya: Yeah, and that's how you made me think of another point there. You can also start calling yourself an award-winning author. I think a lot of people are maybe shy to sneak that in, but it helps you stand out.

Jennia: I mean, even as a kid when I would bring home those Scholastic book flyers, I can tell you my mom, if she saw a Caldecott award-winning book, she'd instantly buy it. I don't think she even read the summaries, anything, just it must be a good book. This one's going to be worth spending our money on, and it would instantly get added onto our little flyer.

Yeah, there is something about that. People assume that it's won an award. Well, it must be good.

Someone must have decided for whatever reason that it was worthy of winning this award, and so it might bump it up higher on their list of books to read, or again, it gives up that level of authenticity, that this is something that is worth investing your time in and they want to go check it out and find out why.

Tanya: Absolutely. Great. Well, that's super interesting and helpful advice about the world of book awards. Any parting thoughts you'd like to share with our authors?

Jennia: Yeah, just read the submission guidelines. Because there are a lot of books and I also used to work for a large fellowship company in the STEM fields, and it's the same thing that I would see then that I see now with a lot of awards programs. You might think that you checked all the boxes, but as soon as you have one little spot where you're not fitting that criteria, you're automatically disqualified. So maybe you've wasted your entry fee, you wasted the time applying. So yeah, just be very diligent about checking all of that.

Tanya: Perfect. Well, great Jennia. Thank you so much for joining us.

Jennia: Thank you for having me.

That's it for our episode with Jennia. We hope you enjoyed learning about book awards. For more information, visit greenleafbookgroup.com/episode91.

You can also find advice for writing, publishing, and promoting your work in Tanya's book, Ideas, Influence, and Income, which you can learn more about at ideasinfluenceandincome.com. A big thank you to Madison Johnson, who produces the published podcast. We will be back with another episode on the last Tuesday of next month.