Two Wins for Wiley has been designated as a Story Monsters Approved Winner. This award recognizes and honors authors in the field of children’s literature whose books inspire, teach, inform or entertain. Each book competes only against themselves and are judged on their own merit. Awards are presented only to entries earning the appropriate amount of judges’ points. Not every book will earn the designation or win an award. We are very proud to have earned this very distinguished honor.
Visibility
Winning a book award will allow you to gain exposure and media attention, both locally and nationally. The award I received from Gertie Saves the Day caught the attention of my local newspaper. The editor contacted me and we had a great interview. From the interview he wrote a full page article on my journey as a newly published award winning author.
Credibility
Credibility comes with winning a book award. As a newly published author credibility was and still is very important to me. Awards play an important part in a reader’s decision to select your book. I know when I see a children’s book with an award seal I will take it off the shelf to look closely at the seal. The seal helps me to learn more about the book, and why this book won an award. Winning an award serves as a neutral third-party endorsement for you and your book. When looking at a group of books on a topic, an award will give your book an advantage and help your book stand out from your competition.
Book Sales
Ultimately, all authors want to increase book sales. A book award encourages readers to pay attention to your book and provides a reason for them to buy it. A book award tells readers that the book is of high quality. This is particularly true when buyers are purchasing children’s books to give as a gift. If the book has an award seal, they will choose it over one that does not. Placing an award on all your marketing materials and on the book cover itself in subsequent print runs can boost sales and lengthen the life of a book.
Opens Doors to New Opportunities
Book awards can open the doors to new opportunities such as speaking engagements, book signings, and author visits to schools. I was invited to participate in a podcast. I was recently a guest on You May Contribute A Verse Podcast. It was on this podcast that I spoke about winning an award and mentioned that I was writing a second book.
Entry Fees are Not Wasted Money
Entry fees for book awards range from $40.00 to over $100.00. Many publishers and authors take umbrage at having to pay to enter their book in an award. These individuals will say that they feel like they are “buying” an award. The fact is, running a book award costs money. It costs both to oversee and to publicize an award. Award programs charge entry fees to cover these expenses. Yes, some awards make quite a bit of money off of running an award. However, a publisher or author can be discerning about which awards to enter and choose not to participate in those that appear to be only for the purpose of making money rather than promoting fine books.
As you can see, winning a book award is a terrific way to promote your book and expose your book to new audiences.
With gratitude …
I am so glad you’re here and I thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am grateful that I can share my writing journey with you.
I’m looking forward to helping you as a children’s book writer in any way that I can. Speaking of helping — please leave a comment below and let me know what questions you have about picture book writing.
My website has been updates and it is now interactive. There are surprises everywhere. Click on the balloons and see where they take you. Can you find two writing videos? Freebies? A chocolate chip recipe? There’s even a special freebie to anyone who subscribes to my newsletter. Check out the resources for children, parents and teachers, librarians and homeschooling families.
Please consider purchasing a copy of Two Wins for Wiley or Gertie Saves the Day for gifts. If you are going to a baby shower, looking for an end of the year gift for a special teacher or thinking about summer reading books, give them books. It has been my wish to get books into the hands of children. It is the best gift I can think of for children and adults!
A request …
You can really help this author by leaving a book review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can leave a review for Gertie Saves the Day here or here. Two Wins for Wiley here or here. Reviews can be as easy as 2-3 sentences and should take about 30 seconds to leave and would make a huge difference for me. Need help? Click here.