James Minter's Blog: Writers do it in Public... - Posts Tagged "discoverability"

Discoverability is the word on every indie author’s lips. Book awards are part of your arsenal to achieve discoverability. For example, I live in the centre of one of the oldest wine growing regions in France. There are many small local growers who all produce quality wines and who all vie for my euros. I haven’t the time to buy, sample and compare each and every wine on offer. So when I go shopping for wine, rather than trust to luck, I seek out ones which have achieved an award in a local or regional or national competition. The judges know wines far better than I ever will. I’m drawn towards those displaying a prize sticker.
In this fiercely competitive and teeming book world where readers are overwhelmed with choice, it’s obvious to say, a book with an award immediately stands out from the crowd. It’s all about discoverability. And awards increase your discoverability. Learn from wine producers; make gaining awards a central part of your book marketing strategy.
Awards have a number of benefits:

1. They create interest in your book. This leads to more sales or other opportunities.
2. A book displaying an award may cause someone to pick up your book while browsing.
3. A book award will give you an edge and may be all the difference needed to propel your book into bestseller territory.
4. When you win or get placed, you can say you are an "award winning author." It sounds and is great, and gives the book a magic lift that comes from a third party endorsement.
5. Book awards give your book a seal of excellence unequalled by other forms of media exposure. No reviews, nor articles, nor TV or radio interviews can compete with having an "Award Winning Book," selected from hundreds of competing titles by experienced and professionally-trained judges.

Awards absolutely do matter. They add credibility and give readers / reviewers / reporters / agents / publishers the assurance the book is worthwhile. It takes the risk out of the equation.

About the award list:
These fifty five awards represent a range of competitions from ones that are on-going to monthly, annual or bi-annual for a variety of genres and book types. The details of the competitions are many and varied – submission criterion, deadlines, award dates, prizes, entry fees etc. but they all have one thing in common; they are open to self-publishers. They are listed here – in part thanks to Joel Friedlander – for convenience and are not endorsed by me or the Alliance. As ever on the internet, be scam savvy; check out the writers beware site http://www.sfwa.org/ since competition fees can be quite hefty.
Finally, this list is not definitive. If you know of more awards please email me so I can add them to the list. Personally I’ve entered / am entering eight awards for 2014/15. Good luck.
 
1 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
https://www.createspace.com/abna?ref=...

2 Axiom Business Book Awards
http://www.axiomawards.com/

3 Beach Book Festival
http://www.beachbookfestival.com/

4 Beverly Hills Book Awards
http://www.beverlyhillsbookawards.com...

5 Book Designer – Monthly eBook Cover Design Award
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/0...
6 Bookstore Without Borders’ LYRA Contest
http://www.bookstorewithoutborders.co...
7 Book Festivals is a way of entering several competitions at the same time.
http://bookfestivals.com/

8 CIPA EVVY Awards
http://www.cipacatalog.com/pages/CIPA...

9 Darrell Awards
http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.co...
10 Digital Book Awards
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/the-d...

11 eLit Book Awards
http://www.elitawards.com/

12 EPIC eBook Competition
http://epicorg.org/competitions/epic-...

13 Eric Hoffer Award
http://www.hofferaward.com/

14 First Page Competition 2014
http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/p/compe...

15 ForeWord Reviews - the Book of the Year Awards.
http://www.forewordreviews.com

16 Global eBook Awards
http://globalebookawards.com/

17 Green Book Festival
http://www.greenbookfestival.com/

18 Guardian Legend Self-published book of the month
http://www.theguardian.com/books/seri...
19 Harry Bowling Prize for Flash Fiction
http://www.harrybowlingprize.co.uk/ab...

20 Harry Bowling Prize for New Writing (bi-annual)
http://www.harrybowlingprize.co.uk/

21 Historical Novel Society Indie Award
http://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.co....

22 Historical Novel Society International Award
http://historicalnovelsociety.org/hns...
23 Hollywood Book Festival
http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/...

24 IACP Cookbook Awards
http://www.iacp.com/award/more/2014_i...
25 Independent Book Publishers Association – Benjamin Franklin Awards
http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/

26 IndieReader Discovery Awards
http://indiereader.com/the-indiereade...

27 International Book Awards
http://www.internationalbookawards.co...

28 International Rubery Book Award
http://www.ruberybookaward.com/index....

29 International Thriller Writers
http://thrillerwriters.org/programs/t...
30 IPPY Awards
http://www.independentpublisher.com/i...

31 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize
http://www.fictionuncovered.co.uk/
32 Kindle Book Review’s 2014 Kindle Book Awards
https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2...
33 Kirkus Indie Best of List 2014
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/

34 London Book Festival
http://lo29ndonbookfestival.com/portal/

35 Mom’s Choice Awards
http://www.momschoiceawards.com/
36 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/

37 National Indie Excellence Book Awards
http://www.indieexcellence.com/

38 National Literacy Trust Children's Author Prize
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/autho...
39 Nautilus Book Awards
http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/

40 New England Book Festival
http://www.newenglandbookfestival.com/

41 New York Book Festival
http://www.newyorkbookfestival.com/

42 Next Big Author Opening Chapter
http://www.thenextbigauthor.com/

43 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
http://www.indiebookawards.com/

44 Paris Book Festival
http://www.parisbookfestival.com/

45 Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction (paper books only)
http://www.quaggabooks.net

46 Reader Views Literary Awards (Multiple awards)
http://readerviews.com/literaryawards/

47 Readers Favourite Contest
http://readersfavorite.com/annual-boo...

48 San Francisco Book Festival
http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com/

49 Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Self-Published Book
http://www.shelfmediagroup.com/pages/...

50 Shirley You Jest Awards
http://www.shirley-you-jest.net/#!

51 The Living Now Book Awards
http://www.livingnowawards.com/index.php

52 UK Arts Council Funded: YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards
http://www.youwriteon.com/info/compet...

53 USA “Best Books” Awards
http://www.usabooknews.com/2014usabes...

54 WISHING SHELF Independent Book Awards [UK]
http://www.thewsa.co.uk/

55 Writer’s Digest Self Published Book Awards
http://www.writersdigest.com/selfpubl...

Supercharge Your Kindle Sales: Simple Strategies to Boost Organic Traffic on Amazon, Sell More Books, and Blow Up Your Author Mailing List by Nick Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As self-published author with five books already under my belt, I know how difficult the whole process is – especially discoverability. There is no “silver bullet” for success, only a lot of hard work; though the trick is to work smarter and not harder. ‘How to’ books like “Supercharge Your Kindle Sales” are useful as a way of assessing your actives against others experiences and provide an opportunity to find new / better ways of doing things; hence working smarter.

Packed with information, hints, tips and real life examples there is plenty to dwell on and take in. Time is tight for all of us. Nick hasn’t padded out this book just to make you feel you’re getting value for money – never mind the quality, feel the width syndrome, but he gets over the nub of each topic with links for further reading where necessary.
This is a great resource, written in a very open and honest manner – qualities much to be admired. He has, I think, discovered the secret of expanding available time, (which he doesn't share) either that or he hardly ever sleeps! The upshot is we, his readers, have benefited hugely from his efforts. Although assessing and reworking my own approach to marketing my books on Amazon will take some time/effort as a result, at least I know I’m not wasting my energy, money and resources.

Thanks Nick for putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard: an invaluable addition to my collection of self-help books.




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The Author's Guide to Working with Book Bloggers by Barb Drozdowich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is another ‘How to …’ book from Ms Drozdowich – long may she write them. For me how to books are essential reading to gain a quick insight into the topic under discussion – in this case book bloggers – as they take away the very time consuming drudgery of doing your own research. As a fiction author I have many demands on my time, so books like this are an excellent way to make efficient use of a scarce resource.
First published in 2012, but as is the huge benefit of eBooks, they can be constantly updated, and given how fast the self-publishing industry is moving, this is essential for books of this nature. This edition is right up to date.
Based on extensive research - Ms Drozdowich surveyed 215 book bloggers, and she is herself is a romance book blogger (http://sugarbeatsbooks.com/ ) – she speaks with authority.
Until now my interaction with book bloggers has been minimal – it’s been one of those things, are part of the self-publisher’s arsenal for discovery, I've been meaning to undertake but been put off because of the commitment needed to researching who I should contact. This book couldn't be timelier for me, and within the first the first few pages I’d justified my investment.
Ms Drozdowich writing style is empathetic with author’s needs – she is an author after all - direct, to the point and with minimal superfluous narrative. She has a genuine need to help authors which she does time and again with this book; her website’s strap line is ‘helping one author at a time’ (http://barbdrozdowich.com/ ). Authors developing relationships with book bloggers is essential; so buying, reading and acting on her book is too. Highly recommended …




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