Billy’s Comments (group member since Jun 26, 2013)

Billy’s comments from the All Things Indie group.

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards is growing fast. Check it out at www.thewsa.co.uk. It's a new breed of book awards run very differently from any other book awards on or off the web. The entry fee is very, VERY low and everybody 'EVERYBODY!' who enters gets feedback from the judging, a catchy quote and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. But the best bit is the judging. The children's book are read and judged by children in 7 schools in the UK; the adult books by readers in two established Reading Groups, 1 in Stockholm and 1 in London. Every book entered is read by a minimum of 15 readers and YOU WILL GET ALL THE FEEDBACK!

As of this morning, we have 137 authors entered; I would love to get to 150. If you wish to enter, do visit the webpage. All the best. Edward

Hi, my name is Billy Bob Buttons (my pen name, my real name is Edward Trayer) and my children’s novels have been independently published in the UK. I do pretty well but I’m so fed up of entering my books in American book awards. They cost a fortune and I doubt many of the books even get opened. So I decided to set up my own book award for independent and self-published authors of hardbacks, paperbacks or e-books, living and/or selling books in the UK.



I write children’s books, I’m a secondary school English teacher and, every year, I do a 200 school book tour , so I thought I’d mix the three things up and organise for the children’s books to be judged by the children in the schools I visit. The adult books, not so much my forte, will be assessed by members of established reading groups that include teachers, authors and PhDs in medicine and business.



I also thought 75 dollars to over 120 dollars (90 odd quid) to enter a book award was a gigantic rip-off. They must be making a bloody fortune over there. So I thought £28 would be okay; cover the cost of posting the books to the schools and reading groups, hosting the website, advertising the finalists in a literary magazine and designing and printing a certificate for all the finalists.



This bit is very important. This is only my third year doing this and I’m not promising chests of gold, and I very much doubt Oprah will be knocking on the doors of the winning authors. But I do promise your books will be read cover to cover and judged by children and adults who love reading, and the entry fee will be used to cover the costs of running the Award plus a prize or two for all the finalists.



Also, every entrant will be given feedback, whether they win or not, plus a review on Amazon and Goodreads. And, if you do do well in this Award, you can publicise your success in any way you see fit. I just discovered many of the independent book awards in America charge a licencing fee if you wish to publicise the fact you won! Cheeky or what!?

Interested? Check out our webpage www.thewsa.co.uk