Award season is upon us which must mean that it’s time for active campaigning and “vote for me” signs everywhere in bookland. Does this work in terms of getting books to be noticed and/or nominated
? Sometimes it’s really humbling to see the depths to which some authors (who I respect most of the time) will sink to get their books noticed.
The recent unpleasantness between straight and lgbt authors when the Lambda Literary Foundation decided to restrict most of its awards to books written by lgbt writers (which they were perfectly entitled to do), made me think about the purpose of any award, including book awards. Are book awards a way of rewarding the writers for a job well done? Or are there other, less noble reasons? Is there a special cachet attached to saying “Winner of ….”? Many authors who have been nominated or who have finaled say proudly on their websites – as they are perfectly entitled to do – “Finalist …. in such and such award”. But what does it mean to the book buyer? Do we really care? I have been disappointed many times in films that won Academy Awards, the top award in the film industry. Ditto for books that have won Pulitzers. I wonder sometimes what the people who are responsible for selecting the winners were smoking. 😀
What criteria is used to select the nominated books? Does EPIC use a different criteria than, say, Lambda did in previous years before they changed the eligibility criteria? Many books that win awards in one competition aren’t even nominated in another, so which award is the most prestigious? In terms of longevity the Pulitzer which has been around since 1917 in areas such as journalism, literary, music and drama is the top of the heap. The Stonewall Book Awards has been around the longest in the lgbt area (since 1971) but the Lambda Literary Awards (established in 1988) seem to have the most prestige in terms of awards for lgbt writing. There are many other awards for special categories of books e.g. EPIC for electronic books which is a boon for the epublishing industry. I’m not counting RWA which does not recognize lgbt books since typically they have only one or two award categories for all the lgbt books nominated in any one year, among the huge number of other “romance” categories.
Do these awards result in increased sales? Many books that never won major book awards outsell award winners by a large margin due mainly to word of mouth or great reviews, while the award winners languish in the “also ran” category. Why is that? Are these awards just an opportunity for writers to
pat themselves on the back? Are the winning books just a whitewash because some of the judges like the author(s)? Just asking! Obviously not every writer can win a Pulitzer since it’s only open to American writers but what if you were nominated for such a prestigious award? How cool is that! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 😀
It seems that every year someone has a bright idea to establish a new award, but the criteria for selection of the nominees and/or winners seems to differ greatly from those of other established award competitions. In other words, if you can’t even buy a nomination in those other awards, just set up your own? Does winning an award in such competitions confer any prestige on the winners? I’m thinking I’m way behind the eight ball and just you wait till next year for Wave’s Hot Guys awards. 😀
Authors, if you have won an award for any of your books, did you notice any increase in sales? If so, was it just a momentary blip or did the sales trend upward for some time? Readers do you really care if the gay romance book that you just bought is an award winner, or are you just looking for a good book to read?
Have your say but be nice because I’m still smarting from the abuse heaped on me in the last debate. 😀
I can’t speak for m/m books because I haven’t been reading that long but I have NEVER bought a book because it won the Nobel, Booker, Pulitzer, Oprah Book Club or any other prize. You do hear that after a big name prize there is a spike in sales as the sheep run out to buy the book that won. 🙂 I’m not saying it’s not worthy, I’m sure it is, but I find most book awards are far to high brow for me and win often not based on entertainment value but some lofty definition of high art and literature. *shrug*
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So as a reader, no, it doesn’t affect my buying decision. I’m sure as an author it’s great to be acknowleged by others in your industry who you hope have some kind of understanding of what it takes to produce a great book, but there are so many awards and literature is sooooo subjective, how do you really decide that A is better than B except that you liked it better? Maybe I liked B better. Is one of us wrong? (Maybe, probably me. LOL)
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So I don’t pay much attention unless Josh Lanyon and Sean Kennedy start showing up to the awards ceremonies in sequined gowns. 😉 Then maybe I’ll tune in more closely.
Tam
You had to steal my thunder bitch! I spent a lot of time writing this post and with one phrase you took everything away. 😀
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The pictrure of Josh or Sean in a gown blew me away. I think I’m going to tell them whose suggestion this is.
Ooops. 😀
Sequins are so last year. I would go in the standard attire for M/M awards… a tasteful Barbara Cartland pink silk nightie with feathered pumps to match and your faithful assistant should carry your matching clutch with the ever present cover photo to sign for the precious poppets.
You got class Teddy, you got class. 😉
Teddypig
As Tam says, you’ve got class.
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Personally I would like to see you in a pink silk nightie. What a rush. 😀
Awards have never influenced me, either. The only Pulitzer Prize winner I sought out was A Confederacy of Dunces, just because I was intrigued by the story of “tragedy and triumph” surrounding the book.
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As for personal experience, when I finaled in the EPPIEs a few years back, it did nothing to boost my sales. I’ve heard other authors, even winners, say the same thing. Maybe some are luckier, though.
KZ
I’ve always wondered why there is such an all out campaign on the part of authors to win an award if there’s no appreciable increase in sales. It must be the prestige of just beating everyone else entered in the competition.
The big awards like the Pulitzer and the Booker Prize can be good for the author in that there is money attached to the prize. In terms of indicating quality to the readers, I don’t know. It kind of depends on the prize.
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For American books, I’ve tended to like the Pulitzer winners better than the National Book Award winners because the Pulitzers tend to favor traditional stories, often about the immigration experience or centered on historical events which can be interesting whereas the National Book Awards tends to go to more avant garde and experimental books which can be pretentious.
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Awards can pick up a connotation after being awarded consistently to a certain type of book. I find the Booker Prize winners to be kind of depressing (in the same way as the National Book Award winners).
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Sometimes it depends on how the award is given. For example, the Nebula Award is given by professionals in the SF/F field to their peers, so you’re going to get some inaccessible stuff, but also some daring stuff. The Hugo Award is voted on by the fans in the SF/F field, so you’ll get an idea of what’s really selling, but you’ll also sometimes get some real formulaic stuff.
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In terms of GLBT books, I’m not sure I’m that influenced as a reader by a prize though I’ll try to mention it in a review just for the sake of information. Some of the awards out there (like the EPPIEs, I think?) are too numerous in category — hundreds of different winners in many different subcategories, and I think it dilutes the significance.
I find I’m more likely to be critical of a book if it’s won an award, though I attribute that to sour grapes.
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I don’t win stuff. I find it’s counterproductive to chase after awards, and it feels demeaning to pimp myself in that way on blogs and lists. It’s better for my soul to write.
Jordan
If any of your books were entered in these award competitionsI would vote for you because you know how much I love them. But most of the time when I look at the names of the nominated books I don’t know them or haven’t read them so I never even think of voting (in those cases where readers can vote).
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My point was, if there were no appreciable benefits in terms of increased sales,why do so many authors put so much into these campaigns? As I reader I don’t buy books because they win awards, I usually buy them on someone’s recommendation or the blurb piqued my interest.
Val
One of the few awards that I hold in high esteem are the Nebula and Hugo Awards because I have been a sci fi and fantasy fan for more years than I care to remember.
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What I don’t understand is how the judges scores are tabulated in some of the gblt awards because they don’t read all the books and the various opinions can be all over the map.
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I stayed away from mentioning the monetary awards, some of which are significant, because I guess I tried to focus on whether these awards meant gains to the authors in sales terms. If they did, then the campaigning would make sense. If not, was it just for the prestige? I suppose it could be a significant achievement to be recognized by your peers.
I have always respected the Nebula Award.
I wish there was a representative organization that could provide an award like this to really show the good or interesting writers and not just the politically cool kids who need to promote their next piece of garbage on the shelf.
As a reader I am not so much interested in the most popular and read books but I am always interested in who inspires and who gets read by their fellow writers.
Being judged by your peers seems like a more dramatic and fulfilling award to me.
I am not saying the writers would be any different about popularity and politics and cliques especially with the whole recent Lambda (for the openly homo only kiddies) drama but it would be more interesting to me to see not a judged award of specific selected works but a flat out reasonably run “What are other writers reading.” award.
What do they recommend from the pile for that year or any other for that matter.
Teddypig
You have given me a great idea! In addition to guest blogging I should ask some authors what they’re reading, something along the lines of Oprah’s guests’ bookshelves. (not quite – I don’t want to upset MB (Leah) 😀 I would really be interested to know what books authors and prolific readers like yourself recommend and what you are reading. You’ll be my guinea pig (OK, bad joke) 🙂 I’ll be emailing you and I’ll know if you put it in spam.
I couldn’t care less about award winners. In some cases it can work against a book. I happen to like Oprah, but I will not buy a book that she endorses on principle. What that principle is, I have no clue, but it’s mine. LOL
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Joke awards for a book might get me to read a book… just on principle. 😀
Leah
I’ll know not to say that any recommendation is an Oprah Book Club rec. 😀
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Like you I’m not turned on by books that have won awards – I want to know what other readers recommend. I have bought a lot of books recommended by Mary M and so far she has not steered me wrong.
As a reader, meh, don’t care. I’ve never once bought (or avoided, for that matter) any book because of an award it’s won.
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As an author, I’ve never won anything so I have no personal experience. I will say that with some of the prestigious awards, some librarians, booksellers, etc. DO pay attention and will stock books based solely on those awards, so I think it’s worthwhile for authors to chase those based on that. You won’t hear authors begging for YOUR vote on those, though, since the public does not get to vote *g*
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if I were to enter another contest (entered the EPPIES once but didn’t even final), it would be the RITAS. Not only just BECAUSE (because RWA needs GLBT books entered in their contests, they really really do), but because RITA finalists and winners do get promoed to bookstores, and booksellers do listen. Or so I hear.
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BTW, RWA does not exclude GLBT content. They don’t have a GLBT category, but IMO there shouldn’t be one. I personally want my books to compete with other romances, because that’s what they are. But that’s another blog…
Ally
I understand that the difficulty with the RITA’s is that the judges refuse to read any of the gblt entries, so you really don’t even have a chance of winning. Of course your books are romances but they don’t think so. I also thought that the RWA refused to promote gblt books even though the member pays their fees. There must be other ways of getting your books into bookstores. Or maybe that’s naive of me.
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I don’t recall ever buying a book because it won an award except SF books because I respect the Nebula awards, and I have not been disappointed. However, with gay romances, if the process for selecting the winners is flawed then readers wouldn’t think much of the winning books and wouldn’t buy them.
I think you might be confusing RWA and RT (Romantic Times magazine). RT has historically — and still does, as far as I’m aware — refused to review GLBT, even though they will accept advertising dollars for and put up a big ol’ cover of those same books in their ‘zine. Weird, stupid and wrong, that. RWA doesn’t “promote” anyone’s individual books. Any member can buy ad space for their books in the RWR (Romance Writers’ Report) if they want. I signed my books at the Literacy signing at the national convention along with everyone else, as did other authors of gay romance. I put out my obviously gay books in the librarians/booksellers mixer with no problem. We started the Rainbow Romance Writers GLBT special interest chapter with no resistence at all from the national level. There is no discrimination written into RWA at the national level, though you can’t control what any individual thinks.
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As far as who reads the books, I don’t feel comfortable saying “no one will read GLBT books”. I know there are a lot of people who won’t, but I also know there are a lot who will. I think the problem is more complicated than just saying people won’t read them. I think it has a LOT to do with most — okay, all — GLBT romances being published by small presses, who are just NOW (in 2010, that is) getting any fair play at all in the RITAS, where they didn’t before. And it still isn’t a truly level playing field, in my mind, as long as small presses have to wait and let the big girls go first. I think more GLBT books would be entered if the field between NY presses and small presses were truly level, because I think that’s where the real problem lies. Just MHO, of course. And, naturally, that is a whole OTHER other blog, LOL.
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ETA: another problem is that people who enter and people who judge are the same. Just complicates things further. Honestly? I probably won’t enter in 2010 just because I don’t have time to read 20 books o_O
Er. Clearly, I should never be allowed to answer blog posts when I am in a hurry to run off and pick up the boy-child from math tutoring. Doh >_<
Did any of what I said make any sort of sense whatsoever?? Because I am NOT sure it did…
Ally
Since the RITA’s are associated with RWA (I think) I guess I assumed that a lot of what RWA stands for (formulaic m/f romance, for the most part) rubbed off. I stand corrected. The point about RITA judges not wanting to read gay romances was a comment made by many M/M authors. You’re probably right about some of this having to do with M/M books being published by small presses rather than discrimination about the sub genre.
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>>another problem is that people who enter and people who judge are the same. Just complicates things further. Honestly? I probably won’t enter in 2010 just because I don’t have time to read 20 books o_O<< ** Yes, that would definitely be a problem. How could the same people who enter the competition judge the books in the same categories? ** >>We started the Rainbow Romance Writers GLBT special interest chapter with no resistence at all from the national level. There is no discrimination written into RWA at the national level, though you can’t control what any individual thinks.<< *** I'm sure this will work out and that M/M writers will be given equal status in the organization.
I don’t want to sound like I’m discounting anyone else’s experience. I know that there ARE people who don’t want to read the GLBT books (mostly or all gay, at this point, if we’re honest). I just can’t help but think that that problem stems partly from the way the awards and the judging are set up rather than a lack of willing readers. The way it’s set up, most of the people reading as judges are (I think) NY pubbed authors with a more traditional background and mindset, which probably cuts down some on the pool of potential readers. [ETA: this is because of what I mentioned before, about the Big Girls pretty much owning the contest in years past; we’ll see what happens in 2010, hopefully more small press authors and therefore more GLBT romances will be entered; hell, I might even contradict myself and do it, who knows] And obviously there are rules in place to keep you from reading books that your own entries are competing against, which cuts it down further. Personally, I think completely not-entered-in-the-contest judges ought to be judging, but I don’t know how you’d set that up.
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All of this, of course, has to be taken with the realization that I’ve never entered the RITAS and have no direct, personal experience with them. This is just my own conjecture, based on my own thoughts stemming from the recent drama over epubs, small presses and how the RWA runs its contests 🙂
In my younger days I took it upon myself to read all the winners of the Booker Prize. It was quite an undertaking as a few of them were out of print (!). Looking back, I read some great, worthy books, but didn’t get half the enjoyment out of it as I did from reading what would be considered trashy books by those who judge the Booker prize.
In terms of m/m. I often see ‘nominated for such-and-such award’ on author’s blogs or websites. half the time I’ve never heard of the award and if I have I just shrug and think, ‘well, good for them’ but it won’t necessarily mean I’ll rush off to buy it although I may make a mental note to have a look at the blurb at some point in the future. Sometimes I even think ‘They got an award for that book?’ and shake my head in amazement.
Jen
I started out with fantasy and science fiction and I do admit that I always checked out the Nebula and Hugo award winners. Other than that I was never really impressed with other books that won awards and I usually listened to other readers and bought their recommended books.
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You made an excellent point that there are so many awards around we’re tripping over them. They seem to spring up like weeds. However, I guess if I were an author I wouldn’t care what the award was as long as I won one. 😀
As Wave I do like sf books with Hugo and Nebula awards but will never read/buy them because they have one. I still pick them up because of the blurb and or excerpt.
Even those award winning books can leave me disappointed.
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Another reason I stay away from award winning fiction books is that they are so pretentious (most of the times). Reading is fun, I hate when I have to read a sentence several times because I don’t get what is being said or meant.
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In the UK and Scandinavia you have these crime/ mystery awards. These books are worth checking out.
Kris
I’ve reached the point that it’s hard for me to buy books (especially print books) unless someone recommends it. Mary M is my most recent book pimp. 😀 She recced Heroes and Ghosts a yaoi M/M which is good but not excellent so far – too many editorial and other errors.
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However, re your point that if you’re teetering and the book is an award winner you’d probably buy it, I would go there as well.
Mmm, I may have picked a book or three after they received an award, but only after I’ve heard good things about them from some other reader. (Since Nebula is mentioned a few times, Gaiman’s American Gods is one of those books and now one of my favorite books ever.) But I’m not choosing my books based on awards. You mentioned award-winning movies and music and yes, I had some really bad experiences there, I’m sure it would be the same thing with books.
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I enjoy reading many different books and genres, but entertainment is an element that is very important for me. Award-winning books can be pretty, well, as Ingrid said, pretentious. And lit studies have sooooo diverted me from that course. XD
Lady M
You just proved my point about personal recs. I have never read Gaiman’s American Gods but I’ll definitely look into it because of your comment.
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I think many of the awards in the entertainment biz are too high brow for me.
Interesting post, Wave.
When I first started reading m/m books, I took notice of the Lambda awards, and bought “Call Me By Your Name”. I didn’t particularly enjoy reading that, though, so from then on I didn’t take as much notice of other winners.
I might think about buying books that win “popularity” awards, but that’s also a doubtful exercise because in the fan fiction reading world, there are many “best book evah”s that have left me cold.
Gaye
As I have said over and over again, books are a matter of personal taste. I loved “Call Me By Your Name” but I had no idea that it was an award winner.
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I usually select about 60% of my books by going back to favourite authors but I try new authors as well because more often than not I find a few gems. They may not win prizes but they sure are interesting.
Oh, this is a weird one, isn’t it – I really can’t look at it objectively, if I’m going to be totally honest (and sadly I usually am …!). I love it when my books (any book!) gets shortlisted for an award (any award!) as I’m astonished that someone has actually read it and enjoyed it enough to do so. I suppose it’s a kind of sad substitute for the fact that I’m not very marketable (whatever that means) and I don’t get many readers – which is fair enough since I’m writing in genres which have a lot of other way more experienced writers in them.
So, as a writer, I weep with joy if a shortlisting happens and sob like a baby if it doesn’t – well, I never said I was sane … But as a reader, I suppose I don’t much care either way and long since gave up on reading the Booker list as it’s usually so literary as to be almost unreadable (hush my mouth …). Mind you, if I do get a shortlisting, I don’t see any noticeable difference in sales, but then again, why should I? Perhaps these things cater more to writers’ egos (we’re delicate critters, you know) than to anything sensible?
==:O
:))
Axxx
Anne
You’re very honest which is why I think I love your books. On this site I don’t believe any of your books has rated less than 5 stars and that’s because you write intelligent books, not run of the mill stories. Having said that, your books may not appeal when an M/M reader is looking for a quick read and a quick roll in the hay. This is meant as a compliment. 😀
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Re awards, I don’t know who does the selecting or the shortlisting of the books and what criteria they use. That’s usually my first question when I look at the nominated books because most of the time I think “wow, that book was nominated?” If I were you I wouldn’t really be concerned if your books are not nominated. You have to look at the process and the criteria, most of which may be stacked against you.
No you’re not irrational. 🙂
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It’s also interesting to know that so far no one has noticed any change in sales from being nominated.
Do I buy books solely for awards? Nup. All the other factors such as cover, blurb and excerpt need to interest me before I even go there.
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However, if I’m teetering on the edge about whether to buy a book or not, finding out that it has won an award may sway me to buy it.
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For eg, since I started reading GLBTQ YA, I’ve sometimes bought a book if it has received an award AND if I’ve been unable to find a ‘decent’ review of it. So far I’ve had both hits and misses.
Kris
>>Do I buy books solely for awards? Nup. All the other factors such as cover, blurb and excerpt need to interest me before I even go there.
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However, if I’m teetering on the edge about whether to buy a book or not, finding out that it has won an award may sway me to buy it.<< *** It looks like you select your books the same way most of us do, and awards only come into play if you can't decide. Isn't it amazing that authors spend so much time and effort getting their books nominated, and a book award is so insignificant (in most cases) when it comes to purchase decisions.
Ah, too bad Heroes & Ghosts isn’t doing it as much for you as Dreyfus Affair, Steve Kluger and Cut & Run, but I’m happy at least you still found it somewhat enjoyable :). Maybe it’s because you’re read more sci-fi/futuristic reader than I have; I had never seen a plot like that one before and I found it incredibly novel and compelling. Yeah, I know the editing is apalling – I believe I did mention it to you – but again it’s much easier for me to overlook than it must be to you.
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I do like being called a pimp. I’m pretty sure it’s the only time in my life this is going to happen, might as well enjoy it 😀
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About the award issue, I will say that when I’m at te bookstore, I’ll be much more likely to pick up a random book I’ve never heard about if it sports one of those big “Winner of *** Award” stickers than the unknown book next to it that doesn’t have one. However, the only time in my life I can remember buying a book I’d found that way was 2 weeks ago 🙂 I attended a literary event with a friend, and I bought the best-debut-novel winner after reading several pages and feeling very pleasantly suprised by the directness of the writing and really liking the voice of the narrator that made me want to know what happened to the character next (this last point is always my downfall). Usually, the prize-winning novels I check in stores make my eyes glaze over after a few lines and they promptly go back to their shelf. Outside of authors I know, it’s blurbs and writing style that will make me buy a book. Reviews too, if i’ve had time to check them beforehand.
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I will be more likely to look up books praised by readers on blogs and in magazines. AAR once publishers a top 100 of best romances and I subsequently bought or borrowed several of them; same with the books you’ve rated Keeper on this site. There’s a much higher guarantee I’m going to enjoy the book that way :).
Mary
First of all, Heroes and Ghosts is a very good story — I’m only 1/3 of the way in and there’s quite a long build-up. I guess I expected it to be another 5+ stars. 😀 Don’t worry, it’ll be up there in terms of enjoyment and rating. It’s quite an unusual story and I love Rye. Your reputation as a book pimp is intact as far as I’m concerned!
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I think what we’re all saying is that most readers are not influenced by book awards. Blurbs, excerpts and reviews seem to be the yardstick most of us use as a buying guide. I guess if I were an author I would think that an award for my work is an indication that other people find it acceptable, but as a reader, reviews and other factors tip the scale for me.
I can’t say it’s something that influences me. I tend to have slightly weird tastes anyway – or quite mixed that is. So I just go with what appeals to me.
JFM
I guess I thought there had to be a reason, other than the obvious, re why authors just can’t get enough and enter one award competition after another. Some of these competitions I’ve never heard of and others are so obscure you wonder why they bother.
My experience, so far limited to one contest (EPIC) where I was a finalist in the ’09 award but didn’t win my category, is that yes, it did make a difference in sales, and a significant one.
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Finalists were announced in early December of 2008, with lists of finalists posted in quite a few places around the net, and published in some newspapers. The winners were announced in early March of 2009.
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Looking at my royalty statements, if we take my third quarter sales for 2008 as the baseline, fourth quarter (which includes less than a month of sales post-announcement) was 125% of that, a modest increase. First quarter 2009 sales were 450% of the baseline, and second quarter 2009 sales were just a bit over 200% of the baseline. Third quarter 2009 was back down to 150% of the baseline, so I’m still seeing a possible benefit from it, but not a lot; at this point it could be the effect of another review or two as easily as people finally getting around to buying something they heard of through the Eppies.
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It would’ve been interesting to see whether second quarter would’ve been significantly higher if I’d won (aside from the fact that it just would’ve been nice to win 🙂 ) but it’s pretty clear that first quarter of ’09, at least, showed a very significant increase in sales. The story had been up for sale on my publisher’s web site for over a year by that point, and it’d been up on third-party distributor sites for almost as long; the initial flurry of sales for each of those venues is clear in my records, and both had died down before third quarter of ’08.
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If the first quarter ’09 increase is unrelated to the announcements of the Eppie finalists, then it’s one heck of a coincidence. Personally, I think the correlation is pretty clear; in my case at least, it definitely made a measurable difference.
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Angie
Angie
It’s interesting to read about your experience in terms of the increase in your sales due probably to being a finalist in an award competition.
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Most of the readers who responded here, and those who emailed me (too shy to respond on the post), say they don’t buy books because they are either winners or finalists in award competitions. I know I don’t. As one blogger said, it would put her off more than anything else. Most readers seem to respond to word of mouth and reviews.
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I’m sure there are other authors like yourself who have experienced an upsurge in sales for this reason, but it could also be due to word of mouth because your story just happened to be very good. That can’t be discounted.
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Thanks for providing another perspective Angie.
Thanks, Wave – and I do love the thought of that roll in the hay! And well done, Angie – that’s great going!
🙂
Axxx
I don’t think I’ve ever bought a book based on an award. In fact, I’m less likely to buy a book with “Award Winning” plastered somewhere on the cover. If anything, awards are a great deterrent for me.
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It doesn’t just go for books, either. I’m pretty much guaranteed to avoid any movie that wins an Oscar.
JenB
You’re like many other readers who seem to resist the word “award winning” when it comes to book purchases. 😀
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Maybe rather than spend so much time campaigning, authors might want to prioritize and use that time writing since their fans don’t care about their awards.