Book award lists are garbage. Here’s why.
Book Award Pro
Book award lists are the worst. There, we said it.
Authors looking into book awards may find they’re quickly overwhelmed by low-quality listicles of accolades that leave them more confused and frustrated than when they started.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only problem with antiquated lists of book awards. Read on to learn why static online lists simply don't work.
Why book award lists don't work
Here are a few reasons book award lists are the least effective way to find accolades for your book:
They're incomplete
Pretty impressive to see a list of 30 book awards right? Not really. There are thousands of book awards out there. In fact, Book Award Pro has the largest database of legitimate, researched awards in the world. Our collection includes 9,000 awards with more being added all the time.
Book award lists simply fail to include all of the relevant information you need to make an award decision. For example, some awards offer bonus benefits, like a professional book review or marketing help, for simply applying. When you look at a list of awards on a webpage, you're only looking at a fraction of their potential benefits and value.
They highlight the least-winnable awards
Don't get us wrong: We're rooting for your success. But household names like the Hugo Awards and the Pulitzers are ultra-competitive.
Websites list these book awards because they're familiar to readers, even if they're not an ideal opportunity for authors. The truth is, even lesser-known awards can bring massive value to your book. From bonus benefits to professional recognition and story marketing, there are countless untapped perks to pursuing accolades without a household name.
When relying on lists of awards, finding accolades that are author-friendly, valuable, and less competitive can take hours of research.
Their submission requirements are out of date or missing entirely
Most book award lists aren’t updated after they’re first published. This is an issue because book awards change their submission requirements all the time. Award organizers may release the perfect category for your book this year, but you found a website from five years ago with outdated or missing information.
Book award lists you find online may also have only partial requirements on their pages. For most bloggers and digital marketers, listicles are quick, easy ways to bring traffic to their websites. Unfortunately, this means they’re not always thoroughly researched and information may be left out for conciseness.
You already missed the deadline
Imagine finding the perfect award. Your book is eligible, you found the application, and you feel good about your chances.
Then, you see you missed the window by two weeks.
Most book awards have a limited submission window. This means it's more likely that you're past the deadline if you’re relying on a list that’s no longer accurate.
You have to scroll past awards that are irrelevant to you
You probably want to apply for awards that are specific to your genre, background, or various story elements of your book.
That's smart, but it also means the majority of awards on a list aren’t relevant to you. This leads to a lot of scrolling, wasted time, and tireless research to find the best matches.
How Book Award Pro is different
Book Award Pro uses technology to automate and personalize the painstaking process of researching and applying for book awards. Here's how we're a better alternative for authors to become award-winning:
- We have the largest database of book awards in the world. We track more than 9,000 legitimate book awards and we're adding to our database all the time.
- We save you time. You only see awards that are currently open and we present your award matches at the ideal time. We don't match you with book awards in categories that don't make sense for you.
- We curate your awards. You only see awards for which your book is perfectly eligible. All the research is done for you, and we only match you with awards that are the best fit for your book.
- We highlight your single best match. You'll see all your curated matches, but with the Targeting feature, we'll also show the one book award that is the most valuable for your book every month.
- We'll submit your book for you. Submitting for a book award can take hours of research and preparation. You can automate your submissions directly in your Book Award Pro account.
- It's free to get started. While some of these features are only available on our paid plans, on our Free plan, you can get matched with perfectly curated book awards in minutes.
