Post by cyn on Jun 13, 2008 8:55:00 GMT -5
Some of you have had actual direct experiences with the "big" Christian awards, please feel free to tell them.
I have come to realize that there are many roadblocks up preventing non-ECPA published books from participating in many promotional activities. So, I've not had a direct experience with the "big" awards; mine has been limited to researching these contests in order to submit authors' books and learning beforehand not to bother entering.
Let's look at a few of the largest Christian awards -- the ones that tout their winners as "the best in Christian fiction."
The Christian Book Awards (formerly the Gold Medallion Awards) are easy to deal with: these awards are open only to books published by ECPA members.
The Christy Awards are open to all Christian publishers. However, the official rules state:
-Any publisher, imprint, or division of a larger publishing house may enter as many titles in each category as it wishes.
-Self-published novels are admissible only if the self-publisher also publishes other authors, has a web/paper catalog, and agrees to comply with the Additional Conditions stated below, including the payment of the promotional fee for a winning book.
The Additional Conditions:
An eligible book that is entered shall not qualify for The Christy Award unless its publisher agrees:
1. To contribute $1,000 towards the marketing of the Christy Award winners via a specific Christy Award Marketing plan. Funds will be entrusted to the Christy Award LLC and are due within thirty (30) days after the Christy Award has been conferred.
2. To include trade links with The Christy Award web site.
3. To purchase and/or reproduce The Christy Award Medallion to be affixed on the covers of winning books. The Christy Award will provide the medallion image artwork for reproduction on the covers of finalist and winning books.
The small publisher has to pay, I mean, contribute this additional $1000 to the overall promotion of the awards -- you'd think that the Christy organization would be able to do their own promotion from the monies collected for entry fees: $175/ book.
I also note that they refer to any house other than "large publishing houses" as self-publishers. I might just be sensitive, but it seems that either they don't understand the publishing industry as a whole or they are dismissing small publishers as self-published and penalizing them for it.
Another award that is spoken of frequently is the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Book of the Year (BOTY) award.
These awards are given to members of the ACFW. Membership is easily accessible for all writers. Dues are $50/ year or $40 for renewals.
The relevant criteria for eligibility:
Books must be published by a CBA-recognized publisher, defined as a royalty-paying publishing house that:
(1) does not offer subsidy or vanity contracts to members,
(2) has been releasing books on a regular basis via national distribution for a minimum of one year, and
(3) has sold a minimum of 1,500 hardcover or trade paperback copies, or 5,000 copies in any other format, including print-on-demand, of a single Fiction book or novella or collection of novellas in book form.
These rules leave the self-publisher out.
1) I don't have any idea how one becomes CBA-recognized. TWCP is in this category, according to the CBA website, but I have no idea how they came across us;
2) national distribution is available to self-publishers but it is very expensive;
3) this rule makes little sense to me. It is differentiating between printing technology!
If the publisher has sold 1500 books that were printed using digital or offset technology, then they are in. If the same book/ company used POD (print on demand) technology, they must have sold 5000 copies.
This rule #3 effectively prevents any POD-produced book from participating. The cost of producing 5000 books using conventional technology would be around $10 000. To produce 5000 copies using POD, the cost is twice to three times that amount.
Why does the ACFW want to limit the entries to their BOTY award? Shouldn't a book's quality stand on its own?
c
I have come to realize that there are many roadblocks up preventing non-ECPA published books from participating in many promotional activities. So, I've not had a direct experience with the "big" awards; mine has been limited to researching these contests in order to submit authors' books and learning beforehand not to bother entering.
Let's look at a few of the largest Christian awards -- the ones that tout their winners as "the best in Christian fiction."
The Christian Book Awards (formerly the Gold Medallion Awards) are easy to deal with: these awards are open only to books published by ECPA members.
The Christy Awards are open to all Christian publishers. However, the official rules state:
-Any publisher, imprint, or division of a larger publishing house may enter as many titles in each category as it wishes.
-Self-published novels are admissible only if the self-publisher also publishes other authors, has a web/paper catalog, and agrees to comply with the Additional Conditions stated below, including the payment of the promotional fee for a winning book.
The Additional Conditions:
An eligible book that is entered shall not qualify for The Christy Award unless its publisher agrees:
1. To contribute $1,000 towards the marketing of the Christy Award winners via a specific Christy Award Marketing plan. Funds will be entrusted to the Christy Award LLC and are due within thirty (30) days after the Christy Award has been conferred.
2. To include trade links with The Christy Award web site.
3. To purchase and/or reproduce The Christy Award Medallion to be affixed on the covers of winning books. The Christy Award will provide the medallion image artwork for reproduction on the covers of finalist and winning books.
The small publisher has to pay, I mean, contribute this additional $1000 to the overall promotion of the awards -- you'd think that the Christy organization would be able to do their own promotion from the monies collected for entry fees: $175/ book.
I also note that they refer to any house other than "large publishing houses" as self-publishers. I might just be sensitive, but it seems that either they don't understand the publishing industry as a whole or they are dismissing small publishers as self-published and penalizing them for it.
Another award that is spoken of frequently is the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Book of the Year (BOTY) award.
These awards are given to members of the ACFW. Membership is easily accessible for all writers. Dues are $50/ year or $40 for renewals.
The relevant criteria for eligibility:
Books must be published by a CBA-recognized publisher, defined as a royalty-paying publishing house that:
(1) does not offer subsidy or vanity contracts to members,
(2) has been releasing books on a regular basis via national distribution for a minimum of one year, and
(3) has sold a minimum of 1,500 hardcover or trade paperback copies, or 5,000 copies in any other format, including print-on-demand, of a single Fiction book or novella or collection of novellas in book form.
These rules leave the self-publisher out.
1) I don't have any idea how one becomes CBA-recognized. TWCP is in this category, according to the CBA website, but I have no idea how they came across us;
2) national distribution is available to self-publishers but it is very expensive;
3) this rule makes little sense to me. It is differentiating between printing technology!
If the publisher has sold 1500 books that were printed using digital or offset technology, then they are in. If the same book/ company used POD (print on demand) technology, they must have sold 5000 copies.
This rule #3 effectively prevents any POD-produced book from participating. The cost of producing 5000 books using conventional technology would be around $10 000. To produce 5000 copies using POD, the cost is twice to three times that amount.
Why does the ACFW want to limit the entries to their BOTY award? Shouldn't a book's quality stand on its own?
c
