From Publishing Perspectives:
At this time of year, shortlists, longlists, and calls for submissions swirl like snow showers up and down the UK. And a new book awards program today (February 5) is adding to the wintry mix something almost as distinctive as the proverbial snowflake’s design: the Selfies Awards has announced its first set of self-published finalists.
Produced by BookBrunch in association with the London Book Fairand the public relations and author services company Bookollective and IngramSpark, the Selfies represent the judges’ choice of a work of fiction self-published in 2018.
. . . .
In an interesting reflection of the task of self-publishing, the prize recognizes not only quality of writing but also, per the program’s media messaging, “the cover design, blurb and sales and marketing campaigns too,” a reminder of the breadth of activity demanded by self-publishing. And this was communicated to authors entering their work by describing the criteria beyond the writing as (quoting the organizers):
- A well produced ebook or print book
- An enticing cover and blurb that successfully addresses the target audience
- An effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy
- Great sales potential
. . . .
Those familiar with the ALLi community will recognize some of the authors whose work now appears on the Selfies’ inaugural list. The program has opened with submissions limited to adult fiction titles, but organizers have said they expect to expand the award to cover more categories in the future. Entries are limited to authors “based in the UK who are predominantly or only self-published, ie where the author themselves acted as the publisher and/or creative director.” Short stories and unfinished works are not accepted for consideration.
The winner of the Selfies 2019 will be awarded £1,500 (US$1,952) plus a special self-publishing package from the sponsoring IngramSpark for a next book. In addition, Bookollective will offer the winner a customized book cover design created by Aimee Coveney and a book publicity campaign that the company says is worth £1000 (US$1,301).
. . . .
The Selfies 2019 Shortlist
- Anita Belli, Once Upon a Blue Moon
- Jane Davis, Smash All the Windows
- Caroline Goldsworthy, Tangent
- Mel Gough, He Is Mine
- Susan Grossey, Faith, Hope, and Trickery
- Kathleen Jowitt, A Spoke in the Wheel
- Heleen Kist, In Servitude
- Jane Steen, Lady Helena Investigates
Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives
The fact that half of the finalists are ALLi members is probably due to a) the award being restricted to UK-resident self-publishers (ALLi is UK-based) and b) the ALLi blog having flagged up the contest last year. It wasn’t widely publicized in other indie circles as far as I could see.
My attitude toward it was fairly cynical when I entered–since the £30 ($40) entry fee was in the form of a subscription to BookBrunch, I speculated on the ALLi blog that the agenda could be to increase BookBrunch’s subscription numbers. ALLi has a long record of warning against bogus awards. I hunted for any kind of rights grab, but there was none–and mercifully, no “enticing” promise that our work would be read by agents or editors with a view to a “real” publishing contract (the promise of publication by an Amazon imprint has kept me out of every Amazon contest ever launched).
As for the prizes, as long as they don’t come with a contract that contains any mention of future services or rights traveling away from the author, they seem well suited to a self-publisher. Obviously they were going to be sponsored by companies who want to attract self-publishers–who else would do it?
The trouble with awards originating purely within the indie community is that they tend to carry very little weight. So far the major book awards are still excluding indies. So new awards like this are worth a cautious punt. What Porter left out of his article was the statement from the BookBrunch MD that “The judges who have drawn up this shortlist feel privileged to have read some exceptional works of self-published fiction from a very wide range of genres. The shortlist we’ve come up with contains works that can confidently stand against the very best fiction being published in the UK today.” That, coming from a trad industry publication, is a surprisingly generous endorsement of indie writing. Let’s wait and see if this opens any doors before we start pushing them closed from our side.
Thanks for the insightful update.
Huh…
A few links…
Produced by (mostly tradpub) publisher news site BookBrunch: http://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/
Sponsored by Bookollective – http://www.bookollective.com/ (The only team an author or publisher needs.)
Sponsored by IngramSpark – https://www.ingramspark.com/ (Priced for the self-publisher.)
Featuring many authors from Alli – https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/
It makes me tired just to look at it all.
Yeah, there’s more hooks than bait on those lines.