Publishing Award – FAQ

Who Enters the EDGE Publish PASS Awards?

 All independent author/publishers of business books are eligible.

 Are Awards Programs Worth the Money and Effort?

It takes time and money to enter award programs but the potential financial and professional rewards can really make a difference in your books success as a personal professional tool.  Awards not only bring personal satisfaction and prestige to the author but they can ultimately influence buyers. The book can keep on selling and influencing decision makers, thanks in part to that gold seal on the cover.

 

What sets the EDGE Awards Apart?

Winner Honorable Mentions appear for an entire year at www.Publishpass.com, and are featured prominently in our monthly newsletter and on various other award announcement related websites.

 

How do I know you got my entry?

You ship the books to us. We highly recommend that you send a trackable package, or include a self-addressed stamped post card to help us confirm receipt of your entry. Please include the online entry receipt with the book.

 

Do the judges read every book from cover to cover?

 Awards judges are trained to assess a book’s quality, much as a buyer at a bookstore or library determines whether or not to purchase for their patrons. The further a book makes it through the judging process, the more likely it will be read completely.

 

Please send any other questions to:

Shannon Evans Awards Director and Publish PASS Editor at sevans@publishpass.com

Book Reviewers – Some Non-traditional Sources to Consider

Getting a self-published or POD book reviewed is easy to do! Create a list of potential reviewers while you are waiting for your book to come back from the printer. Once you have your book in hand from the printer you are ready to send out review copies.  So how do you develop a list of potential reviewers?

• Book Reviewers – Let’s pretend for a moment that you just wrote a book on baseball bats and you want your book reviewed. While your book was at the printer and in between writing sell sheets and press releases, you began to conduct research on the who’s who in baseball genre self-published book reviews. Your search starts by going to Google and typing in “sports” or “baseball” and “book reviews”. Why not add “bats”? Baseball bats are a highly specialized area and perhaps that would be too limiting of a search. Perhaps the reviewer who will give you the most glowing review will be the one who never read a book about the equipment related to the sport that is his or her favorite genre. Crafting the search for the list is important as you want it to be manageable.
• Reading Groups – Don’t just search for reviewers. Include reading groups and reviewing publications as possible sources for reviews as well. Reading groups and book circles can give great mileage to your book’s marketing campaign. Select those that are genre specific to increase your likelihood that they will select your book to read and review.
•  Reviewing Publications – There are some publications that will accept unsolicited books for review. A little research on line and in some writing handbooks will expose a few potential sources. Your best luck will be genre specific publications that cater to your target audience.
• Reviewers on the Web – Some reviewers exist on the web independently. Some are found through host sites and social networking organizations related to books and book promotion. They are often thrilled to give you a review in exchange for a free book. A little homework will reveal what genre they prefer. Consider perusing the web for bloggers and ezine article writers who have existing reviews on the web.
• Writer’s Portals – What better person to review your book than a writer! Check out some of the writer’s sites on the web. There are now several social networking communities where some members offer review services. A peer review is a definite plus in your favor! A simple web search for author groups should reveal a sizeable list with potential reviewers.

Book reviews should always be free. You are sending them a free book and as such you do not control the time for turnaround and content. If a reviewer requires a fee of any sort (reading fee, handling, etc) do NOT submit a book to them. No reviewer worth his/her literary salt takes money for a professional review. NEVER PAY FOR A BOOK REVIEW.

Book Reviews – Can Self-Published Authors Get Them?

Can self-published authors get reviewers to seriously consider their work like their traditionally published author cousins? Getting a book reviewed is an important step for marketing your book, especially for a first time author.

Getting a book reviewed is not as difficult as it might seem if you are creative in how you approach the project. There are some reviewers who will never accept an unsolicited or self-published book to review. Big fat hairy deal! Remember, Chicken Soup for the Soul was once a self-published book that is now multi-million dollar best seller. If you are diligent in your search you will find there are many non-traditional reviewers out there just waiting for a copy of your book.

One of the easiest ways to find who is doing reviews is to go out and conduct an internet research on your genre and book reviewers. For example, if you are a romance writer whose latest book is historically based consider research parameters like: “book reviews” and “historical romance”. It make take a few tries to get the correct combination but you should be able to locate a credible reviewer who would love to read your book.

Keep an open mind and an open eye for potential reviewers. Book reviews are an incredibly visible passive marketing tool that is inexpensive (cost of a book and postage) and often pays off with high sales dividends. 

What do you do with a Negative Book Review?

So you got a bad book review…so what? It may feel like the end of the world but what does it really matter? It is only the opinion of one person. And we all know about opinions…everyone has one!

What do you do with a negative book review?

• Depending on the source it can be used as constructive feedback for future efforts
• Find the positive comments they gave and focus on those for value
• File it away so you can reference it later when your book is a best seller

Personally, I take a bad review in stride. It ranks right up there with an editor’s rejection letter. I own a rather large rubber stamp that I had created at the local print shop (on the recommendation of another author on Bainbridge Island). I happily ink it up with some lovely crimson ink and then I slam that sucker right in the middle of the reviewer’s work.

I then post my lovely stamped negative review up on the cork board on my wall and toast the darn thing with whatever is at hand. Much like the word on my stamp…their opinion is purely unimportant and full of BULLSHIT….

Then I sit back and keep marketing my book to the rest of the reading world.