Choosing "The Right" Contest for Your Book

Subscribers and visitors of this #SharingwithWriters blog know how important I think contests can be to the furthering of authors' careers.  And how carefully I believe they must be in choosing the contests they enter.  My friends at WinningWriters.com  invite you to compete for their third annual North Street Book Prize for self-published books. The winners of our second competition were Winfred Cook, L.S. Johnson, and Linda Baer .

This year's deadline is June 30. Submit a self-published book in one of the following categories, up to 150,000 words in length:

• General Fiction (literary and genre fiction)
• Young Adult Fiction
• Creative Nonfiction and Memoir

The winner of each category will receive $1,500 in cash, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $450 value). Two honorable mentions in each category will receive $250. We will publish online excerpts (1,000-6,000 words) from all entries that win a prize, along with critiques from judges Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. Lauren Singer and Annie Keithline will assist in the judging.

The entry fee is $60 per book. Your book should be available to the public for sale or download by June 30 to be eligible. Books published in past years are welcome. Submit as many books as you like.

All contestants receive a copy of the third in the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers, the How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by Carolyn Howard-Johnson (PDF) and free guides to successful publishing from BookBaby.

Both the prizes and the benefits of just entering listed in the paragraph above are examples of the kinds of perquisites I tell authors to watch for. "Caring" and "Sharing" like this can set contests apart from the pack!

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )