Every year, as we begin to win awards, the question comes up if these awards are legitimate and do they really mean anything. The short answer is, yes, this is incredible recognition for both our authors and our press. Although She Writes Press and SparkPress sweep many awards programs, no, these awards are not a given or easy to win. These awards programs get thousands of submissions and our books are consistently catching the eye of the judges. Often, a single judge only reviews a handful of titles, so they have no idea that our authors are consistently winning in other categories, too.

There is much debate about the merit of book awards. However, they can be a very useful sales tool. The life of a book is surprisingly short. After three months, your book is backlisted. Winning an award and promoting that award can breathe fresh air into your sales. Author Kate Raphael did a great post on Medium about this very topic.