This year, marked
the first time Print On-Demand books were allowed into the Writer's
Digest Self-Published Book Awards. POD title Monkey Wrench, by Harland
W. Carson, won its category (Genre Fiction) and six others received
honorable mentions. Not bad when you consider that only five years ago
the idea of books printed on-demand was dismissed as 'science fiction'
by many experienced publishers.
Print on-demand trade books first appeared, commercially, in 1997. By
1999 hundreds of authors had discovered this new, inexpensive way to
self-publish. The big publishers and media were beginning notice. That
same year, however, the Writer's Digest contest still required a minimum
print run of 500 copies - not a large number, but one that didn't allow
for this new method of producing books.
This year, however, things were different. Writer's Digest Editor,
Melanie Rigney, explains:
"The rules were changed for the 2000 competition...to
acknowledge the changing marketplace."
With more than 15 Print On-Demand companies producing books for
thousands of authors today, the marketplace was certainly changing -
fast.
Content or Container?
But were the books judged on content or manufacturing quality? The
rules said that, in the event of a draw, the quality and design of the
book may be used to decide on a winner.
Editor Rigney answers,
"Content and writing quality were the primary determinants for
category winners and honorable mentions."
The comments handed back by the judges definitely bear this out. Most
of the comments on the 'score sheets' praised content and style. So what
do you have to do to impress next year's judges? Read on.
Quality Writing
Carlos Ledson Miller received honorable mentions for two books,
Panama and Belize. He says most of the comments cited "quality of
the writing, the compelling plot, and well-developed characters" as
reasons for the award, although one judge did comment on Panama's
"professional-looking, eye-catching cover".
James Ignizio, author of Gone Awry, felt that content was definitely
the reason his book received an honorable mention. One of the judges
raved,
"You seldom see a genre novel that works this well on several
levels."
Robert Barlow Fox's Inherited Family was commended in the Children's
Fiction section, not only for his style, but also for keeping his
audience in mind. Fox says the judges cited, "the unique style, yet
interesting telling of the story that would be certain to hold a child's
attention" as the reason for his honorable mention.
Taking Looks Into Account
Jonathan Linn's Dada Means Death received the double-edged comment
"the only thing that I didn't think was top-notch was the
cover". This didn't stop it from winning a glowing review and an
honorable mention in the Genre Fiction section.
Judges of Paula LaSala's fantasy novel From Honor Bound also took
time out from praising her style ("the writing is wonderful")
to comment that the book was nicely formatted, although they added,
"I wish the cover gave better insight into what the book is
about."
Even if the physical book did not have a huge impact on the judging,
it is encouraging that WD Editor Rigney was pleased with the quality of
the bound books they received,
"The production values of the POD books that received honorable
mentions were excellent."
Practice, Practice, Practice
So, it seems that self-publishers can't rely on content alone to
please readers, but content and style are still the most important
factor.
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Next: how does it feel to have your book judged as one of the
best self-published books of the year? These authors' surprising
answer...
