Do literary awards help your fiction writing career? After starting my writing career in 1992 and my editing and publishing career in 1996, I can firmly say yes. Literary awards improve public awareness of your book and increase book sales.

The reason award winning books sell more is the award is a powerful third party (independent) endorsement. When someone with no financial interest in a book goes out of their way to read it and honor it, the public takes notice. This is the same reason why book reviews have more impact than an expensive advertising campaign.

Now that said, it does takes time, effort and usually at the very least a little money (if not more) to place your book in the running for an award. Almost any award. You should plan this cost into your promotional and marketing efforts for the book.

If you’re interested in going in this direction, step one is do some Internet research to find all the different award competitions to which you might be able to submit your work. There are always the big name competitions in your genre. Everyone knows these and they’re easy to find. But, there are also many smaller awards out there given sometimes by quite unlikely sources.

Do not make the mistake of either overlooking, or underestimating, these awards. Any official notice, praise or singling-out of your work, no matter what the source has the potential to increase book sales (you know the old adage — there’s no such thing as bad publicity).

Step two is to pay whatever small entrance fee might be connected to the award you’re going after. This should only be done, however, if you get the sense that the award is genuine, or at least respected. There are competitions out there which are merely set up to rake in entrance fees. Oh, someone will win the award, but there isn’t quite the same amount of prestige attached to such an “honor.”

Step three, of course, is to send a copy of the book or e-book to the panel of judges.

For example: My publishing company published a military science fiction anthology entitled Breach the Hull in 2007. That was the first year we started publishing e-book versions of most titles. The editor and his wife, Mike McPhail and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, found an e-book literary award online and decided to enter the book’s Microsoft Glassbook e-book version. It was a good call on their part — Breach the Hull won the 2007 Dream Realm Award for best e-book anthology! Sales of the title have steadily increased as the publicity from the award has spread across the Internet and genre conventions.

Of course, winning is just the beginning. Once you have the award in hand, then you want to display (with all the bells and whistles you can manage) the logo of the contest on your websites and provide it to interviewers in the media as well. Create a cardboard stand up of the book cover and award logo to take with you to conventions. Something plastered with the words “Winner of the So & So Award!” Mention the fact that the book won the award on every panel you are a part of at conventions. Let the world know about the award at every reasonable opportunity.

Second example: In 2008, Marietta Publishing published the follow up book to the Amazon best-selling Bad-Ass Faeries. The second book in the series is titled Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad. One of the four editors is Danielle Ackley-McPhail. She decided to enter the e-book version in a literary award contest. In March of 2009, it was announced that Bad-Ass Faeries 2 had won the 2009 Eppie Award for best e-book anthology! (Eppie Awards go by the year the award is awarded, not the year of publication.)

Danielle and Mike are using the internet to track down what is waiting out there for all authors and small press editors and publishers. Winning the awards means all the hard work they put into writing their stories and putting together their anthologies has now paid off in a bigger way, but they had to do the work to find the competitions. These opportunities don’t come knocking even the much-talked-about one time on your door.

You have to go find them.

The bottom line is, plan ahead to enter your books in literary award contests. They will help publicize your title and improve your book sales. It certainly does not hurt to have a few awards on your resume as an author, either.

Trust us.

As we have been discussing in earlier blogs, the invention of the Amazon Kindle e-reader has created an exciting, and completely new form of book. Kindle e-books are less expensive than most printed books today or as inexpensive as a mass market paperback with a retail price less than $9.99 typically. We predicted before in this blog that the second generation Kindle (not yet available) will probably create a combined e-book and audio version book. By being connected to the Internet 24/7, the Kindle has finally created a superior form of the traditional book that will most likely kill off a vast portion of what we now think of as the publishing industry in no more than the next ten years.

As authors, the big question for you is, how will all of this, as well as other on-the-rise technologies such as print-on-demand printing, affect the book business for you personallyr?

Amazon.com can offer some 1.6 million titles online each year to its customers — world-wide — while a brick and mortar big chain bookstore such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million can only offer about 56,000 titles per year to those customers willing to leave their homes and walk through their doors. As the availability of e-book versions expands through the Amazon Kindle system and its competitors, the demand for more expensive print books will steadily decline. The big chain bookstores are going to have to sell more books online as a result. Large square footage stores are going to be replaced by book cafes where a reader browses websites and then orders a book to be printed in the back room of the book café on a print-on-demand printer. (A hot off-the-printer book to go with your hot bagel and hot coffee!)

Think opera. When operas were in vogue, they were the only game in town. That’s why they were three, four hours long, because for those who could attend, they were sometimes the only entertainment to be found outside the home for six months to a year. Then, over the centuries, traveling shows, then theater circuits, then radio, movies, television came along, the marketplace for operas shrank, and shrank some more. Now, it’s an art form kept alive through grants, tax dollars, and as Blanche said, “the kindness of strangers.”

Or, if you need something more recent, the reel-to-reel, then the cassette, the 8-track, the CD. Or all the various permutations of television. Technology mutates, and those whose ability to make a living depends on any particular branch of technology had better keep their eye on what’s going on within the nuts and bolts section of their industry. Buggy whips, anyone?

Not all of these retailers are going to make the transition, especially after publishers and authors realize they can sell directly to the readers with much greater ease than ever before. Book wholesalers and distributors are going to become a thing of the past in the next ten years. We can say that confidently because there will in all probability be no traditional bookstores (outside of a handful of used book stores) with printed books in ten years. The Amazon Kindle Internet based e-reader system is actually a distributor and retailer combined. The big difference is the Amazon Kindle sells electrons while old fashioned book distributors have to physically warehouse and ship printed books all over the place. Amazon already uses the Amazon Advantage program to cut out book wholesalers and distributors by buying books directly from publishers such as Marietta Publishing and hundreds more. The Amazon Kindle e-reader system accomplishes the same goal for Amazon.

Because of all this, we predict there will be five major delivery systems for e-books in the near future.

1. Amazon.com
2. I-Tunes (Apple)
3. Fiction Wise
4. E-Bay
5. Barnes & Noble/Sony Entertainment

You read it here first— Borders and Books-A-Million won’t be around in ten years. Barnes & Noble will have to combine forces with Sony to create an Internet based e-reader distributor/retailer system to compete with the Amazon Kindle system. The current Sony e-reader is the next closest thing to an Amazon Kindle. The key is having a strong Internet platform to transmit e-books to shoppers and then a quality e-reader for them to build an e-book library inside.

Currently Amazon charges a 65% discount off the cover price to publishers to distribute and retail their e-books. The e-books are converted to a unique e-book language designed specifically to be read on an Amazon Kindle only. That leaves 35% for the publisher and author to divide up between them. With a $9.99 retail price 35% is $3.50 with $1.25 going to the author and $2.25 going to the publisher. For the author that is a 12.5% royalty rate which is much higher than the average 8% royalty paid by publishers. So everyone makes a higher profit. It is a win, win, win business situation. The publisher has no printing costs, no inventory taxes and no shipping costs to pay, so the $2.25 is a net profit before taxes.

It is highly likely that publishers will produce only e-books and audio books in the very near future. Audio books will be produced automatically by sophisticated software programs that will “read” the words in the text file to create a synthesized voice “reading” the words out loud like a recording — but it will not be a recording. This software technology is already being developed and will be commonly used by publishers to produce the e-book of the future that incorporates text and audio combined. When a publisher sells an e-book from their own website or a genre specific book club, the profit margins will be even higher.

Let us also remember that E-books can also be produced as multi-media presentations with animation or video components as part of their whole. Indeed, who is to say that these electronic books will not follow the path of the DVD? Author commentary, deleted scenes, extended scenes, outlines, character sketches, bonus short stories–once paper, ink, binding, et cetera, and their inherent expense are done away with, there is no telling where the idea of books will go.

Amazon Kindle e-books can also contain advertisement directed at a very specific target market. A publisher can sell ads inside Kindle e-books and update them automatically through the Kindle system periodically. This idea constitutes the first new profit center in publishing in centuries.

E-books can also be shorter “one sitting” reads designed for readers’ faster paced lifestyles. The price can be lowered for the shorter work as well. A writer can create more products more quickly this way. A lower e-book price will help readers try new writers. When a writer has established a large enough fan base they can use the Amazon Kindle system to self-publish and cut out the publisher to make a higher profit margin. For a publisher to survive in the near future they will have to provide better editing and marketing services to a popular author. Publisher websites will have to be excellent promotional tools for writers.

So what does all this mean to you, the up-and-coming author? It means you may have less than a decade to get all your ducks in a row. So, turn off that TV, put down that beer, et cetera, and get to work. Now.

Or, don’t blame us when you get left out in the cold.

Previously in this blog, we discussed the Amazon Kindle e-reader. If you did not see the first Amazon Kindle post, please look it up in the archives before you read this one. To refresh your memory, the Amazon Kindle is a wireless e-book reader that is connected to the Internet 24/7. It automatically sends you e-book updates and regularly published subscription-based products such as e-newspapers, e-newsletters, blogs, et cetera. You can even subscribe to a particular writer you like, receiving everything they do before the rest of the reading public. This is the first actual, major reinvention of the book since Gutenberg first printed one and started this whole better-your-life-through-knowledge-and-entertainment merry-go-round over 600 years ago!

As you recall we predicted that the Amazon Kindle and its competitors will become what we now call a book. In ten years a printed book will actually become the exception to the rule. Children will carry their Amazon Kindle in their backpack rather than five to eight heavy hardback books around at school. The current Kindle can store up to 200 books in its memory like a personal library, giving its owner 24/7 access to the e-book selection at Amazon. It is lightweight at 4.7 ounces and you can electronically highlight passages or bookmark a page just like a real book.

We are predicting the following changes will occur to the second generation.

1. The memory storage capacity will at least double to 400 books.
2. The weight will become even less.
3. The e-reader will become sturdier and more shock resistant.
4. The price will be lower.
5. You will be able to listen to audio products through your Kindle.
6. Interactivity and compatibility with the Internet and online products will increase.
7. The Kindle and/or competitors will become portable entertainment centers.

The first four predictions need no further discussion and follow the same pattern as Personal Computers and so many other recent inventions. But, the last three deserve a deeper look. First, the thought that future versions of the Kindle will include an audio component. Future e-books will be published with the text and audio versions combined. Imagine that you are reading an e-book on your Kindle when you have to get in your car and make a two hour road trip. You don’t want to stop reading? No problem … you simply plug your Kindle into your car’s MP3 player (audio system) and listen to more of your book. When you get to your destination, you can unplug it and go back to text reading. Don’t be surprised if commuter trains and airplanes don’t start offering universal audio ports for their customers. Think that’s an outlandish idea? It’s a one-time investment on the part of the transportation merchant for a permanent improvement. They look like the good guy for helping you entertain yourself.

In the near future more and more businesses will become online only. TV and radio are good examples of this move to the Internet. Today if you miss a TV program you can go online and watch the same program in its entirety. Radio will move from the imperfect airwaves to the perfect Internet — especially talk radio. AM radio, FM radio and satellite radio will become a thing of the past in the near future. Those of you too young to remember, when hand-held transistor radios first hit the mass market some 60 years ago, they were as prevalent a device on the streets as discman and cell phones would be later. Never say never. Also, don’t be surprised when your cable company offers you a 24/7 Internet connection and your television suddenly becomes the house computer–one that will follow your voice commands. Your Kindle will interact with websites that will become the equivalent of broadcast channels and become a portable multi-media entertainment center.

Some of this might mean nothing to you now. Personally. But, just imagine that you are an elderly person with poor eyesight. You need to read a larger print book. Today these are expensive and most books are not offered with a large print component. Your current Kindle can enlarge the font on the e-paper as large as you need it. The second generation Kindle will plug into the USB port of your house computer and put the text up on your large digital flat screen for easy reading. Think of it … people sitting around in front of their televisions … reading. Scary.

So again, believe us when we say that the Kindle (and its clones) of the near future will become your personal and portable entertainment center. They will allow you to read text, listen to audio versions of books, listen to music, or play radio/TV/movie programs. they will remain connected 24/7 to a much wider variety of entertainment available from websites acting as broadcast channels. You need to be thinking ahead about how you are going to plug your writing into this future. Because, trust us, Sparkie, the innovations are just starting to spring forward. Once budding animators begin thinking about connecting short bits of animation with larger pieces of text, once comic book companies begin to merge their film branches with their print branches…

Oh, the future is on its way, gang. They may never give us those damn flying cars, but well … they never do, do they?

Bruce Here: A writers group is a regular meeting, offline or on, of at least semi-like-minded writers seeking to improve their writing skills by giving each other constructive feedback. One of the biggest challenges facing a new writer is the vacuum in which most writers work — especially new ones. Face it, most writing is done alone. Most writers can’t rely on constructive feedback from members of their own families and friends. They’re biased toward encouraging loved ones. The only way to find out what areas of your craft you need to improve is to be a part of a writers group.

Ideally you want to have a group no larger than five people so that you don’t spend all of your time reading and critiquing other peoples’ work. You want them to write in your same genre or genres. Reading a romance story when you are into writing science fiction is not a great idea. If you aren’t widely read in your genre(s) you will have a problem telling the other writer if their work is original or not. There are different types of writers groups and I’ll go through them one at a time.

The first is the beginner’s writers group. This is composed of writers who are just getting started out and have not been published yet. Keep the criticism constructive and honest. Quality feedback is crucial in these early stages as a writer. Everyone has to start somewhere — most people never start — they make excuses and don’t sit down and write.

C.J. Here: There is one big thing to remember, though, and this counts for all the various groups being discussed. One of the toughest obstacles for all writing groups is learning how to give and accept criticism. The problem, oddly enough, does not come from people getting their feelings hurt by those who have nothing valid to say. The real problems start when those being criticized can’t stand to hear the truth. Writer A tells Writer B that this character is wooden, or all their dialogue sounds the same, and A is absolutely right, and B goes into a massive snit. Here’s your big advice, toughen up, Sparkie. This is just the beginning. You’re preparing for a career in the spotlight. Why do you think writers and actors and singers and every other kind of performer have such a high career-mortality rate? Why do you think Britney shaved her head? This is a job with enormous pressures. If you can’t take the heat in someone’s living room, sitting around with people you know with chocolate chip cookies and Doritos on plates with paper towels under them, and your favorite drink in hand … just wait.

Of course, Writer B had better not be talking out their ass, either. Criticism is a two way street. You don’t sit there just waiting to hear what people have to say about your work and not caring about theirs. You are there to help one another, to make each other’s work stronger.

So, in other words, if you can’t take the heat — go home. And, if you can’t dish it out in a helpful manner — go home and stay there.

Bruce Here: Eventually some of these writers will start getting published occasionally. This is the group that will form the basis of the intermediate writers group which is the next step up. At this stage you are still creating your own style of writing and learning to use the tools of your craft. Those tools include metaphors and similes, three dimensional characters that are not stereotypes, realistic dialogue, creating interesting settings and painting descriptions with excellent word choice. Some of these writers will begin to be published on a regular basis and will move up to the semi-pro writers group.

A semi-pro writers group makes a decent amount of their income from writing. Meetings are spent discussing finding literary agents, working well with editors, and finding decent publishers that actually pay for writing. Tips and strategies about self-promoting and building a fan base are exchanged. Experiences in the book business are shared — both good and bad. Out of this group a few will make it to the major publishing houses in New York City.

When you become a professional writer your writers group changes. The first person you work with is your literary agent. You will bounce ideas for books off your agent since your agent has to sell your manuscripts. The agent reads the manuscript as you write it giving feedback along the writing process. When the first draft of the manuscript is done it is sent to your editor at the major publishing house. The editor will send the manuscript back for as many rewrites as they feel are necessary to create a top notch book. At some publishing houses the publisher will also read an edited manuscript and give feedback. Once the galleys are created a copy editor goes over them and sends the final corrections back to the writer. You make the final corrections and send in the finished manuscript to be published.

For some writers a writers group does not meet their needs. In this case the writer can work with an independent editor to help create finished manuscripts. Even professional writers need feedback in order to bring out their best work. Whatever methods work best for you should be used with the goal in mind of creating a great read.

C.J. Again: If you fnd yourself one of those people who can’t work with a writers group, however, think on the “why” of it. Perhaps you’ve just fallen in with a bunch of losers who are holding you back. Brittle, petty types who can’t take criticism but love to fling out invective to cover their own inability to do good work. It happens, and it happens often.

On the other hand, maybe you’re a little brittle and petty yourself. And listen to me here, this is not an attack on you. How could it be? I don’t know you. You’re just some person who came here to read this in the hopes of finding something that might be useful. Well, trust me, this is all for your own good. I had no one to tell me any of this, and I worked my way up the hard way. And I was as brittle as they come. I don’t think I was ever petty, my self-esteem was too tiny and frail to allow that. But I was easily devastated and sometimes I wonder how I got this far.

So, again, trust me when I say this, look for people you can work with, who will tell you the truth, but who will do so in a manner you can live with — that won’t, in other words, choke the life out of you. And then, once you have these people, you treat them with the same respect. Elsewise, nobody gets nuthin’ out of the deal except wasted time.

I was recently asked via email how I find new writers for Marietta Publishing. First I have to give you some background. The business is organized as a one man business officially, but I work with many other people. My role as the publisher is to act like a musical conductor and communicate with everyone involved in a project to make sure the same goals and deadlines are met.

I ask writers to submit stories or novels to meet the publishing goals during a given year. A cover artist is brought in to create art that fits the theme of the book. Then a graphic designer is selected to create the wraparound cover and interior pages. I work with a copy editor to do a final read through for any errors. At the end of this publishing process, I decide the format of the book (hardcover, trade paperback, e-book) based upon business and marketing considerations. Finally I hire the right printer to create the book. The book is then plugged into my distribution channels and sold to the public at large.

All of these talented people are hired as independent contractors and if they are paid more than $600 per year, my CPA issues them a 1099 tax form. Sometimes I also work with Book Packagers, who act as the editor, graphic designer, and copy editor all in one. The Book Packagers hand me a completed book that is ready to go to the printer.

This background is given to let you understand better how I find new quality authors. When I am at a convention selling books at a dealer’s table or speaking on a panel, I often get approached by authors. The ones that ask me what I need as a publisher get my attention. We don’t always end up working together, but they usually get a chance to write something for an anthology. If they become a dependable writer that produces high quality writing they get more and more opportunities. By attending conventions and attempting to build a fan base, a potential Marietta Publishing author is showing me that they are serious about their career.

When I come up with a book idea (usually a theme for an anthology), I ask editors and Book Packagers that I work with which authors would be a good fit for the new book. So I solicit input about new writers from editors and Book Packagers who meet and work with new authors all the time.

Sometimes I receive a query letter from a new author and I tell them about any upcoming books I’m editing or publishing. A query letter works very well when you ask that golden question — “What can I write for you?” Remember, pitching an original book when you are an unknown author with no fan base is tricky to sell. You have to write something a publisher needs to break into fiction writing, then build a fan base, and then you get to pitch an original series.