Authors everywhere claim that their book is “award-winning.” What exactly does this mean? Some say they are an “award-winning author.” Heck, I guess I could say that. I have won many awards in my lifetime and I am an author.
I think that most people are somewhat impressed by the term “award-winning.” I used to be, too. But now, not so much.
Sure, there are legitimate contests and definitely some prestigious awards. But there are also many rather inconsequential contests with numerous meaningless awards. I’ve judged some of them.
I’ve judged contests where there were only three books in a category and two of them were junk. Is first place in this case really worth anything? Well, it’s enough for the author to legitimately slap an “award-winning” sticker on the front of her book and present herself as an award-winning author.
The other two books, even if they are awful, may automatically win second and third place. So now you have authors touting their crumby books as award-winners.
Some authors enter their books in several categories—including some that don’t even apply to their genre/topic. If entries are sparse and the book is beautifully done, they might get an award in some obscure, non-relating category. And they can legitimately claim that their book took first place in the humor or ethnic category even though their topic is a somber one and there is no mention of ethnicity whatsoever.
My point is, you can’t always judge a book by its award status.