It's a FACT. Awards grant instant credibility
and influence book sellers and buyers alike!
Contestants range from first-time authors to
New York Times bestsellers and celebrities!
June 1st Contest Deadline in...
Readers Favorite 2012
International Book
Award Contest Become an award-winning author!
We accept manuscripts, published and unpublished books, eBooks, audio books, comic books and poetry books.
No publication date requirement for published books. No word count restriction. Entries accepted from all over the world.
Four award levels plus a finalist level in each of 70+ categories.
Digital award seals and physical award stickers.
Personalized award certificate.
Physical award medal.
Award ceremony with guest speakers and media coverage.
Book displayed in our booth at the largest book fair in America.
Book review and critique.
Display of your book cover, summary and award image.
Professional, high distribution press release.
Win one of $5,000 in prizes just for entering!
Why enter the Readers Favorite 2012 Annual Book Award Contest? Readers Favorite is the fastest growing book review and award contest site on the Internet. We have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Penguin and Harper Collins, and have received the Best Websites for Authors and Honoring Excellence awards from the Association of Independent Authors. In addition to providing free reviews to authors who range from the first-time self-published author to seasoned professionals like James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks, we also host a respected annual award contest to help authors obtain more recognition and exposure.
Book awards grab the attention of book stores, publishers, libraries, and readers, which can translate into increased sales. As an award winner, you will be able to add your Readers Favorite award seal to your book and all other marketing materials, as well as identify your book as an "award-winning book" and you as an "award-winning author."
We receive submissions from independent authors to publishing giants like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, with contestants that range from the first-time, self-published author to New York Times bestselling authors like Liz Curtis Higgs and Mary Burton, as well as celebrity authors like 3 time Emmy award-winner Michael Brown, Paul Michael Glaser from "Starsky & Hutch" fame, and author Dr. Ariel Ortiz, seen on Oprah, Dr. Oz, Dateline and Newsweek.
Winners will be chosen in four levels for each of our 70+ genre categories: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention.
Each category may also have several additional finalists.
Award Certificate, Digital Award Seals and Physical Award Stickers
Each winner will receive a personalized Award Certificate, a digital high resolution version of their Award Seal for publication and a roll of 500 high quality, reflective Award Seal stickers to affix to current editions of their book.
Finalists will receive a digital high resolution Finalist Award Seal for future publications of their book, website or other marketing materials.
Medal Award Ceremony and Media Coverage
Winners and finalists are also invited to our Medal Award Ceremony during the week of the Miami Book Fair International, the largest book fair in the nation.
The Miami Book Fair International runs from November 11-18, with the street fair portion being held November 16-18. The street fair will feature hundreds of booths manned by authors, publishers and other literary professionals. We will have a full booth all three days of the street fair where we will display all the winning books from our contest to hundreds of thousands of visitors. Authors who are able to attend the event may bring books for sale at the booth.
Our Award Ceremony will be held on Saturday November 17, 2012, the second day of the street fair, at the Regency Hotel Miami, where we have organized a more than 20% discount for our authors. We are expecting several hundred authors and guests to attend this year's Medal Award Ceremony and plan to fill every room in the hotel! The hotel will provide free shuttle service to and from the Miami International Airport, as well as to several local popular shopping destinations.
All award winners and finalists will be brought up on stage to be recognized and have their picture taken. Gold, Silver and Bronze Award Winners will be presented with a physical Award Medal representing their particular award level.
We are planning a "meet & greet" on the evenings of November
15th and 16th so authors can get acquainted and provide us with copies of their book for sale at our booth. Instructions, contact information and other detailed information will be provided to all finalists and award winners in September.
In addition, we aggressively campaign to media outlets for their attendance to provide additional publicity for you and your book (although the attendance of some media is highly likely, we cannot guarantee it).
Guest Speakers
In addition to the Award Ceremony, there will also be guest speakers with advice on various topics from getting an agent or publisher to advertising and promotion.
One guest speaker is an award winning self-published author who took her book from obscurity to national recognition in just 2 years. She will explain how she gets on TV shows, had an NFL star read her book to thousands in Atlanta, and even met First Lady Laura Bush. She is currently in negotiations with Random House for publication and Hollywood producers for a movie deal.
Another guest is a professional motivational speaker, whose bestselling book is currently being made into a movie! She will share the secrets that helped catapult her to success.
Other topics covered by our guest speakers will be how to successfully utilize social networking to market your book as well as insider tips from the owner of a publishing company.
Then it's off to America's largest book festival to meet other authors, agents, publishers and visitors at our booth, as well as attend events and enjoy the street fair.
Display of your Book in our Booth at the Largest Book Fair in America
We will have a full booth at the Miami Book Fair International in November, which is recognized as the largest book fair in America! During the festival our booth will display (for recognition and for sale) the books of our Contest Award Winners to hundreds of thousands of visitors from school children to agents and publishers.
If you are unable to make it to Miami, we will still display your book in our booth and collect the contact information for anyone interested in it, whether they are an agent, publisher or consumer. This information will be emailed to you after the book fair. If you are able to come, you can bring extra copies of your book to be sold at the booth.
Book Review and Critique
All entrants receive a complete book review which will be posted on our site, Barnes & Noble, Google Books and Facebook. You can also post the review on your Amazon page. Our book reviews are free; you do not need to enter our contest to get one.
Winners and finalists will receive ratings with explanations for six key literary components of their book, which can be useful in rewrites or as quotes for marketing purposes.
Display of your Book Cover, Summary and Award Image
Winners and finalists will also be featured on 2012 Contest Results Page via a link under the search box at the top left of every page on our website. Visit our 2009, 2010 and 2011 Contest Results Pages.
We also add your Award Seal to your Readers Favorite review page for both winners and finalists. In addition, we add the words "Award Winner" or "Award Finalist" next to your book in its category listing, so people will know your book is an Award Winner when they search for books on our site. Just click any of our 70+ categories on the left to see examples.
Professional, High Distribution Press Release
Readers Favorite announces the results of our competition through a premium press release which is placed into RSS feeds with more than 250,000 subscribers including bloggers, journalists and consumers. The release is also sent to more than 35,000 opt-in journalists including the Associated Press and top US newspapers like USA Today, as well as search engines like Yahoo and Google.
Win one of $5,000 in prizes just for entering![show/hide]
The good people who provide our Author Services are supporting our annual Award Contest by providing THREE free packages each. You are automatically eligible to win one of these packages just for entering our contest.
On September 1, 2012 when we announce the winners of our 2012 Award Contest, we will also announce the lucky winners of each of our 18 prizes. Winners are picked at random, and it does not matter how many categories you entered or whether you won an award or not. If you win a service you have already paid for then we will refund your purchase price for that service
so that you still wind up getting it for free.
We accept manuscripts, published and unpublished books, eBooks, audio books, comic books and poetry books that fall into one of our 70+ genre categories. Your entry must be an original work for which you own the applicable rights. Manuscripts must be complete and formatted according to our Formatting Guidelines.
We do not have a minimum or maximum word count restriction. However, we do not accept short stories or erotica (contact us for exceptions or if you are unsure about your book).
We do not have a publication date requirement for published books and we accept submissions from all over the world as long as the work is in English. We have had entries from almost every US state and nearly a dozen countries.
To enter, simply complete the form below along with your payment by June 1, 2012. You can attach an electronic version of your book or mail us a hard copy. If you are sending a hard copy you will need to mail one copy of your submission for each category you enter.
The entry fee is $89.00 USD to enter your book in one genre category. You may enter that same book in up to 3 more genre categories for a fee of $65.00 for each one. Your entry will be read by a different judge for each genre category you enter.
You can enter as many books as you like, and each book can be entered in a total of four genre categories. You will need to complete a separate entry form for each book you wish to enter.
After you complete the Entry Form below you will be asked to pay with either a credit card, PayPal account or PayPal eCheck. If you can't pay online, you can send a check or money order payable to "Readers Favorite" to the address in the form below along with all the information required by the Entry Form. All entries must be made online or postmarked by the contest deadline of June 1, 2012.
Should I enter a physical or digital copy of my book?[show/hide]
When possible, we would prefer a digital version of your book (Microsoft Word, PDF, ePUB, etc.). Most authors choose this option because it generally means the review will be completed faster, it is easier for us to get it to our reviewers and judges, and the author saves on the costs of producing and shipping a physical book (you would need to mail in one book for each category you enter). Books that are attached to the Contest Entry form below are available to our reviewers and judges instantly, so there is no mailing delay. In addition, digital books are made available to our international reviewers, who can't receive physical books due to the higher cost of international postage.
If the cover of your book is not included in your digital version our reviewers and judges will be able to see it on your Amazon page. If it has a lot of illustrations and the file size is larger than 19mb, complete the form below without attaching the file and contact us for instructions on how to use a free service to email us the larger file.
However, when it is necessary to submit a physical book, it will be donated to one of 4 well known charities so the book will go on to bring joy to others and provide the books with more exposure. We also donate financially to these charities each year. This way when you enter our contest you will know that your book and some of the money you spend is used to bring comfort and aid to those in need.
We provide children's and young adult books to St. Jude Children's Hospital and to schools through the Kids In Need Foundation. Adult books are provided to needy seniors through Meals on Wheels and to adults learning to read with the help of the Adult Literacy League.
Because digital books cannot be donated to the charities mentioned above, we created our Book Donation program to give all authors the opportunity to donate their book to a plethora of charitable organizations directly from their Readers Favorite review page once their review is complete.
In addition, if you submit a digital version of your book but would still like to dontate a physical copy to one or more of these charities, you can just mail us a few copies of your book and we will donate them to these charities for you. These options allow authors to submit a digital version of their book for a faster, easier and more economical contest entry, while still providing their book to charitable organizations.
Our volunteer reviewers act as the first level of judges for our contest. Each contest entry is given a review (if they do not already have a Readers Favorite review) and is rated on key literary elements. Those books that receive a 3 star rating or greater are passed on to the judges. If a contest entry is given a one or two star rating, we have a second review done by a different reviewer. If that review is also less than 3 stars, the book does not continue to the next level of the contest.
The judges read each book. After they have read about 30% of the book (childrens and other shorter books are read completely) they decide whether the book's quality warrants it being a finalist. If so, the judge completes reading the entire book and rates its quality for potential award placement. Books entered in multiple categories are read by multiple judges, each with the option of making the book a finalist and rating it for an award.
Finalists are announced on July 1, 2012.
Over the next two months the judges finish reading and rating the finalists' books and the winners are announced on September 1, 2012. This allows our winners and finalists two months to arrange travel plans to Miami for our Award Ceremony and for the display and sale of their books in our booth during the Miami Book Fair International in November.
Due to the popularity of our contest and exponential increase in entries each year, we continually recruit quality judges. This year we have added several more: a professional editor and award winning author, a Master English teacher with a Summa Cum Laude degree in English literature from a top-tier university, a current judge for 3 other contests with 4 years judging experience, and the owner of an independent publishing company.
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