Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 7, ISSUE 3 | Page 12

D O B OOK A WARDS M ATTER ? YES!
S COTT L ORENZ
W ESTWIND C OMMUNICATIONS
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a pub-
lic relations and marketing firm with a special knack for working with authors and
entrepreneurs to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more.
S COTT L ORENZ
P RESIDENT
W ESTWIND
C OMMUNICATIONS
As a book publicist I can assure you they absolutely do matter! One client
won several awards and was contacted by two movie producers about her Young
Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy Fiction novel. Another one of my clients won the prestigious
Los Angeles Book Festival award. That then led to a flurry of media interest,
which subsequently led to a major New York agent deciding to represent the
book and pitch it to all the major publishing houses. This author, needless to say,
was happy he decided to enter.
Y OU WIN AWARDS YOU SELL MORE PRODUCTS . J EFF B EZOS , CEO A MAZON
Recently a business book client
won a major award which
caused CNN to reach out to re-
quest the book.I could go on
and on with examples of how
pursuing and winning book
awards will give you opportuni-
ties to reach out to the media,
booksellers and agents. As a
book publicist, I see the media
perk up when an author client
J EFF B EZOS AT THE 2016 C ODE C ONFERENCE
has received an award.
P HOTO NEWS . TECHNIBLOGIC . COM
Recently a business book client won a major award which caused CNN to
reach out to request the book. I could go on and on with examples of how pursu-
ing and winning book awards will give you opportunities to reach out to the me-
dia, booksellers and agents. As a book publicist, I see the media perk up when an
author client has received an award. It’s the added credibility that gives them the
assurance that the book is worthwhile. It takes the risk out of the equation for
the producer or reporter if it’s an ‘award winning’ book.
Awards also create interest in your book, which can lead to more sales and
other opportunities. A book award may cause someone to stop in their tracks
and consider picking up your book in a book store. A book award can give you an
edge and sometimes that’s all the difference you need to propel your book into
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
S UMMER 2017
bestseller territory. If you win you can say you are
an 5 “award winning author.”
P AGE
Doesn’t that sound better? Of course it does, and you get a little magic that