A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: The Relationship between Book Awards and Book Sales

Authors often ask: Do awards really matter for my book’s success? The answer is yes — but not all awards carry the same weight. For nonfiction, it’s helpful to think of awards in three categories: major, minor (competitive), and less-competitive. Each plays a different role in ROI (return on investment), both financially and in terms of credibility.

📚 Major Awards (Transformative ROI)

These are the prizes that can catapult a nonfiction book into bestseller status and secure long-term influence. They attract mainstream media coverage, bookstore promotion, and institutional adoption.

• Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History)
• National Book Award (Nonfiction)
• National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir)
• PEN America Literary Awards (Nonfiction categories)
• Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Nonfiction)
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Nonfiction categories)

👉 ROI impact: Immediate financial spike, sustained visibility, and enduring cultural influence.

🎖️ Minor Awards (Competitive, Credibility-Boosting ROI)

These awards are respected within publishing and indie circles. They are competitive, judged, and provide meaningful credibility. They won’t catapult a book into bestseller status, but they can strengthen marketing, reassure readers, and open doors to niche distribution or speaking opportunities.

• Eric Hoffer Award
• IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award (now: IBPA Book Award)
• BIBA (Best Indie Book Award)
• IPA (Independent Publisher Book Awards)
• BOTYA (Foreword Indies / Book of the Year Awards)
• Readers’ Favorite Book Awards
• Pinnacle Achievement Book Award
• Chanticleer Book Awards
• Illuminati Book Awards

👉 ROI impact: Incremental sales (dozens of copies; sometimes a hundred or more), stronger credibility, useful marketing leverage (competitions often hype hundreds or thousands of sales, but that is not in keeping with what the data show, except for some rare outliers whose success can be explained by more than just the award)    .

🏅 Less-Competitive Awards (Symbolic ROI)

These awards and competitions are easier to enter and win. They are often marketing-driven rather than highly judged. They provide a certificate, logo, or mention that can be used in promotion, but they don’t carry the same weight as the more competitive awards.

• JM Northern Media Awards (various regional book fests)
• BEA (Book Excellence Awards)
• American Book Fest
• Other similar promotional contests

👉 ROI impact: Symbolic recognition, morale boost, and marketing material. Limited effect on sales or long-term influence.

⚖️ Putting It Together

• Major awards: Transformative. They can redefine a book’s ROI, driving bestseller status and cultural impact.
• Minor awards: Competitive and credible. They provide marketing leverage and incremental ROI, especially valuable for indie and debut authors.
• Less-competitive awards: Symbolic. They offer recognition and promotional material but have minimal impact on ROI beyond marketing optics.

✨ Bottom Line for Authors

• Winning a major nonfiction award can change everything — sales, visibility, legacy.
• Winning a minor award is still valuable: it builds credibility, enhances marketing, and supports incremental ROI.
• Winning a less-competitive award is mostly symbolic, useful for promotion but not transformative.

Understanding these distinctions helps authors set realistic expectations and use awards strategically.

These Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 22 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.

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