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Re: GWA Award Musings

According to the GWA's tax returns (it's public information; you can
download them here:  http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/  by
just entering the name of the organization--you don't need the other info)
the awards program brought in $22,795 in 2007 and cost the organization
$32,924.  So it lost money to the tune of about $10K.

I think the question should be whether we feel these awards are worth losing
$10,000 on, not to mention the $22,795 coming out of our collective pockets
in the form of entry fees.  Unlike, say, the Edgar Awards put on by the
Mystery Writers Association, I'm not sure whether the GWA awards have much
"brand recognition" among readers, buyers at bookstores, publishers, etc.
I've never won one, so I'm not speaking from experience here, just posing
the question. Do people get more freelance gigs or better book deals or see
a bump in sales after winning an award? 

Could those funds be better spent on something else that would accomplish
the same goal?  How about, say, advertisements in garden magazines and
garden newspaper sections advertising our new releases, and promoting a
GWA-hosted website where readers can connect with those authors and others?
That not only supports the authors of those books, it supports imperiled
print magazines & newspapers with the ad revenue.  (I don't mean to derail
the discussion about the awards program with hare-brained ideas; just trying
to think about fresh approaches.)

Amy Stewart
www.amystewart.com




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