How to Launch an Author Awards Program at Your Library: Curating Self-Published Books, Reaching Out to the Community

Establishing an awards program for self-published authors offers libraries new ways to bolster their relevance and expand upon their roles as curators and "keepers of story." This guide shows you how.

For many reasons, up until now librarians have ignored the nearly half-million self-published books available for purchase. This book details how to find and promote librarian-curated, self-published books, covering every step in the process―from assembling a committee and recruiting judges to soliciting submissions, handling the nominated authors, judging the entries, and promoting the contest and contest winner.

Written by the founding members of the Soon-to-be-Famous Illinois Author Project, the first librarian-curated award for self-published works, this book shows you how to use the process outlined by these library marketing professionals to run a successful author awards program. You can also apply their proven methods and tools to evaluate self-published books written by local authors that you are considering adding to your collections.

Julianne Stam, MBA, MLIS, is the marketing specialist at Eisenhower Public Library District in Harwood Heights, IL.

Elizabeth Clemmons is the public relations coordinator at Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin, IL.

Stam and Clemmons are recipients of a 2015 John Cotton Dana Award―the most prestigious award given by the American Library Association―for their efforts on the Soon to Be Famous Author Project.