The news this week came from the US National Book Awards - in the young adult section, the judges chose five books for the shortlist but somehow six were announced. At first it seemed that yes, an error had been made in the announcement but they would stick with it. Now they have taken one book off the list - Shine by Lauren Myracle - or should I say, Myracle apparently "withdrew the book from consideration". Who knows what went on behind the scenes, but Myracle has behaved most professionally in what must be a horrible situation, and no doubt it has earned her many new fans.
There's a saying that all publicity is good publicity, but with the internet these days, that's not always true. An author a few months ago who tried to defend herself against a bad review received a huge backlash. True, she defended with insults! But in this world where hundreds of new books are published every week, where self publishers are using the net and Amazon to get their books out there, for many readers awards remain one of the standard guides for what is a "good book".
This week also there was much outrage about the shortlist for the Man Booker prize. This is an award for a book that is considered to be the best of the best in literary fiction, and the critics are complaining that the books are too "popular". So apparently the criteria for this award includes "too literary to be readable and/or enjoyable", which is a pity. Regardless of that, the uproar will help sales because all those people who thought the Man Booker shortlist was too literary might now go and buy at least one of them and actually read them!
The quandary with awards is this - they attempt to choose the best in a given year. The shortlist they come up with is a mix of opinion and compromise (the more on the judging committee, the more compromise - this is fact borne out by experience!). But for most awards, this shortlist influences book sales to an immense degree. Here in Australia, if you are shortlisted for one of the Children's Book Council awards, your book is guaranteed an immediate reprint and at least 3000 extra sales (a lot here in Oz).
What are the repercussions of this? For a start, if you get shortlisted, you are very, very happy! If your book doesn't get shortlisted, however (and if you aren't Andy Griffiths or writing a current hot series), your book will very likely die within 12 months and probably not earn out its advance. So the argument that book awards unfairly promote some books at the expense of a lot of others is a valid one.
For children's books, the other option is the various children's choice awards. I'm going to put my foot in my mouth here and say I actually think these are worthless to the author and their book. I mean worthless in terms of sales. For a book to win a children's choice award, it needs to have been already bought/borrowed and read by lots and lots of kids, so if you win one, it means you and your book (because often it's the author who is winning on reputation for great books) are already out there in huge numbers. But they are great validations for you personally, because it does show kids read and love your books. How good is that?!
It's interesting to see some state awards here now include a People's Choice award that is voted for by readers. (I do wonder though about the publishers who email you and urge you to vote - oh well, it all counts.) So awards are providential. You never know when you might get shortlisted, and if you win, good gracious! How wonderful, especially if the prize money is nice. But you can't count on them either. You just have to write, and believe in what you write, and keep on writing.
Showing posts with label CBCA awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CBCA awards. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Informed Opinion vs the Talkback Chatter
Today, my copy of the Children's Book Council (Vic) newsletter arrived, so I sat down before dinner to read it. Recently, the shortlist for this year's CBCA awards was announced, so I was surprised to see an article about last year's Picture Book of the Year winner. Wasn't that old news? Apparently not. Jo Goodman has written a terrific piece about what happened after Matt Ottley's book, Requiem for a Beast, won last year. It was food for thought, for several reasons.
Firstly, she mentioned how many emails the CBCA had received, criticising their award choice. Fair enough, if you disagree, but apparently many of the emails were abusive, and many were based solely on the media coverage (mainly A Current Affair's pathetic attempt to create controversy based on rubbish). Added to that was a talkback radio show where even more uninformed people had piled onto the bandwagon of "let's all spout on about what we think is a worthy book".
She said one person even sent an email in which the F word was used several times - considering this was a major complaint about the book itself (the language), I thought that was totally ironic - and moronic. I have no reason to doubt Jo's account of all the responses. It's par for the course that the CBCA regularly receives complaints about children's books - more about that in a moment. What continually astounds me, however, is how many of these complainers either: 1) have not read the book they are complaining about, 2) do not read children's books and don't have kids, or 3) don't read the criteria for the awards and have no idea about the basis of the judges' decisions.
I haven't yet read Requiem for a Beast myself, but it's on my list (like The Arrival, it's hardcover and has been a bit out of my price range - I'm waiting for a good discount coupon, I confess!). However, I have had a good skim of it, enough to see straight away that it is not a picture book for four year-olds. Not even for nine year-olds. Hello, world, we have such a thing these days as picture books for older readers - like fourteen or eighteen year-olds, or adults. Go figure. They're usually fascinating, amazing and ground-breaking books that leave you thinking for days. The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan is one of my favourites.
To me, this is one of the dangers of today's media - not that it provides false information, but that many people rely on and totally believe media coverage that is patently less than honest in the way it is slanted and manipulated. I remember studying media news coverage at uni years ago, and comparing accounts of the same event in a range of newspaper and TV reports. That was enough to prove to me that every news report should be regarded as only part of the story.
The other point about complaints to the CBCA is that everybody has their own agenda, their own beliefs, their own view of the world. They're entitled to it. But I find it incredibly sad that so many adults seem to think it's their job to actively censor the books their kids read,while allowing them to watch anything and everything on TV and in video games. Apparently the CBCA have received a complaint about my Honour Book, Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!), because its subject of parental break-up is "unsuitable".
Yep, you got me there. That is absolutely the subject of my book, among other things like friendship, loyalty and hope. My comeback to that? The two primary school principals who read the book and said, "We know lots of kids who need this book and will love it because it speaks to them." Writers like me write about subjects like that so that kids will know it's not just them - they're not alone, and there is hope. Go ahead - complain about that!
Firstly, she mentioned how many emails the CBCA had received, criticising their award choice. Fair enough, if you disagree, but apparently many of the emails were abusive, and many were based solely on the media coverage (mainly A Current Affair's pathetic attempt to create controversy based on rubbish). Added to that was a talkback radio show where even more uninformed people had piled onto the bandwagon of "let's all spout on about what we think is a worthy book".
She said one person even sent an email in which the F word was used several times - considering this was a major complaint about the book itself (the language), I thought that was totally ironic - and moronic. I have no reason to doubt Jo's account of all the responses. It's par for the course that the CBCA regularly receives complaints about children's books - more about that in a moment. What continually astounds me, however, is how many of these complainers either: 1) have not read the book they are complaining about, 2) do not read children's books and don't have kids, or 3) don't read the criteria for the awards and have no idea about the basis of the judges' decisions.
I haven't yet read Requiem for a Beast myself, but it's on my list (like The Arrival, it's hardcover and has been a bit out of my price range - I'm waiting for a good discount coupon, I confess!). However, I have had a good skim of it, enough to see straight away that it is not a picture book for four year-olds. Not even for nine year-olds. Hello, world, we have such a thing these days as picture books for older readers - like fourteen or eighteen year-olds, or adults. Go figure. They're usually fascinating, amazing and ground-breaking books that leave you thinking for days. The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan is one of my favourites.
To me, this is one of the dangers of today's media - not that it provides false information, but that many people rely on and totally believe media coverage that is patently less than honest in the way it is slanted and manipulated. I remember studying media news coverage at uni years ago, and comparing accounts of the same event in a range of newspaper and TV reports. That was enough to prove to me that every news report should be regarded as only part of the story.
The other point about complaints to the CBCA is that everybody has their own agenda, their own beliefs, their own view of the world. They're entitled to it. But I find it incredibly sad that so many adults seem to think it's their job to actively censor the books their kids read,while allowing them to watch anything and everything on TV and in video games. Apparently the CBCA have received a complaint about my Honour Book, Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!), because its subject of parental break-up is "unsuitable".
Yep, you got me there. That is absolutely the subject of my book, among other things like friendship, loyalty and hope. My comeback to that? The two primary school principals who read the book and said, "We know lots of kids who need this book and will love it because it speaks to them." Writers like me write about subjects like that so that kids will know it's not just them - they're not alone, and there is hope. Go ahead - complain about that!
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