I think I am going to continue this conversation with the bodies who have given this ....book awards.
I doubt that would get you very far, as all those bodies are primarily concerned with selling services (publishing, publicity, and awards) to new writers. It's really evident when you look at the large quanity of awards/honorable mentions these contests give out each year. Each contest also charges a hefty entrance fee.
Here are the stats on the four entities that gave awards/honorable mentions to Save the Pearls:
Eric Hoffer Award
Entry fee:
$50
Number of awards given in year of SavethePearls:
112
Parent company: Hopewell Publications
Primary business: Selling publishing services to new writers
URL:
http://www.hofferaward.com/
Additional info: per a
Jan 2012 column by the founder of the Hoffer Award Christopher Klim, it accepts 1000 entries annually. Doing the math (1000/112), that means if you enter this contest, you've got roughly 1 in 10 chance of having an award or honorable mention to use to promote your book. Contest revenue: 1000 x $50 = $50,000. Cash prizes given: $2,500. Other companies that seem to promote this award (US Review of Books, Infinity Publishing, Best New Writing) are all part of Hopewell Publications,
Books and Authors
Entry fee: $50
Number of awards given in year of SavethePearls:
31
Parent company: John Weaver, who specializes in book marketing (
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-weaver/9/6a4/4a6); domain registration
here
Primary business: selling publicity to new writers
URL:
http://www.books-and-authors.net/Contests.html
Additional Info: Site is registered under "Page One Literary Newsletter" and includes links to such. Many of the articles on the site seem to date from 2007-2008. Various rankings sites list the site as having
79 visitors a day or
a mere 15. There's an
internet discussion between Weaver and others regarding a client dispute on the writers weekly forums. Writer Beware search didn't turn up anything of note on Weaver, so perhaps of all Savethepearls awards this one is the most legitimate. It is, however, bestowed by a little-visited website with outdated web design and links.
San Francisco Book Festival
Entry fee:
$50
Number of awards given in year of SavethePearls:
191
Parent company: JM Northern Media LLC
Primary business: creating online contests/media events like this one
URL:
http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com/index.html
Los Angeles Book Festival
Entry Fee:
$50
Number of awards given in year of SavethePearls:
130
Parent company: JM Northern Media LLC
Primary business: creating online contests/media events like this one
URL:
http://www.losangelesbookfestival.com/
These last two "Book Festivals" are especially egregious. If you click on the their links, on the upper right is a link for "multiple entries." That lets you enter all 15 of the contests run by JM Northern Media LLC (at $50 per entry) for $775 ~$697 (you get a 10% discount!) with one easy submission. As opposed to most book festivals, which involve stalls of books that people peruse, there don't appear to be any actual festivals associated with these events. They simply rent a hotel room to give out the "awards."