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What Can Writers Do for Awards Season? (And Best of the Year Anthologies)
tldr; Make an awards eligibility post on your website/blog. Post a thread of your publications this year on social media. Don’t forget to pay the cat pictures tax. 😉
You can call it an awards eligibility post, or an end of year post, or you can just say “This is what I got published this year.” If self-promotion makes you uncomfortable, think of this as an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve accomplished this year and what you’re happy about. John Wiswell’s post is a great example of this (and his stories are also good! go read them!): https://johnwiswell.substack.com/p/all-the-short-stories-i-published. With each story include the link (if available), the wordcount, the date published, and a quick description of what the story is about and why someone might want to read it.
Keep an eye on social media for people who are keeping lists of awards eligibility posts. Don’t be shy in sharing yours! And after you’ve made your eligibility post, remember that this is also a great time to talk about stories that you’ve really enjoyed reading that were first published this year. A rising tide, etc.
Okay, you say, but what else can a writer do? That’s where it gets more complicated. There is definitely a decreasing return on investment at this point. But yes, for many awards, there are other things you can do to increase your story’s visibility.
This is not true of all awards. Notable awards where authors can not offer their work for consideration include the Arthur C. Clarke Award (unless you’re a UK self-publisher), the British Fantasy Award, the BSFA Awards, the Locus Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, the Mythopoeic Awards, and the Shirley Jackson Award.
For a list of awards (and Best of the Year anthologies), click to view the full-size table of award info and the rest of the market list updates:
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