[This article was written by guest contributor Geri Clouston, president of indieBRAG.]
The number of self-published books that the readers at indieBRAG have considered since the company was founded in early 2012 is rapidly approaching 2,000. Nearly 200 of these have been awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion, and we are proud to say that it has rapidly become recognized as a mark of excellence denoting a level of quality equal to, or better than, the best among traditionally published books.
Based on what we have learned to date, we thought it might be helpful to answer some of the questions that BookBaby authors often ask.
Q: What are the common qualities of books that get picked for a Medallion?
A: The five most important characteristics of a Medallion book are: a creative and original plot, a coherent and distinctive writing style, believable and dynamic characters, realistic dialogue, and flawless copy editing.
A second group of attributes that are only slightly less critical are: a proper balance between description/narration/exposition, compelling episodes/scenes, a professional-looking cover and interior layout, a catchy title, and a length appropriate to the story.
Q: What are common mistakes or things often found in the books that do not get selected for a Medallion?
A: As you might expect, the factors listed above can also knock a book out of contention when they are done poorly. However, an indie author needs to realize that while proper copy editing alone will not make a book great, sloppy editing will instantly kill it.
A common lament by our readers is, “If only this book had been properly edited!” Not only can this hurt the particular book we are considering, but it can hurt future books from that author as well. We cannot emphasize enough that an author rarely gets a second chance to make a good first impression.
Q: Do the books that get praised by your readers tend to fall squarely within a particular genre? Or do you highlight good cross-genre, experimental books too?
A: Our primary focus is on works of fiction across a wide range of commonly recognized genres, excluding poetry. We also selectively consider some non-fiction books such as memoirs or biographies.
Having said this, we like to receive nominations from cross-genre books such as steampunk, space operas, paranormal romance, or alternative history to name just a few; and several of our Medallion books fall into these cross-genres. It is often difficult for our authors to pick a specific genre to list their book under!
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More information about what our readers think can be found in a series of blog postings on our website. We hope this input helps and we wish all indie authors the best of luck in their writing careers.
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