By John Gilstrap
www.johngilstrap.com
One week from now, I’ll be in New York, attending my fifth ThrillerFest. I’ll have finished my CraftFest presentation, “Broken Bones, Ballistics and Backdrafts: Technical Stuff That Writers Should Get Right” and I’ll be a day away from finding out whether or not my book NO MERCY won the Thriller Award for Best Paperback Original.
I won’t lie to you: I really do hope that I win. A win would mean a lot at many levels, drawing attention to myself and my work at a pretty impressive level. Let’s face it, no one’s career has ever been harmed by winning a major award.
With that on the table, I won’t lie a second time: When it comes to judging “best” in any artistic category, the honor truly does lie in the nomination, irrespective of the ultimate winner. Think about it: a jury of my peers named a product of my imagination as one of the five best out of the pantheon of alternative titles. That’s pretty high cotton.
In fact, it’s very high cotton. I judged a major contest last year, and I know better than most how difficult it is to wean the choices to a final fifteen, let alone a final five. Once that’s done, it’s almost anticlimactic to name one of the five titles as the ultimate best. Fact is, the cliche nails it: The honor truly does lie in being nominated.
Somewhere out there, a finite number of people already know who will win every category of the Thriller Award. If I’m on the list, I will be beyond thrilled. If I’m not, I will be merely thrilled. Either way, I’ll have had a kick-ass great time in New York, hanging with some of the finest people on the planet.
I’ll try to fulfill my obligation here on the Killzone next Friday, but if I’m AWOL next Friday, please forgive me. As for the Saturday night results, keep an eye out for my tweets (@johngilstrap). Win or lose, that’s where I’ll report it first.
Here’s this week’s discussion question: Do awards matter in your decision to buy books? If an author is honored with the Thriller or the Edgar or the National Book Award, does the fact of the award ever compell you to buy a book that you otherwise would not read? How about an Oprah pick?
Well, since we’re being honest here, I don’t pay much attention to which books win awards. More often than not, when I see a book I’ve read has won an award I wonder what the judges were drinking. The one exception to that has been the Newbery Medal. While I’ve only read a few of the books that have won that award, I can honestly say that I’ve never read a Newbery Medal winning book that I didn’t think deserved the award.
Good luck next Saturday night, John. I’ll see you there.
Awards only matter to me when it’s a children’s book, believe it or not. I’ve discovered lovely books by going for the Newberry or Caldecott award winners.
Personal recommendations trump even those awards, though.
I’ll be going to my first Thrillerfest next week, but I won’t be attending the banquet. Best of Luck of to you, though – I’ll be rooting for you!
Sue
Wishing you a win, John.
First off, good luck. Next awards, like you said they don’t hurt anything, but they’ve never influenced my desire to buy a book, if it sounds irresistible, was recommended by a friend with good and similar tastes, is from an author I’ve already tried and liked- those make a difference. If it’s an “Oprah” or something similar, it might even be a turn off. A lot of times “flash” awards are kind of a turn off, because the people giving them don’t really seem to be giving them based on any merits I consider worthy and a lot of times (like movies) it tells me “stay away” deep boredom ahead. Peer review winners hold more sway… but not as much as a killer story with a friend recommendation.
Good luck, John! And yes, awards do influence my buying decisions–especially when I’m looking at new authors. But then I’m a writer, and I’m looking to learn from the best, so I use an award as kind of a vetting process in order to choose from a huge offering of new work. And I like to read the biggies–National Book Award nominees and winners, Pulitzers, etc. But for readers who are not writers? Other than children’s books, no, for the most part, I don’t think awards influence their choices. That comes down to what we’ve all learned as writers: The best promotion is word of mouth.
Best of luck, John–I’ll be there rooting for you!
I do notice awards. If a book I’m not sure about has received one, I’m more likely to pick it up and read it. Of course, it does depend on the award–some are more “telling” than others.
John,
Congratulations on your nomination. Your writing deserves such recognition. I’m very happy that you’re being honored for your considerable talent!
Phil
I’m very interested in books that win a Thriller Award, because thrillers are usually my favorite books (is it okay to call them the Thrillies?). Best of luck at T’fest.
I think the smart money is on Gilstrap and if I were a betting man I’d give five to one on his book winning. When I read it I knew it was special as Gilstrap has honed his skills over the years to be even better than he was with his first book, which is still a masterpiece. What John has is a rare combination of compassion, intellect, a gut that knows what to write, a mastery of character development, a story telling nature, and the ability to wade in blood and find the heart, plus he has real talent, and not just for making a great martini.
I’m sorry but it really doesn’t. Years ago I went to a movie that had won a zillion Oscars and it was the most boring one ever. So my opinion of the people choosing is limited at best. And we all have opinions.
But as a writer– I’d be thrilled to win! Hope you do!
Thank you all for the warm wishes. And Miller, thank you for just being awesome. If I can live up to half that praise, I’ll be thrilled.
It’s interesting that everyone mentioned the Newberry Award as being so influential. I can neither agree nor disagree because I’m not dialed into that corner of the literary world, but I do remember that when my son was that age and an avid reader, a medal on the cover was seen as code for a Really Boring Book.
Shifting away from the topic for a second, is anyone else having the problem of signing on to comment on a blog post here only to find the box for the verification word blank? Yesterday, I had crafted a long post on women in fiction on my BlackBerry, only to find the verification window empty. I ended up losing the whole post. It was brilliant, too. 🙂
John Gilstrap
http://www.johngilstrap.com
John, good luck at the awards.
On your tech note, I have had a few times lately where the verification word did not load, or else it expired by the time I typed my comment. Now I usually highlight and copy my comment just in case it’s lost.
I’ve used lists of award winners or award nominees as a way to sort through the vast numbers of books out there and choose what to read. But it’s not the only method I use, and I don’t read books just because they won awards – they have to entice me on their own merits as well.
If I see the words “Oprah” pick on a cover it is a guarantee that I will not even pick up that book. I abhor celebrity/designer endorsements of any kind, and books are no exception. If I do read, or more likely have read, something that she showers favor on it’s because I already owned the book, especially now that she has moved onto the “classics”. My reading of 100 Years of Solitude 15-20 years ago had nothing to do with Oprah’s recent endorsement. But an award….hmmmm…. I think this might make me slightly more likely to pick up a book and look it over, but not necessarily purchase. My typical method for purchasing books is 1) go to bookstore (online purchases of new fiction only occur for books/authors I know) 2) look at books. I might pick up an author I know, or have heard good things about, or maybe just the cover, title or je ne sais quoi appeals to me. Next I read the synopsis on the back. If it has no appeal I put it back down. If it has no synopsis, but only snippets of reviews, it may go back down, or I may choose to read a chapter or two to make up my mind, but I have to have more info than snippets of opinions of people I don’t know. With new (to me) authors I will read a few assorted paragraphs/pages to see if I like his/her style. If I like the story premise and the style I will buy that book. My opinion matters far more to me than that of complete and total strangers, although the opinions of others may have some bearing on what I choose to even look at and consider. I hope that isn’t TMI. Good luck with the award. There’s nothing wrong with winning!
Good luck, John-I’m rooting for you!
I have to agree with Mr. Miller that the force is strong with this one . . .
The Grave series seems to be a culmination of all the stuff you’ve been learning about and blowing up all these years, capped off with the gazillion dollars of research gained in being up close and personal with the Special Forces guys.
As you said, the honor is in the nomination. True, but the freaking fun is in the win. So go for it!
Awards are just one factor, like blurbs, in helping me sort books. If a writer I really like and respect blurbs it, I will give it a second look. Same for the awards like the Thrillies (I love that) and the Brammies (somewhere an Edgar winner just turned over in his Scotch).
Finally, yes, I’ve had the empty box and do a quick ‘copy’ on my post, especially if it also shows I am not logged into Google. However, with this post, my word verification is ‘trout,’ gotta love it!
Terri
Best of luck, John. No matter what happens have an awesome time.
Best of luck, John. You deserve it.
I have never bought a book because of an award it’s won, but that doesn’t make the award any less valuable. To me, it helps demonstrate credibility as an author. And I buy books mostly by authors I already know I like, next by recommendations of those same authors.
And yes, the text box was blank just now. I just tried again and it worked.
Like I said before, can’t wait for the Jonathan Grave TV series.