No Prize For Literature

If you are thinking about self-publishing a work of fiction and troll the Internet to find out how best to do so, you are, at some point, likely to be advised NOT to identify your work as "literature." It's a kiss of death in the marketplace and, indeed, in the prevailing social climate.

The only exception may be college campuses, but even there, literature is mostly required reading for certain majors. And, yes, there are some book groups here and there that still read such works.


I mention this because Library Journal, a respected trade publication and sponsor with Biblioboard of the "SELF-e" platform that allows writers who self-publish to submit their books for inclusion in the collections of participating libraries, has just announced its latest contest for best e-books published by independent authors.

But only for specific genres: romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy and young adult. How about fiction identified as "literature?"  (During the e-book self-publishing process, one is usually allowed to pick one or more sub-categories, of which literature is one, after first identifying the work as fiction.)

Literature? You must be kidding. Worthy of consideration for a prize? No way! What a waste of time. It must be akin to "Chic Lit," for which there is no prize either.

For the record, here's what the winners of the favored genres will receive:

1) $1,000 each;
2) a full Library Journal review of their book, published on-line and in print;
3) a promotional ad in LJ's  December "Best of Books" issue, and
4) a reception at the American Library Association winter meeting.

Don't get me wrong: self-published authors need all the help they can get (just try self-publishing if you don't believe that) and LJ's initiatives to help out are commendable. But maybe there could at least be a consolation prize for a "catch-all" category of self-published works (no need to explicitly mention the forbidden word).

The winner could, for instance, be invited to the aforementioned reception and patted rather condescendingly on the back.

Disclaimer: the genre of  "Manhattan Morning" is "literature." Sad, but true. While it has been accepted into Library Journal's curated SELF-e collection as a "featured selection," it isn't clear so far whether that means anything or not.