As independent (more importantly, somewhat—or totally—Unknown) authors, one of the first questions we must always ask ourselves whether it be a blog or an interview or a promo is “does this increase, in a significant and long-lasting way, my visibility and my notoriety (you’d hope in a promo the answer would be “yes”, at least in the short term and especially if it cost you any dough).

Contests are another way to garner feedback and, if you win, place, or show, a potential opportunity for larger exposure. Or is it? This blog isn’t arguing one way or the other—I’m genuinely not sure.

Clearly it depends (as ever, with anything) on the reach of the particular contest (i.e how many people now about, rely on it for book recommendations, etc.). And that can be an answer difficult enough to divine by the contest holders themselves, much less the lone author.

A good, talented author friend from the very beginning of it all in 2011, Alan McDermott, submitted my book Blood Land (free on sites that allow it, like Smashwords, Kobo, and Sony, if you’ve not read the book) to a contest in the Thriller category last January, and after thanking him graciously, but living a bit on the dark side of the moon at the time, I promptly forgot about it like a thankless jerk. The point is, it was read and judged by five readers, scored, and is a finalist. That’s cool. But that’s not really the full point either because now the winners are decided by voting.

Hmm. What to do? In a moment of complete ridiculous behavior (I blame my ego, that bastard), I shamelessly asked every writer friend I know, if they liked the book (<==my lame justification), to cast a vote (and I provided the link).

Now I believe at this point the whole process has become completely muddled. I mean, unless this contest site gets a thousand readers a day who devour a books like candy and diligently cast a vote, it’s going to be meatheads like me (shamefully) asking my friends to vote for me (and finding out I don’t have as many as I thought I had based on the number votes, ahem—which is an entire other eight-beer conversation: the whole logical mess behind asking friends for pathetic votes and reviews and how it sullies the idea of what votes and reviews and ratings should really be about).

But we’re UNKNOWN, right? I mean, apart from amongst ourselves. Our tribe. We’re still in the jungle, so if I’m not going to offer you a hand on on our long trek, and you aren’t going to offer the same thing to me and others, how do any of us get out? Wait for a twister to come through and transport a few of the luckier ones to Oz?

And how valid is a contest that’s clearly won by:

A) The most diligent author when it comes to asking for vote.

B) The most successful author in garnering votes (higher number of friends, higher percentage of friends willing to click a couple of times)

The answer is, it’s not valid. Contests and awards awarded subjectively or through (even unintentional) “rigging” are not proper, nor do they necessarily say anything about the books that are, in the end, held up in as superior to the others in their categories. I’m NOT saying it isn’t an honor to have someone nominate you or that there’s anything improper or wrong with an author entering contests. Contests are one of the main vehicles of promotion for Unknown authors. What I’m saying—or thinking, since I did say I was agnostic on this question (and if you believed that, are you in the market for this great new pyramid-shaped surefire money-making idea?)—is that we should look further into whatever we are choosing to use, enter, write, etc. because in the end it all comes back and reflects on our brand.

And our brand, ladies and germs, is US. As in WE.

BTW, friends and countrymen: if you received my gutless, hypocritical plea for votes and didn’t vote, please don’t. I don’t want to win that way. For those of you who did—and you know who you are—you know how grateful to you I am.

I need to find a class on “Stick To Your Principles”.

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The blank page is dead…long live the blank page.

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Author known to use spontaneous satire, sarcasm, and unannounced injections of pith or witticisms which may not be suitable for humorless or otherwise jest-challenged individuals. (Witticisms not guaranteed to be witty, funny, comical, hilarious, clever, scintillating, whimsical, wise, endearing, keen, savvy, sagacious, penetrating, fanciful, or otherwise enjoyable. The Surgeon General has determined through laboratory testing that sarcasm can be dangerous, even in small amounts, and should not be ingested by those who are serious, somber, pensive, weighty, funereal, unsmiling, poker-faced, sober, or pregnant.)

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“Unknown V”, by Alexandre Bordereau. <==VISIT THIS SITE. I’m going to attempt to reach him for permission to buy this photo but I am hoping he will see this as an act of complete amazement of his talent. What a great expression of the ultimate unknown person. He’s got at least ten of them. I looked for a way to purchase the right to use a small version. I LOVE this artist’s work. Check him out. WOW. (And yes, I know the appropriate thing to do would have been not to use it, or wait, but I love it too much. I really do. It struck a seriously profound chord within.)