As far as “self-published work” there isn’t a separate category, but self-published books have always been considered in every Eisner category and have had many Eisner nominations and wins. Unfortunately, there are a lot fewer self-published works these days than there were, say, 10 years ago.

Jackie Estrada
Eisner Awarda Administrator

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson’s ” Comics Worth Reading ” had a post that asked the question Do Awards Mean Anything? [...]

I agree that too many different awards can get exhausting, but I don’t think that there are all that terribly many to add: a young adult and a children’s section seem what are most needed (as the majority of what seems to win are those targeted at 30-something men), a “best historical/biographical” and a “best self-published work” (in print) to promote growth in two very needed areas. Possibly one for adaptations as well (as that’s been growing tremendously). And that would be really it.

Sure you could throw in a romance, a sci-fi, a mystery, and a horror section (etc), but I don’t think the industry is large enough to support such award genres as of yet. But hopefully someday it will. :) Awards can act not only in the area of increasing general sales, but also in promoting growth in a specific area.

That’s my theory, anyway. No one’s really tested it yet, but I think awards can help to give substance, recognition, and validation to a genre that was previously ignored or discredited before.

This really ties in to the question you brought up though as to whether or not there are too many awards. A review on a blog or local paper never changed the amount of orders we recieved unless it were from a local book store. The key is reputible. Awards like the Eisner’s are easily recognizeable in the comics community with both purchasers and resellers. I think that really does make a difference.

But a minor award from a small website?

The majority of distributors are savvy enough to recognize a scam like that when they see it. How many books have “Number 1 bestseller!” on their front when they mean “number 1 bestseller on obscurebooks.com”? It isn’t really a scam, really . . . but a partial truth. And most people can see them a mile away. Putting “Award Nominee for Small Unknown Comics Awards of America” won’t make much difference at all.

Except to make its creator feel better.

Which many could argue still makes a difference. :)

So there will probably never be too many awards, as long as the industry sticks to recognizing what we consider the most viable and non-biased ones out there. Like Eisners. And Harveys. And Lulus. ;)

Though honestly . . . sometimes I even question the viability of those, as well. Things like “best artist” or “best writer” are hardly criteria to go by when the pool is so vast and the judging so influenced by preferences in genre and style. Why not “Best sci-fi writer” or “Best Teen Series” etc? They’ve become slightly more specific lately . . . but genres in comics awards as they have in many book awards would be appreciated.

Thank you for adding some figures from experience.

On several of the Eisner-nominated books I’ve worked on, I’ve also been, in my capacity as that guy in artists alley, the top retailer in the country. (Sad, isn’t it?) And I have found that it’s a whole lot easier to sell a book that’s been nominated for an award. Comics readers have an unfortunate but understandable habit of assuming that any given comic is going to be terrible. Those awards tell them that the thing has got to be at least sort of okay.

My experiences are only with the Eisners. I’ve heard a story from a publisher who was nominated for one of the other industry awards. I’m told that sales on their book actually dropped when they mentioned the award in their diamond solicitations, and didn’t go back up until they took mention of the award out. Make of that horrible anecdote what you will.

Unfortunately, people do vote based on familiarity or favors or personalities instead of quality. But that’s human nature.

There are far more film awards than the Oscars, far more kid books awards than the two you list. There are more prestigious awards and less prestigious ones in all these things. Folks recognize the ones they want to recognize. I don’t see the problem here.

I always felt like at least the Harveys skewed slightly more to the alternatives while the Eisners seemed more mainstream. I’m not sure that’s true as much anymore, but I admit not paying much attention to comic awards, mostly because I never cared for the people who won which is why I don’t pay much attention to the Oscars as awards too often become either pay back for a long career and awards not given or to some political friendship payback.

In fact, one of the more prominent comics awards used to consistently nominate someone associated with one of the award organizers and yet the artist was not well known and their books didn’t sell particularly well and I could not help but always feeling like this was an example of someone being personally known by a lot of people and thus garnering more votes that their talent alone would produce. And no, I’m not talking about Frank Cho nominating himself for an Ignatz.

I should point out that the most flagrant example of this is the Reuben which almost always goes to a very mediocre cartoonist who is pals with a large number of NCS members.

Darren, great point. I’m the same way, it’s the summary of several viewpoints that influences me, not just one.

got me buying American Born Chinese, and that was a good thing.

but on their own? nominations mean little to nothing. just like (most) single reviews mean nothing. i need more corroboration. (hopefully thats a word – i’m pretty hopped up on narcotics – the prescribed kind – for a back injury and dont always think straight…)

cheers,

darren

However, the biggest targets for these may be individuals, but at reaching organizations. Bookstores who are trying to figure out which twenty of this week’s two hundred titles should get their shelf space are believed to take this into account. Libraries are presumed to be similar.