What We Learned from the 2007 New Mexico Book Awards
by Ruthie Francis, Barbe Awalt and Paul Rhetts (hand-out at 1/25/08 Book Co-op meeting)

NM Book Award Judging Overview

359 entries — 92 Finalists; 32 Winners

Approximately 75 judges from all across the state reviewed the entries—from libraries, bookstores, elementary school teachers, and full-time readers. Judges were not paid. As judges were from all across the state, books had to be shipped from judge to judge (this is what most of the entry fee money went for). All submissions were judged by at least three judges; some books were reviewed by as many as eleven judges. As some judges have had direct contact with some of the authors who entered as editors and designers, several judges recused themselves from judging certain books. At the conclusion of the awards program one complete set of the winners was donated to the New Mexico State Library for display at the State Library and to travel to other libraries around the state. One set of winners was donated to the Rio Rancho Public Library where it is on display. A few judges requested specific copies of some books and they were sent those copies. The rest of the entries, over 950 copies, are in the process of being donated to three under-funded libraries — Placitas Public Library, El Rito Public Library, and Abiquiu Public Library — and two literacy programs — ReadWest in Albuquerque/Rio Rancho and Literacy Link-Leamos in Silver City. Borders had a display of all the winning books in each of the New Mexico stores; they also have a series of book signing events for all the winners. There has been great follow-up media coverage in Albuquerque The Magazine, PrimeTime, Alibi, New Mexico Business Journal, Albuquerque (and Westside) Journal, Village Visions, Los Alamos Monitor, Around 505, and the Texas Tech University website.

Overall Observations from Judges:
Stick your neck out; take a chance; don’t take it personal.

If the assumption is you as author or publisher want to sell your books, you need to research the market and your competition. Check out what wins awards; check out what book reviewers are looking for. In order to sell your books, your books must meet certain criteria; certain quality is expected. Just because your book is printed does not mean it will sell.

Cover 20 points maximum
Does it attract the potential reader? Is it a measure of what’s inside? Does it use jacket synopsis/reviews/testimonials well? Does it display ISBN/price info in a clear manner? Is the design appropriate for the type of book?

Only 11% of the entries got a score of 20 for the Cover. The average score was 15.
Typeset/font is strange; the cover is not very appealing
The hot pink cover was the first mistake; the author’s and publisher’s conflicting spellings of the title characters name was 2nd mistake; the length of the chapters was the third. Three strikes – out!
Not a flattering photo of the author
Poor photo on back cover – red eye!
Cover belongs to the 40’s
Why is author’s name bigger than the book title?
Cover too white – small type
Back cover is crowded
Can’t read red on black on back
Cover photo colors are not appealing
Cover belies seriousness of book
Title is confusing or misleading – not related in any understandable way to content
Too cluttered
Looking for a quieter, more subtle, simpler more sophisticated cover
Testimonials rave too much!
Unfortunate cover art
With this cover the book will get lost on the shelf

Content 50 points maximum
Is it well written? Does it need editing and/or proofreading? Does it have a strong narrative format? If it is fiction, are the characters and the plot well-developed? Does the content appeal to the intended audience? Does it provide a thorough investigation into a specific topic? Does it use appropriate language? Is it engaging? Is the style appropriate? Does it hold the reader’s interest from beginning to end? Are there any historical/geographical/cultural inaccuracies? Is material; from other sources properly documented?

Only 7% of the entries got a score of 50 for the Content. The average score was 38.
The audience for this book is unclear
Editing errors!
This is boring; annoying, poorly written and offensive. I lost track of all the grammatical and typographical errors! Chapter lengths need to be more consistent for the type of audience (children).
Story was too predictable!
A bit hyperbolic @ times; drags a bit in the middle.
Too much flowery language; not enough actually happens
I’m not happy with the preachiness.
A badly written book; unoriginal and hackneyed in style. Needs major editing!
Lost interest toward the end – needs proofreading.
At times entertaining; sometimes the writing seemed stiff and awkward. Photos were interesting but a number lacked captions. Tighter editing might help flow which was sometimes confusing.
This is very much like sitting down with your grandmother or great-grandmother and listening to them go on & on & on & on & on & on & on & on & on & on
Some odd sentence constructions/disagreements in tenses (not a major flaw); use of some words I cannot find in any dictionary; charts are confusing at best.
This was such an usual read – all over the map, so to speak, but @ such unusual locations, like a bee going from flower to flower. Very good, but unusual.
Okay, it’s pretty dry, but it is actually a good history of the subject and good background as well. Excellent notes, references, index, bib and appendices were sometimes more interesting than the main story.
Kind of diffuse + lacking in focus/theme.
Several proofreading/copyediting errors, eg. French words misspelled, book titles underlines instead of italicized; principal vs principle
Needed a proofreader – lots of extra punctuation, missing punctuation, missing letters
Overabundance of adjectives
This may be more appropriate in a different category
Plot is good but writing did not enthrall me
Can’t decide if it is a picture narrative or a narrative with pictures – odd!
Compiler of quotations – similar to 10’s of other compilations
Has several direct paraphrase from other book – not plagiarism but damned close
Use of terms wrong – Throw for Thoreau, Gran Quivera for Gran Quivira; Black Stone Rangers for Blackstone Rangers
Could have used an index
A completely unlikely premise and very unlikely and disappointing end. Also an excessive amount of info-dumping throughout the book
No defined audience
I wanted to love this book but it was the written content that became a negative – writing style is too casual
A nicely produced book with a captivating cover and title, but a fairly weak story. A little too predictable – characters could have been rounded better.
Too many characters – not enough storyline
There was no character development in this book – it seemed as if the author was forced to write it and there was never a climax in the story.
This subject is an acquired taste and the author’s style makes it harder to acquire that taste.
On the back cover it says the main character is Marco, but in the story his name is Marcello

Design 20 points maximum
Is type readable? Does the layout make it easy for the reader to use the book? Is the design consistent throughout? If it has photos or illustrations are they clear and easy to see and comprehend? Is the design appropriate for the type of book?

Only 18% of the entries got a score of 20 for the Design. The average score was 16.
Formatting wrong – 2 spaces after periods!
Smaller type size was intimidating; subject matter disconcerting!
Font is not appealing
Considering the topic – an art book -- the actual book construction is fairly plain – white pages, black text, square formulaic layout, orange background for all pictures – it was more a science text with diagrams and industry/history jargonistic vocabulary in the detailed captions and paragraphs.
Us of Old English typeface on cover, table of contents, an subtitles is difficult at best to read
Layout is distracting, over decorated, frilly with small margins
No pictures or sketches bring easy sell of the book down
Some of the words and pictures on some of the pages are neatly cut off by the binding


Production 10 points maximum
Is the production of the book appropriate for the type of book? Is the size/format appropriate for the audience? Is the binding appropriate for the audience and type of book? What is the quality of production?

Only 27% of the entries got a score of 10 for the Production. The average score was 8.
Illustrations terribly reproduced!
Poor quality photo reproduction.
Low contrast type scattered thru the book – contrast is lightweight – mostly a series of pretty pictures.
Cover doesn’t fit right; it is off center
Paper choice is too thin – photos bleed through
Binding broke at page 6 as soon as I started reading


OVERALL
A masterpiece in compilation and information; belongs on every gov’t shelf. Very useful for research
I do appreciate the author’s efforts to express praise for the ordinary and not so ordinary things in life.
Filled with sage advice and useful info; written in a humorous tone
Exquisite blending of photos, interviews and quotes
I had high hopes for this book, but they were dashed by poor writing, poor storytelling, and poor editing.
This is a book that is impossible to put down – the very explosiveness of the cover attracts the reader immediately and the nature of the format makes it necessary for the reader to interact with the text
While the author obviously knows what he is talking about, the product is essentially unprofessional. Cover images are not good quality, font choice is horrible, all text needed a strong polished hand to improve the quality
Really a beautiful book but lost pts for ISBN and smaller issues like lack of biblio.
Beautiful book, but … ultimately unsatisfying like sex with a stranger
No ISBN/price on jacket. Do we guess? Historic? I think not. Historical? Ah, the correct word. No index, references, very few citations, poorly annotated. Oh But Great Photos.
Story was slow; could have been told in less than 380 pages
This was a book I didn’t want to read because of its cover. However, this is a wonderfully well-written book that I would definitely recommend.
Good outline for a better book!
No book in which Georgia O’Keeffe’s name is misspelled deserves to win.


OR
Great Book! Nicely illustrated and well told
Very cute book
Good job
Beautiful production
Very interesting
Charming
Great Storyteller
Surprisingly good!
Good read!


Best Children’s Book
2nd highest # of entries
Scores range from 58 to 98.8 (all finalists above 90)
Best Young Adult Book
3rd highest # of entries
Scores range from 52.67 to 98.3 (all finalists above 91.3)
Best Arts Book
Scores range from 65 to 93.5 (all finalists above 81)
Best Biography
5th highest # of entries
Scores range from 67.33 to 95.5 (all finalists above 87.5)
Best Business Book
Scores range from 61.5 to 92.3 (all finalists above 80)
Best Cookbook
Scores range from 62.5 to 98.6 (all finalists above 92.5)
Best Gardening Book
2nd lowest # of entries
Scores range from 87.2 to 90.8
Best Health Book
Lowest # of entries
Winner scored a 99
Best History Book – New Mexico
Scores range from 55.5 to 92 (all finalists above 87.8)
Best History Book – Southwest
Scores range from 82.5 to 90.5 (all finalists above 86)
Best New Age Book
4th lowest # of entries (tied)
Winner scored 78.5
Best Political Book
3rd lowest # of entries (tied)
Winner scored 83.5
Best Reference Book
Scores range from 72.5 to 94 (all finalists scored above 89)
Best Religious Book
3rd lowest # of entries (tied)
Winner scored 76
Best Self-help Book
Scores range from 67 to 94.5 (all finalists scored above 85)
Best Travel Book
Scores range from 72.5 to 96 (all finalists scored above 86.7)
Best Book on Hispanic Subject
Scores range from 66 to 86.3 (all finalists scored above 84)
Best Book on Native American Subject
Scores range from 67.67 to 90.5 (all finalists scored above 80.5)
Best Book, Other Nonfiction
Scores range from 56.5 to 86 (all finalists scored above 81)
Best Novel – adventure or drama
Scores range from 57.5 to 89.5 (all finalists scored above 84.5)
Best Novel – historical fiction
Scores range from 56.33 to 99 (all finalists scored above 78)
Best Novel – mystery
Scores range from 55.33 to 93 (all finalists scored above 78)
Best Novel – romance
3rd lowest # of entries (tied)
Scores range from 78.3 to 88
Best Science Fiction
4th lowest # of entries (tied)
Scores range from 76.8 to 83
Best Poetry Book
4th highest # of entries
Scores range from 50.25 to 92.3 (all finalists scored above 88.5)
Best Anthology
3rd lowest # of entries (tied)
Winner scored 78.5
Best Book, Other Fiction
Scores range from 59.5 to 99.5 (all finalists scored above 86.4)
Best First Book
1st highest # of entries
Scores range from 50.4 to 95.5 (all finalists scored above 88.2)
Best Book on New Mexico
Scores range from 71 to 92 (all finalists scored above 78)
Best Book on Southwest
5th lowest # of entries
Scores range from 84 to 97 (all finalists scored above 84)