Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Unlikely Accolades

The other day I got a lovely plaque in the mail. The Nebraska State Farm Bureau selected my book Farmer George Plants a Nation as one of the Best Agricultural Books for 2009. Shortly after that I received a similar honor from the Farm Bureau of Wisconsin. At first I was a bit shy sharing that news with others, after all it isn't the Sibert Award, but then I realized what an honor it really is.

Literary accolades come from all sorts of unlikely places, and even the smallest award can help get your book into the hands of readers you might not reach any other way. It never occured to me that my book could be catagorized as an "agricultural" book, or that I might market it through agricultural channels. So now I'm thinking about contacting local 4-H groups and maybe someday I'll get out to Nebraska for school visits.

Have you gotten an unusual award that helped you promote your book? I'd like to hear about it.