It's awards season in the crime community -- that glorious time of year when
people get to root for the nominees, cheer (or sneer) for the winners, and
complain about the ignorance of the judges in leaving off our favorite books.
(We also get to bitch about the books that were included. There's a
reason they call our main conference "Bitchercon." We like to complain.)
The Edgars will be given away next
month. ITW announced the shortlist for the
Thriller Awards over the weekend. It'll be time to start the nominations for
the Anthony Awards soon. And
Mystery Ink just announced the nominees for the
Gumshoe
Awards yesterday (There are several others that I'm leaving out, including the
Barry Awards, Agatha Awards, and more. But I got tired of finding links.)
I have mixed feelings about all of these awards. Yes, I say this even though
I was responsible for creating the Gumshoe Awards, and was a judge for last
year's Thriller Awards. On the positive side, I do believe they serve a purpose:
they help bring attention to authors and books, a commodity that is always in
short supply. They also, when done right, celebrate the excellence within our
community, which I think is a good and rewarding thing.
But why are there so damn many of them? And do they ultimately mean anything?
I've been told by people in the know that the only award that significantly
impacts an author's career is the Edgar for Best Novel. Still, it does seem that
even some of the smaller awards can help boost a writer's name-recognition, and
help increase their stature within the community, and maybe even with their
publisher. Whether or not they actually sell books...Well, that's a different
matter.
Awards also, of course, stir up controversy, bitterness and resentment. Some
people will be upset at the books that were or were not nominated. (Some people?
Hell, all of us will be.) Others might resent the sexual or racial make-up of
the authors selected. Some will complain that the nominated books were too
commercial or too obscure, too esoteric or too common. And I can't help but
think that even the most hard-boiled of mystery writers sometimes feels a stab
of regret when he is passed over yet again.
There's also the whole question of selecting "the best" of all the books in
any given year. Obviously, it's quite subjective and subject to the whims,
predilections and prejudices of the judges. No matter which award we're talking
about, we'll all be scratching our heads over some of the selections. (The thing
is, though, that we'll be scratching our heads about different books. That's all
just part of the fun.)
Still, despite the negatives, I do enjoy the awards. I'm always pleased when
books that I loved are singled out, and enjoy the chance to have excellent books
brought to my attention that I otherwise might have missed. I like seeing good
people honored for the hard work they do. I like seeing people actually care
about books.
If nothing else, awards get people talking about books and thinking about
books, at least for a little while, and those are things we always need more of.
For me, that's the most important reason to have awards. Even if there are too
many of them.
