This week, I read an article about a library director who (allegedly) said 9-year-old Tyler Weaver, who read a staggering 63 books over a 6-week period this summer, “hogs” the prizes each year, and should “step aside”, and let other kids win. The reasoning? This young scholar has won every year since he entered Kindergarten. In the past 5 years, he has read 373 books! 373!!! To prove the children have read the books, they are questioned about the books by the library. They don’t take the parents’ or children’s word for it. That I agree with. Some parents these days will lie through their teeth to try to get Little Johnny something he doesn’t deserve. You know the type of parents I’m referring to.

Like many of you, I have a BIG problem with the “everybody gets a participation trophy” mentality today. When I was a kid, I won very few trophies but the ones I did win I earned through very hard work. If I’d been given those trophies just for participating, I’d have had no incentive to work hard, nor to succeed at all.

There was one time that I received something I didn’t earn and I was terribly embarrassed about it. During a school art show, I won several ribbons and I got suspicious because I am NOT good at painting or drawing by any stretch (though I may have inherited some fiber arts talent from my mother). I later learned that one of the contest judges was my boyfriend’s mother at the time. Everybody knew I didn’t deserve to win anything and the fact that I did made me look bad. I’d have rather not won anything at all than to have taken prizes away from kids who clearly were far more deserving of those ribbons. It was unfair. Period.

When you give an award to everyone, and when you penalize the best students (and artists) for doing too well, you not only discourage those who are truly gifted in those areas, but you don’t give those who need practice any incentive to work harder, and to fly higher.

The fact is not every kid can (or even wants to) read 63 books in 6 weeks. If they haven’t done better than their peers, they don’t deserve to win first place over a child who did. Giving a prize to the ones who didn’t really win is actually demeaning to them, and dilutes the entire contest. When kids on the same learning level are competing against each other, the boy or girl who does the best job deserves to win, and deserves to keep their prize.

If you take a reward away from the child did the best job, you remove their desire to achieve, which can affect their entire future. Imagine if awards and rewards (including jobs) had been taken away from the great intellectuals and artists in history. Imagine their incentive being diminished or even distinguished because they had nothing meaningful to strive for simply because somebody along the way thought that a lesser-performing individual should receive an equal reward.

Incidentally, Tyler’s brother won second place for the second year in a row so, clearly, that household supports reading (and not video games!) as a wholesome hobby. As for the crotchety library director, she apparently wants to change the rules next year so the winner is picked out of a hat instead. She is doing no child any favors by making it a lottery instead of a contest. Ludicrous! I’m glad she doesn’t work at our local library. Sounds to me like it’s time for her to retire!

An aid at that library came forward with her opposition to the lottery idea and she contacted a library board member to complain. Good for her for fighting for the winner’s rights! She is the one who asks the questions about the books and she said Tyler and his brother have borrowed 1,000 books over the past few years. If anyone deserves to win, those two do!

Tyler’s mom says the library director should have been proud of Tyler instead of wanting to penalize him. We wholeheartedly agree.

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy

BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks

ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750

ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE