Irene Te always knew she wanted to self-publish her YA romance novel, This Place Is Magic. “I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to query this project,” she says. “I never even attempted it. It wasn’t a story that fit neatly into any boxes, and if it was difficult for me to position and pitch, I felt it would be difficult for an agent, too. And since there were so many elements I wasn’t OK with negotiating, I chose to self-publish. I saw it as the best way to stay true to the story I wanted to tell.”

Her instincts proved right, earning her the top prize in WD’s 32^nd Annual Self-Published Book Awards, but this also dispels the notion that self-publishing is merely a backup plan for authors if traditional publishing isn’t working out. The benefits of self-publishing—writing the story the way she wanted to, going against traditional romance tropes—far outweighed those of traditional publishing for Te to begin with; and now, the validation of winning Grand Prize is something she hopes teaches others the legitimacy of self-published books.

WD spoke with Te about why she entered the competition, the inspiration behind This Place Is Magic, and more.

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Congratulations on winning Grand Prize! What made you decide to enter our competition?

Thank you! I chose to enter this competition because I consider Writer’s Digest to be a reputable and reliable source of support for anyone who writes. I felt that winning—even an honorable mention—from a WD competition would be a great thing for me as a writer; I also felt that it would help me continue to dispel the misconception that self-published books are not worthy of critical acclaim on the same level as books that are traditionally published. I don’t think I’m the only self-published author who feels like no matter how much effort, care, and craft I put into my work, it’s still dismissed as lesser quality because I didn’t choose the traditional route to publication. It was nice to receive validation that I’d chosen the right path for my book. Winning an award from a respected industry publication like Writer’s Digest could help my book reach more readers.

Tell us about This Place Is Magic. How did the idea come to you?

The fictional K-pop group in this book has been around since 2017, starting out as a list of characters in a Google doc. Pretty much all my projects take a long time to simmer. Case in point, I didn’t return to the idea of writing about K-pop until early 2023, when I saw an Instagram post featuring an idol on an evening walk. He had his back turned to the camera, just strolling through some neighborhood in California. Initially, I was drawn to the aesthetic: the dark blue of the sky, the streetlamps, the billowing white shirt. It felt hopeful and carefree, but also kind of sad. Someone so famous would have a hard time taking a walk anywhere without being recognized or interrupted. Even the casual nature of this picture was, at heart, a kind of performance. It seemed exhausting.

I kept scrolling after that, but there was something about the image that just stayed with me. I started looking at all the other posts by idols in my feed and totally overthinking each one. I thought about how crazy it would be for someone to find a random K-pop idol wandering down the street outside their house. Why was he even there? What if he’d gotten lost? And then, the question that led me to my protagonist: What if he wanted to be lost? What if this character was running away?

Something I think you capture really well is the banter between characters. Charming, charismatic dialogue is critically important to a successful rom-com. How did you go about creating the unique voices for each of the characters?

In my experience, a character’s unique voice is directly tied to who they are as a person. I spend a lot of time thinking about where a character comes from, whether they’d be wordy in their responses or very brief and to the point, and if they have any phrases that they use a lot. Then I come up with “rules” for how each character uses language.

The fun part of banter and conversation between characters, for me, is watching the interplay of all these different “rules” in action. Some characters never interrupt. Others do nothing but interrupt. Some characters never curse and one character curses constantly. When you get them all interacting together, I think the dialogue has no choice but to be lively.

Were there any surprises in the writing process of This Place Is Magic?

The biggest surprise was how easily the story fell into place. It was the rare project that seemed to be writing itself. Although he’s the quietest and most undemanding protagonist I’ve ever written so far, Eunjae really had a story he wanted to tell me.

If you could share one piece of advice to other writers considering self-publishing, what would it be?

I think the best thing you can do for yourself as a writer is to cultivate a willingness to learn. Remain open to the idea that there’s always more learning you can do. This means studying craft, but also taking feedback and figuring out your unique process. Take the time to improve your skills. To me, learning is an investment in yourself. 

Enter the 33rd Self-Published Book Awards now!

The post Interview with Irene Te: WD’s 32nd Annual Self-Published Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Do you have a book in you? Enter the next Self-Published Book Awards.

Grand Prize

This Place is Magic by Irene Te

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

She Taught Me Everything by Amy Smith Linton

Honorable Mentions

• Chosen Mistress by Elizabeth Conte
• Pheidippides Didn’t Die by Autumn Konopka
• Raven Rock by Nichole Louise 
• The Forgotten and the Feared by EC Garrett
• The Reluctant Visionary by Datta Groover
• Whims of God by Margaret Aikens
• Whispering Winds of Appalachia by John Ellington

Genre Fiction

Saving Scarlett by C. A. Varian

Honorable Mentions

• A Merry Life by Sarah Branson
• An UNwilling Spy by Loraine Sievers
• Castle Witch by Madeleine Elizabeth
• In the Shadow of a Dream by Maci Aurora
• Kill Me Now by Christopher Ridley 
• Lethal Injection by Karin Lovold
• Lightning Ridge Road by Sarah Vail
• The Dark That Begins by Steve Pantazis
• Till My Last Day by Deborah Swenson

Nonfiction/Reference

Persian Delicacies by Angela Cohan

Honorable Mentions

• Flawed: Why Perfectionism is a Challenge for Management by Greg Chasson
• The Truth About Horses by Christy Cashman

Inspirational/Self-Help

Body Wisdom: A Guide to Connecting With Your Intuitive Self by Cathy Williams

Honorable Mentions

• Hello Universe, It’s Me by Deepika Sandhu
• Spirit Guides on Speed Dial: A Pragmatic Approach to Getting What You Want by Jules Apollo
• The Path: A Journal From Pain to Purpose by Kelly S. Buckley
• The Second Bucket List by Connie Myslik-McFadden 

Memoirs/Life Stories

Feisty Righty: A Cancer Survivor’s Journey by Jennifer D. James

Honorable Mentions

• Alice in Genderland by Heidi Hansen
• Burden of Truth: A Path to Justice for My Family and Community by Robby Carrier Bethel and Kim Malcolm 
• Here, Where Death Delights by Mary Jumbelic
• I Am Abigail: A Texas Woman’s Childhood Nightmare—and Her Escape From Hell as a Sex Slave/Survivor by Jamie Collins
• I’ve Never Been to Me: One Woman’s Search for Purpose, and the Horse that Showed Her the Way by Cheryl Eriksen 
• Unsinkable: Cancer, Five Boats, and My 710-Kilometre Sea Swim by Alan Corcoran 

Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books

Sometimes by Joann Howeth

Honorable Mentions

• Olive and Lemon Trees by Dina Al-Sabawi
• The Truth About Stepmoms by Renee Bolla

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

Angel of Water & Shadow by Tory Guyon

Honorable Mention

• The Doom Town Dummies by Liam R. Findlay

The post Announcing the Winners of the 32nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

As we met to discuss her winning novel, Claire Fraise said something that resonated with every part of her writing and publishing journey: “I just try to keep a curious mindset and to explore and to keep doing something to move myself in the direction where I want to be going. Even when it can feel challenging.”

After falling in love with dystopian YA fiction while reading series like The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, she asked herself, “Why can’t I try writing one of my own?” For two years, she did nothing but think about her characters and write. Then she self-published that novel, titled Imperfect.

She was only 16 years old.

“What really attracted me to self-publishing was that I would be able to hold on to all of the ownership of this work that I’d spent so much time creating and that I had the final say and control over all aspects of production in that book,” she says.

With this ownership came challenges of all kinds, but also the wisdom that comes with overcoming them. “I have so much experience now marketing and doing design and learning how to interact with readers and be on social media and run ads and do all of these different things that fit into publishing,” she says. “That has been amazing, and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to have that.”

While she wrote Imperfect as a young adult, she continues to write young adult fiction now that she’s in her 20s. Fraise explains that she loves it because the stories tend to be more hopeful than stories written for adults. She says, “Even though they go through stuff, they still have that optimism … If they go and do things like confide in others and lean on others and ask for help, their situations can get better, and they can improve them. … It’s really fun as an author because I can put them through a lot of really horrible stuff, and they’re still managing to keep their fighting spirit.” But readers can rest easy knowing that everything Fraise writes will end with some kind of hopeful note—something else that she equates with YA literature.

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Her next big project—what would become They Stay—would take a few more years to come to fruition. She wrote the early draft while in her freshman year of college, and candidly explains that it wasn’t a successful draft. “I knew after I wrote it that I was not going to do anything with this book,” she says with a laugh. “It was a mess.”

But instead of shutting that story in a proverbial drawer and forgetting about it, she continued to wonder about what it could be. “For the next year and a half, I couldn’t get those characters out of my head. Like, that girl who could see ghosts was really interesting to me. And I loved the friendship dynamic between that school bad boy and the nerdy kid. … So, I sat down one day, and I was like, How could I structure a book with these characters in a way that fixes all of the problems that I had before?”

That was the first question of many that drove her revisions. Rewriting can often be a frustrating and painful process, but Fraise focused on staying open and kept asking questions until a clear story outline presented itself. But then, another hurdle: “I had heard that if you publish a series, it’s a lot easier to gain traction when you’re just starting out in self-publishing … you can run ads [for] Book One, and your ads are more likely to be profitable … a certain percentage of [people] will go on to read Book Two and Three and Four, et cetera.

“I came up with a way to turn that book into a story with serious potential and to widen it … It was the product of me sitting down knowing that I wanted to write a series and making a bunch of tweaks and being really thoughtful about how I was going to construct it. Because I have a plotter’s brain, and I like tinkering with projects and moving things around and constructing them almost like I’m building a puzzle.”

Her love of puzzles makes sense; she’s a genre author, and solving puzzles is integral to the stories that she tells. “I don’t know how mystery and thriller writers can write mysteries without plotting them and figuring out how they go together because I used to get so overwhelmed trying to figure out what information was being revealed to the readers when,” she says with a laugh. “… a couple of years ago, I started outlining all my books using plot grids, which was super helpful because then I could see exactly what was happening in every single subplot over the course of the story, and then track what was happening in each chapter.”

All writers can learn from the way Fraise approaches these kinds of changes to her writing process. Even though she released the first four books in the They Stay series in three years, an incredible feat, she believes she still has a lot to learn and remains open to switching things up. “My goal is just to make every book that I publish a little bit better than the last one … If I tried to publish a book that was absolutely perfect, I would never publish anything!”

More recently, she began to consider entering competitions. She confessed that, from a business standpoint, having the social capital from a competition placement can be what tips the scales when a reader is considering whether they should purchase a self-published book. But beyond that, she says that what’s most important as a self-published author is that “you need to be curious and put yourself out there in a bunch of different little ways and experiment to try to see what works and what ends up sticking and what doesn’t end, because there are so many things that change all the time with self-publishing.” This willingness to put her work out there netted her grand prize in the 31^st Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards for They Stay, which includes a $10,000 cash prize and a paid trip to the 2024 Writer’s Digest Annual Conference.

When asked what advice she would give to other writers, her response is instantaneous: “Be persistent. Keep your eye on your goal, and don’t expect things to happen all at once. Keep moving in the direction that you want to go in, keep trying things, and stay curious; learn as much as you can. But don’t put all the pressure on yourself to be an expert in everything overnight. Just go into it with a mindset of learning, keep an open mind, and keep showing up for your book and for your dream. Because that’s the only way it’s going to come true.” 

The post Claire Fraise: 2023 Self-Published Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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Grand Prize

They Stay by Claire Fraise

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

Little Bird & The Tiger by Ellis Amdur

Honorable Mentions

• A Portion of Malice: Ages of Malice, Book I by Lloyd Jeffries 
• House on Fire by D. Liebhart 
• Mask of Dreams by Leigh Grant 
• The Hoffman Affairs by Beth Schorr Jaffe 
• Willow’s Run by Robert Bockstael

Genre Fiction

Home News: A Novel of 1928 by JD Solomon

Honorable Mentions

• Beneath the Maize by Stephen Goldhahn
• Coup de Grâce by Paul Centeno
• Crew of Exiles by Neal Holtschulte
• Dragon Seer: Deathborne by S. Kay Lanphear
• I Fail at the Afterlife by Anni Sezate
• In the Shadow of a Hoax by Maci Aurora
• Sins of the Lines by Sharhonda Exantus
• Swimming in the Rainbow by Rebecca Lochlann
• The Long Road Back to You by Buck Turner 

Nonfiction/Reference

The Sustainability Revolutionists: Heroes and Hope for Our Planet’s Future by Lucia Athens

Honorable Mentions

• Cannabis Lullaby by David Sharp
• Rehabit Your Life: A Doctor’s Notebook to Navigating Health & Wellbeing by PL Bandy
• The Borinqueneers: A Visual History of the 65^th Infantry Regiment by Noemi Figueroa Soulet

Inspirational/Self-Help

Small Talk Rules: 65 Lessons I Learned From the Greatest Communicators by Gregory Peart

Honorable Mentions

• Heavenly Headbutts: Reflections of Hope About Cats and Eternity by Allia Zobel Nolan
• Your Body Is Your Weapon: The Little Self-Defense Handbook by I. Buenaventura

Memoirs/Life Stories 

Travels With My Grief by Susan Bloch

Honorable Mentions

• Days of Wonder by Bill Vossler
• Down on Court Five: Lessons Late in Life by Vivian Witkind
• Melissa Come Back by Patrice Keet & Melissa LaHommedieu
• Mom’s Search for Meaning: Grief and Growth After Child Loss by Melissa M. Monroe
• Standing in the Wings: My Life on (and Mostly Just Off) Stage by Fred Krohn

Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books

Read Island by Nicole Magistro

Honorable Mentions

• Forever Home by Cathy Stenquist
• Mrs. R. Snugglesworth, Attorney-at-Law by Amy Flanagan
• Nature Parade by Nikki Samuels
• Siege of Herons: Collective Nouns Alphabetically by Ramona Wildeman
• The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project by Lynne Marie

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

@nervesofsteel by Lyn Fairchild Hawks

Honorable Mentions

• The Red Rebel Extravaganza by Angela Kay

Poetry Collections

Canon Fodder by Jay Sizemore

Honorable Mentions

• Greatness in It All by Lauren Carden

The post Announcing the Winners of the 31st Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

CLOSED-Winners will be notified in October, 2025.

Whether you’re a professional writer, a part-time freelancer or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the premier self-published competition exclusively for self-published books. Writer’s Digest hosts the 33rd annual self-published competition—the Annual Self-Published Book Awards. This self-published competition spotlights today’s self-published works and honors self-published authors.

Contents

Prizes

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• $10,000 in cash
• An interview with them in Writer’s Digest (March/April 2026 issue) and on WritersDigest.com
• A paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, including a special trophy presentation at the keynote
• A coveted pitch opportunity where the winner will receive one on one attention from editors or agents
• Publication of an excerpt from their winning book on WritersDigest.com

One First Prize winner in each category will receive:

• $1,000 in cash
• Their name and the winning book’s title published in Writer’s Digest (March/April 2026 issue) and on WritersDigest.com

All Grand Prize and First Prize winners will also receive:

• A one-year subscription (new or renewal) to Writer’s Digest magazine
• A one-year subscription to Writer’s Digest Tutorials
• 20% discount off of purchases made at Writer’s Digest University
• A special graphic recognizing their winning status

Honorable Mention Recipients will receive promotion on www.writersdigest.com and a special graphic for use in promoting your selection.

All entrants will receive a brief commentary from one of the judges.

Categories

• Mainstream/Literary Fiction
• Genre Fiction
• Nonfiction/Reference (General Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Guidebooks, Textbooks, How-To, etc.)
• Inspirational/Self-Help
• Memoirs/Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories)
• Early Readers/Children’s Picture books
• Middle-Grade/Young Adult

How to Enter

ENTERING IS EASY!

Create your free Submittable account by clicking the SUBMIT button. If you already have a Submittable account, simply log in!

*NEW* You can now compete in multiple WD competitions with a single login! Check back often for an updated list of competitions.

When you are ready to submit your work to the WD Self-Published Book Awards, you’ll want to have the following information available:

Your contact information (be careful that the information provided is accurate). Time sensitive information such as credits and contact information (for prize distribution) is taken directly from the submission form. Due to the nature of deadlines, corrections to this information are not guaranteed.

Your SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARDS COMPETITION submission information (see the PREPARING YOUR ENTRY tips for more information).

Your method of payment (see the ENTRY PRICING, SUBMISSION DEADLINES AND WINNER NOTIFICATION page for tips for all pricing and deadlines).

Preparing Your Entry

Important & Helpful Information Prior to Entering

• Review the specific competition prospectus. Each competitions prospectus is provided as an easy to follow PDF; they can be found on a specific competitions main page. Click here to view all competitions which are currently accepting submissions: https://www.writersdigest.com/wd-competitions
• Have your necessary information available when you are ready to submit your entry.
• All entries must be submitted online through Submittable. If you already have a Submittable account, simply log in!
• Please be sure that the email address that you provide will be valid throughout the competition span. Competition related updates and winner notifications are sent via: email. Please type carefully, and list only one valid email address. Check your spelling carefully including all login information, email addresses etc. Incorrect email addresses may result in the transmission of important information being delayed and/or unsuccessful. Be sure that our email addresses (both Writer’s Digest and Submittable) are not blocked, or you may not receive critical information, receipts, confirmations etc. Check your SPAM folder for any expected but unaccounted for email communications.
• Once an entry has been submitted, no edits, replacements or exchanges will be accepted. If you wish to submit an edited or revised version of a previously submitted entry, you may enter it as a new submission (you may wish to edit the title slightly as well so that you can differentiate them).
• The submitter is who we will refer to as the author, and who we will contact with any questions, updates etc. If the submitter and the author are not the same, please indicate accordingly in parenthesis, on the submitter name line. If you write under a pen name, please indicate.
• Check your spelling carefully including all login information, email addresses etc. Incorrect email addresses may result in transmission of important information being delayed and/or unsuccessful.
• Be sure that neither Writer’s Digest or Submittable email addresses are blocked. Blocking either address, including marking either as Spam or Junk, will prohibit you from receiving competition related updates, critical information, receipts, confirmations, etc.
• If you write under a pen name, or if there are multiple authors, please indicate names on PEN NAME line of the submission form.
• Writer’s Digest assumes all entries are original and are the works and property of the entrant, with all rights granted therein.
• Writer’s Digest is not liable for any copyright infringement on the part of the entrant and will not become involved in copyright disputes.
• Writer’s Digest reserves the right to reject work deemed unsuitable for publication or that does not meet all named criteria.
• Winner Notification dates refer to the date that all winners will be notified by.
• Non-Winner Notification: Entrants not selected as winners will not be notified individually; non-winners will be emailed a competition status update in the weeks following the winner notification date. If you enter multiple times, please excuse duplicate emails, as you may receive an email for each separate entry.
• All entries must be submitted online. Only the Self-Published Book Awards accepts physical mail, as physical books are reviewed (see prospectus for details).
• Entry fees may be paid online by credit/debit card (MC, V, AMEX & DISC) or PayPal.
• All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. This is the date that all related materials (when applicable) must be shipped by as well. Mailed in entries/materials must deliver within 5 days of the current posted entry deadline, as listed on the website at the time of your submission

Category Selection

Select the category that best represents your entry. If the judges feel that another category is more appropriate, we will switch the category for you, on your behalf.

• Mainstream Fiction and Literary Fiction: For the sake of separating them entirely from genre fiction, are combined into their own category. Literary fiction is generally more concerned with style and characterization, and may be paced more slowly than commercial fiction. It usually centers on a timeless, complex theme. Mainstream fiction is usually faster paced, with a stronger plot line (and more events and/or higher stakes). Characterization may not be as central to the story and the theme may be more obvious than literary fiction. The category of both of these two indicates that the book would generally appeal to a larger audience and isn’t confined by the rules and structure you might see in a typical genre.
• Genre Fiction: Includes all sub-genres such as Romance, Horror, Science Fiction, Humor, etc.
• Nonfiction/Reference: General Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Guidebooks, Textbooks, How-To etc.
• Inspirational/Self-Help: Spiritual, New Age etc.
• Memoirs/Life Stories: Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories etc.
• Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books: Stories told through a combination of text and pictures, generally written for children.
• Middle Grade/Young Adult: Stories written for a young audience but not told through a combination of text and pictures.

Entry Method Options/Preparing Your Entry

• Entrants must send a printed and bound book. PDF’s, galley proofs, ARCs, etc. are not accepted. E-book versions should be submitted into the WD E-book Awards; you may enter the same book in both competitions.
• All books must be registered online and accompanied by payment. Be sure that the submitter name on the official entry form is the same as the author name (as published).
• Please remember to mail a copy of your book to our office upon completion of the online form. Books should be postmarked within 5 business days of the posted entry deadline at the time of submission and should arrive within 5 days of the postmark date.
• Delivery confirmations must be tracked by the author; we are not able to confirm deliveries (this includes entries being shipped on behalf of the author).
• If you are having your book shipped on your behalf, submit your entry form & payment online. Be certain that the book is shipped to the complete & exact address as is listed on the entry form; we also recommend that you request tracking information as we are not able to confirm delivery of packages.
• Mailed in entries can take up to 60 days (after the entry deadline) to process.

Rules

• The competition is open to all English-language self-published books for which the authors have paid the full cost of publication, or the cost of printing has been paid for by a grant or as part of a prize.
• Entrants must send a printed and bound book*. No handwritten books are accepted. It is preferred that you include a copy of your submission form with your book. If your book is shipping direct from the publisher however, we understand that it may not be possible. Please do not email forms separately as they cannot be matched with your package.
• All books published or revised and reprinted between 2020 and 2025 are eligible. (Writer’s Digest may demand proof of eligibility of semifinalists.) If a book has been revised and republished, the copyright page MUST indicate that the revision occurred and the year it was republished. Any AI-generated or AI-assisted work will NOT be considered.
• Entries will be evaluated on content, writing quality and overall quality of production and appearance. Judges commentaries are final. A judge’s commentary is based on their opinion and experience in the entered category. Their thoughts are not to be a wholesale condemnation or appraisal of the book. Please remember that all commentary should be taken with this understanding.
• All books must be registered online. You may enter more than one book and/or more than one category; however, you must include a separate book, entry form and the additional fee for each entry.
• Judges reserve the right to re-categorize entries.
• Payment of entry fees must be received before a title is forwarded to the judging panel.
• Refunds are not provided for disqualified, withdrawn or non-winning entries.
• The following are not permitted to enter the contest, neither under their legal names nor pen names: employees of Active Interest Media and their immediate family members; Writer’s Digest contributing editors and columnists; and Writer’s Digest instructors for online courses and live webinars. Grand Prize-winning authors from this and other WD competitions, within the three years of being awarded, are not eligible. Previous top winning books from this and other WD competitions are ineligible except in the case of substantial rewrites. Books selected as Honorable Mention recipients may enter.
• Ineligible entries will be disqualified.
• If the Grand Prize Winner accepts the Writer’s Digest Conference portion of their prize they must agree to travel (flying round-trip from the same city) during the conference dates in 2026. This prize includes airfare, hotel and conference registration.
• Winners must provide an appropriate tax form (W9 or W8BEN) in order to receive their cash awards. If the forms are not received within 60 days of the request date, cash awards may be forfeited.
• Writer’s Digest is not responsible for the loss, damage or return of any books submitted to the competition.
• Due to U.S. Government restrictions, we are unable to accept entries from Syria, Iran, North Korea, or Crimea.

Pricing and Deadlines

All entry fees are due in U.S. Dollars. Entry fees can be paid by credit card/debit card (MC, V, AMEX & DISC) or PayPal.

Early-Bird Deadline: April 1, 2025

• First entry—$100
• Each additional entry—$85

Deadline: May 1, 2025

• First entry—$125
• Each additional entry—$110

Extended Deadline: May 30, 2025

• First entry—$125
• Each additional entry—$110

Additional entry discounts only apply after submitting and checking out your first entry. All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EST, on the specified date. All payments must be submitted at the time of entry.

Discounts apply to a single author only; third party submissions do not qualify for this discount.

Judging and Notification

• Every qualified entry will be read by the judges. Judges’ decisions are final. Judges reserve the right to re-categorize entries.
• Entries must be submitted online (11:59 pm EST) or postmarked by May 30, 2025; all books must deliver within 5 days of the final deadline. Books cannot be returned. For proof of delivery, please track your package with your shipper – we are not able to confirm individual deliveries. Please note that it may take up to 60 days after the deadline for all entries to be opened and sent to the judges.
• If the Grand Prize Winner accepts the Writer’s Digest Conference portion of their prize, they must agree to travel (flying round-trip from the same city) during the conference dates in 2026. This prize includes airfare, hotel and conference registration.
• Winners must provide an appropriate tax form (W9 or W8BEN) in order to receive their cash awards. If the forms are not received within 60 days of the request date, cash awards may be forfeited.
• The following are not permitted to enter the contest, neither under their legal names nor pen names: employees of Active Interest Media and their immediate family members; Writer’s Digest Books authors; Writer’s Digest contributing editors and columnists; and Writer’s Digest instructors for online courses and live webinars. Grand Prize Winners from the previous three years are not eligible. Ineligible entries will be disqualified. Books that have previously won awards from Writer’s Digest are not eligible.
• Top Award Winners will be notified on or before October 17, 2025. The top winners will be listed in the March/April 2026 issue of Writer’s Digest. All winners’ names will be listed on www.writersdigest.com after the March/April issue is published. Commentaries will be sent to entrants by December 9, 2025.

Still have questions?

Easy to follow PDF

• FAQ
• Writer’s Digest Competitions

Enter your email below and receive a free download, “Writer’s Digest Complete Guide to Writing Contests,” and be a step ahead of your competition!

The post Self-Published Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Do you have a book in you? Enter the next Self-Published Book Awards.

Grand Prize

The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton by Neal Hutcheson

Amazon
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Mainstream/Literary Fiction

Synchronicities on the Avenue of the Saints by Deborah Gaal

Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Dewdrops by Dan Flanigan
• Figurines by Jamie Boud
• The Fire She Fights by Tracy Moore

Genre Fiction

Last Blue Christmas by Rose Prendeville

Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Duck Duck Gator by Ken Wheaton
• The Devil Whispered by Shawn Starkweather
• Blurring Reality by R. D. Chapman
• Legends of the Circle by Stephen J. Galgon
• Just Like Magic by Ellie Roth
• The Crittenton Girls by Joanne Simon Tailele
• A Distant Light by Lorraine Solheim
• The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock
• A Small Hotel by Suanne Laqueur

Nonfiction/Reference

The Van Conversion Bible by Charlie Low & Dale Comley

Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Managing MS by Debbie Petrina
• Prophetic Justice: Essays and Reflections on Race, Religion, and Politics by Keith L. Magee

Inspirational/Self-Help

TO SURVIVE CAREGIVING: A Daughter’s Experience, A Doctor’s Advice, 2nd ed. by Cheryl E. Woodson, MD

Bookshop | Amazon 

Honorable Mentions

• A Complete Life, Discovering Your Authentic Self by Paul Hudon
• Make Someone’s Day: Becoming A Memorable Leader in Work and Life by Howard Prager

Memoirs/Life Stories 

Sisters! Bonded by Love and Laughter by Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (Co-edited by Marcia Stewart and Teri Rizvi)

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• A Rebel’s Outcry: Biography of Issei Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii (1882-1954) by Jeffrey Gee Chin and Fumiko Carole Fujita
• Wilhelm’s Way: The Inspiring Story of the Iowa Chemist Who Saved the Manhattan Project by Teresa Wilhelm Waldof
• The Comedian vs Cancer – The Show Must Go On by Daniel Stolfi
• Butterflies in the Trenches: The Hood, an Epic Bike Ride, and Finding Inspiration by Curtis Carmichael

Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books

The Impossible Sleepover by Amy Sharp

Honorable Mentions

• Valentina Valente *She is my dad* by Adriana Devers
• Dinosaurs Living in MY Hair! An Underwater Adventure by Jayne M. Rose-Vallee

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

Journeys: the Archers of Saint Sebastian by Jeanne Roland

Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• The Chameleon with a Sword by B.L. Logan
• Sword and Sorcery: Frostfire by Ethan Avery

Poetry Collections

Handful of Poems by Massiel Alfonso

Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Home For Hurricanes: A Memoir of Resilience in Poetry and Prose by Nikki Murphy

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Grand Prize

Know Your Hairitage: Zara’s Wash Day by Zenda Walker

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon
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Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books

Not So Different by Cyana Riley

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Do Ants Wear Pants? by Gabrielle Grice
• Mighty May Won’t Cry Today by Kendra & Claire-Voe Ocampo

Genre Fiction

Seizure by Peter Black

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• As Fate Would Have It by David M. Brooks
• Death of a Rancher’s Daughter, #2 In The Lady Lawyer Mysteries by Susan P. Baker
• Dromos by Raymond Stanley Ruble
• Ivory Rangers by Joseph Mujwit
• Numbered by Crissi Langwell
• Revival by Alexis Koetting
• Season of the Runer: The Trial of Two by Abigail Linhardt
• The Fall by Marie Williams
• Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery by Byron TD Smith

Inspirational

The Art of Quietude: Spring by Paula Negraes

Honorable Mention

• Run, Walk, Crawl: A Caregiver Caught Between Generations by Sarahbeth Persiani

Life Stories

Thirst: A Memoir by Lisa Fierer

Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• American Dreaming: A Memoir of Interracial Love, Estrangement, and Race Equality by Dianne Liuzzi Hagan
• Frenched by Elizabeth Dupont
• Tour Book by Rachel Pfennig Hales
• Where the Trail Ends: The Kenny Suttner Story by Angela Suttner

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit by Valerie Dunsmore

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Locks by Ashleigh Nugent
• L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece by Lilianne Milgrom
• Milk Without Honey by Lorene Hoover
• Moments in Transition: Stories of Maya and Jeena by Neerja Raman
• Shadow Wolves by Jake Kaminski
• The Charm Bracelet by Delores Wardell
• Unbound A Tale of Love and Betrayal in Shanghai by Dina Gu Brumfield

Middle-Grade/Young Adult Books

The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island by Scott Semegran

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
• Stealing Embers by Julie Hall

Nonfiction/Reference

Moment by Robert Abad

Amazon

Honorable Mentions

• Gofers: On the Front Lines of Film and Television by Daniel Scarpati
• Macro Photography: The Universe at Our Feet by Don Komarechka
• Secrets to Parenting Without Giving a F^ck by Sue Donnellan

Poetry

How the Wind Calls the Restless by Emily DeYoung

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

Honorable Mention

• Of Winters Past by Robert Bowles

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The post Announcing the Winners of the 29th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

See the complete list of winners from the 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.

One of Katherine S. Ulshafer’s all-time favorite things to do is read to her children. “I think it’s so important to their learning and the whole bonding experience,” the children’s book author says. “It’s just priceless.”

So it comes as no surprise that her picture book, which won the Grand Prize in the Writer’s Digest 27th Annual Self-Published Book Awards, is called I Love You. The simple and sweet story relates the emotions of parenthood to the traits of animals. “I love you as fiercely as a mamma bear,” Ulshafer writes in the book. “I love you as softly as a meadow hare.”

The idea for the book came to Ulshafer because when she thinks about how much she loves her six children and 10 grandchildren, she is overcome with a mix of emotions so strong they can only be summed up with the word fierce. Trying to put this strong desire to protect and nurture her children in way that they could understand led her to think of animals, which she knows children love.

Once she tapped her mind into the animal kingdom, which provided a wellspring of ideas, I Love You practically wrote itself. “Of course, fierce came with the mama bear, and most children can understand the personality of a bear and how protective they are,” she says. “I just went from there with different animals that I thought would be appropriate with those emotions and match them up.”

Among Ulshafer’s competition winnings are $8,000 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City, including a Pitch Slam spot.

In addition to Ulshafer’s words that flow seamlessly with a beautiful rhythm from page to page, I Love You is accompanied by stunning watercolor illustrations by Sarah Frushour Emms. Ulshafer says that much of I Love You’s success can be attributed to their harmonious collaboration. She had known Emms previously and when she saw that her artwork perfectly captured the vision she had for I Love You, Ulshafer asked Emms to be her illustrator.

While there were some times that Emms had ideas for the book that Ulshafer wasn’t quite sure about, Ulshafer just let Emms follow her vision and was pleased with the results every time. In order to maintain a fruitful author and illustrator relationship, Ulshafer stresses the importance of collaborators having a shared vision and the author trusting the illustrator to do what they do best: make words come alive.

Aside from a trusting partnership, Ulshafer says that taking the time to read to children and see what they like and dislike can also go a long way in creating a great picture book. “Most children, from what I’ve found, like beautiful illustrations, words that they can relate to that are fun to say or have a rhythm,” she says. “There’s a gazillion children’s books out there, but the simpler ones are probably the ones that kids relate to better.”

The flow of Ulshafer’s words comes to her naturally, which she believes has something to do with the fact that poetry is her first love. She has read poetry her entire life and even tried her hand at writing her own poems, which shows in the words she writes for children: “I love you as wildly as the desert fox; I love you as steady as the brown ox.”

In addition to reading plenty of poetry as well as children’s books, Ulshafer says that aspiring kidlit authors can improve their craft by simply listening to children. “I love all children. If you’ve ever sat in a room with them and listened to their conversations and watched them, they’re just amazing,” she says. “They’re funny and silly and when I read to them I pay attention to what they like. Then, I write for them. I write things that I think they would like to hear.”

Ulshafer’s works-in-progress include a 26-book, A–Z series. Each book in the series corresponds to a letter of the alphabet and a child’s name, such as Tough Taylor. The characters will all hail from different parts of the world, experience unique adventures, and learn a lesson along the way. The series is inspired by her children and grandchildren’s likes, dislikes, and the troubles they get into.
“When I was researching authors that I like, their advice was always to write what you love and write what you know,” she says. “And I love children, and I know them, so that’s why I write for children.

Despite her success self-publishing I Love You, Ulshafer plans to go through the traditional publishing process for the series because of the large number of books. Self-publishing I Love You was a good way to get her feet wet, but Ulshafer says that it was not an easy project. She landed on self-publishing after sending a manuscript for a different children’s book out to publishers that accept unsolicited queries and receiving several rejection letters. Ulshafer chose to self-publish I Love You because it is one of her shorter works.

To make the self-publishing process easier, Ulshafer recommends that authors who are also looking to publish their own books get a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses so that they know where to seek help. For example, while Ulshafer already had illustrations for her book, she wasn’t skilled in laying out the pages.

“There are so many self-publishing companies out there,” she says. “Some you do everything yourself—the layouts, picking the typeface, everything. You can be pretty much on your own and then there’s other companies where you send them the manuscript and they take care of everything, even the illustrations. So you need to research and find the one that fits you and what you want to accomplish.”

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The post Meet the 27th Annual WD Self-Published Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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The Winners

Grand Prize

I Love You by Katherine S. Ulshater. Illustrated by Sarah Frushour Emms. ($20.66) Christian Faith Publishing.

Early Readers/Children’s Picture Books

First Place

Dash’s Week by Nicole MacDonald. Illustrated by Claudia Varjotie. ($17.99) Manhattan Dog Press. Nicole-MacDonald.com

Honorable Mentions

Super Beagle by Kim Edge Ambler and Rell Ambler. ($13.95) Peirce Street Press.

My Magnificent Hair by Natalee Antoinette Johnson. ($10) Passion4dreams

Genre Fiction

First Place

The Chateau by Tiffany Reisz. 8th Circle Press. ($14.99 paperback; $30 hardcover) TiffanyReisz.com.

Honorable Mentions

Knuckle Down: A Cage Life Novel by Miles Watson. ($10.99)

Innocent, Until Proven Black by Tyrone R. Gibbs Jr. ($20) TyroneGibbs.com

The Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello. Fine Line Publishing. ($15.95) EvaNatiello.com.

Chain Reactions by Lynn Ames. Phoenix Rising Press. ($15.95) LynnAmes.com.

The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews. ($16.99) MimiMatthews.com

Gazelle in the Shadows by Michelle Peach. ($18) MichellePeach.com.

Secrets Never Told by Raegan Teller. Pondhawk Press. ($14.99) RaeganTeller.com.

The Other Side of Him by Alice Rene. California Country Press.

Saving Nary by Carol DeMent. ($14.99) CarolDeMent.com.

War and Money, Book 1 by Sofia Diana Gabel. S.D. Books. ($12.99) SofiaDianaGabel.com.

Inspirational

First Place

My First Last Year by Roger Leslie. Paradise Publishing. ($19.95 paperback; $24.95 hardcover) RogerLeslie.com.

Honorable Mentions

7 1/2 Habits To Help You Become More Humorous, Healtheir & Happier by David Jacobson. Humor Horizons Publishing. ($10.95) HumorHorizons.com.

Organizing Her Life: How My Journey Can Help You Declutter Your Spaces and Your Life by Laura Souders. ($12.02) HealthierSpaces.com.

Reflections: Prayers for Living in Words and Pictures by Sally Oppenheimer and Jane Adriance. Xulon Press. ($15.49)

Life Stories

First Place

Second Chance: A Mother’s Quest for a Natural Birth After a Cesarean by Thais Nye Derich. She Writes Press. ($16.95). ThaisDerich.com.

Honorable Mentions

Legacies from the Living Room: A Love-Grief Equation by Debra Parker Oliver. Outskirts Press. ($15.95).

I Hate You Jimmy by Eddie Doyle. Prince Street Publishing. ($12.95) IHateJimmy.com.

Cancer and Fishnet Stockings by Maryann Grau. ($16.95) MaryannGrau.com.

Even if you don’t: A Love Story by Bryan C. Taylor. ($16.99) BryanCTaylor.com.

Permission to Fly by Layng Martine Jr. FieldPoint Press. ($16.95 paperback; $27.99 hardcover) LayngMartineJr.com

My Life in Yankee Stadium by Stewart J. Zully. ($14.99)

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

First Place

Across the Inlet by Gail Summers. ($12).

Honorable Mentions

Matka by Sarah Hanley. Edward Wayne Publishing. ($14.99) SarahHanleybooks.com.

Trusting All I Want by Timothy C. Sansone. Women’s Success Novels, LLC. ($13.75 paperback; $25 hardcover) TimothyCSansone.com

Gum Moon by Jeffrey L. Staley. ($18.95).

The New Normal by K.N. Crighton. Bordeaux Street Books. ($17.99) KNCrightonwriter.com.

The Writer’s Story by Cory J. Schulman. BestSeller Publications. ($13.95) BestSellerPublications.com

The Mountain Goat by Jim Trainor. ($14.95) JimTrainorAuthor.com

Circus Girl by Elizabeth Carter Wellington. Archway Publishing. ($15.99 paperback; $33.95 hardcover)

Something Wicked by Joe Coon.

Middle-Grade/Young Adult Books

First Place

The Green Soldier by J. Edward Gore. ($9.99)

Honorable Mentions

Susanna’s Midnight Ride: The Girl Who Won the Revolutionary War by Libby Carty McNamee. Sagebrush Publishing. ($14.99) LibbyMcNamee.com

The Afternoon King by Rebecca Creos. ($13.99)

A Place of Shadows by David Lafferty. BookBaby. ($18.99) DavidMLafferty.com.

Nonfiction/Reference

First Place

JFK: The Last Speech by Neil Bicknell, Roger Mills, and Jan Worth-Nelson (editors). Mascot Books. ($27.95) JFKTheLastSpeech.org

Honorable Mentions

Kem Weber: Mid-Century Furniture Design for the Disney Studios by David A. Bossert. The Old Mill Press. ($35) DavidBossert.com

Left Brains for the Right Stuff: Computers, Space, and History by Hugh Blair-Smith. SDP Publishing. ($20.95)

A Companion for the Hospice Journey by Larry Patten. And Yet Publishing. ($10.99) LarryPatten.com.

Poetry

First Place

Homestead by Daniel Dietrich. Authreo Media. Daniel-Dietrich.com

Honorable Mention

Older, Wiser, Shorter by Jane Seskin. ($15) JaneSeskin.com

Get recognized for your writing. Find out more about the Writer’s Digest family of writing competitions.

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Grand Prize

Breaking Vases: Shattering Limitations & Daring to Thrive by Dima Ghawi ($18.95) Dima Ghawi LLC. breakingvases.com.

Read an interview With WD’s 26th Annual Self-Published Book Awards Winner Dima Ghawi.

Children’s Books

First Place

Little Rosa by Mr. E and Colette Alexandratos (illustrator) ($9.65) Perky Penguin Press.

Honorable Mentions

The Inn at the Edge of the World by Jeremy J. Gritton ($9.24) Mascot Books.

The Prince of Twindleland by Mary Rhee and Elisa Chavarri (illustrator) ($8.60) Outskirts Press. outskirtspress.com/ThePrinceofTwindleland.

Genre Fiction

First Place

Death by Armoire by Albert A. Bell, Jr. ($16.95) Claystone Books. albertbell.com.

Honorable Mentions

A Promise to Keep by Christina Tetreault ($6). christinatetreault.com.

Ardmore Green, A Zeke Traynor Mystery by Jeff Siebold ($12.99). jeffsiebold.net.

Death’s Intern by D.C. Gomez ($9.95). dcgomez-author.com.

Guilt Trip by Donna Huston Murray ($7.46). donnahustonmurray.com.

Mattie by Betty Willis ($15). bettywillis.com.

My Interview With Beethoven by L.A Hider Jones ($17.99) CreateSpace. lahiderjones.com.

One Must Kill Another by Marcus Alexander Hart ($12.99) Canaby Press. oldpalmarcus.com.

Silent Gavel by Merissa Racine ($12.99) Wind Driven Press. merissaracine.com.

The Immorality Clause by Brian Parker ($12.99) Muddy Boots Press.

The Zeta Grey War: The Event by David F. Capps ($19.95) Clearwater Valley Press. dfcapps.com.

Unhaunted: A White Crow Mystery by Trisha Slay ($14.99) Lost Hollow Press. trishaslay.com.

Inspirational

First Place

Crawling Out by Casey Morley ($14.97) BalboaPress. caseymorley.com.

Honorable Mentions

Coloring Outside The Lines: A Woman’s Journey to the Best Version of Herself by Dr. Brandie Gowey and Andi Kleinman (illustrator) ($25) NI Press.

A Beautiful Morning: How a Morning Ritual Can Feed Your Soul and Transform Your Life by Ashley Ellington Brown ($14.07) Leo Press. abeautifulmorningbook.com.

Life Stories

First Place

The House on Dale Street: My Time in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee by Steve Salem Evans ($10).

Honorable Mentions

Honey Farm Dreaming by Anna Featherstone ($19) CapeAble Publishing. annafeatherstone.com.

I Live in a Chickenhouse by Max B. Heppner maxbheppner.ipage.com.

I’m a Little Brain Dead by Kimberly Davis Basso ($11.99).

Thunderstruck Fiddle by Leslie Askwith ($17.95) Blurb. leslieaskwith.com.

Victim to Victory by Heather Ferri ($16.95) Christian Faith Publishing. heatherferri.com.

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

First Place

The Moon Daughter by Zohreh Ghahremani ($14.95) Turquoise Books. zoeghahremani.com.

Honorable Mentions

Anatomy of a Felon by January Joyce ($11.99) CreateSpace.

Code Billy by Ben Huber ($14.99).

Fathers’ Day by HJ Brennan ($13.99). hjbrennan.com.

Outlaws by Edmund Fairfax ($16.95) Bokos. edmundfairfax.com.

Promises by Dennis Rowe ($16.99) Tate Publishing.

The Last Suttee by Madhu Bazaz Wangu ($14.99). madhubazazwangu.com.

The Painter’s Apprentice by Laura Morelli ($16.49) The Scriptorium. lauramorelli.com.

Truly Are the Free by Jeffrey K. Walker ($14.95). jeffreykwalker.com.

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

First Place

Aging Out by L. Lee Shaw ($4.10) Boho Books.

Honorable Mention

Faster Than Falling: The Skylighter Adventures by Nathan Van Coops ($13.99) Skylighter Press. nathanvancoops.com

Girl With Cat (Blue) by Sam Hawksmoor ($13.95) CreateSpace. samhawksmoor.com.

Idiot Genius: Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy by Richard Due ($7.44) Gibbering Gnome Press. willasnap.com.

War on a Sunday Morning by Teresa R. Funke ($7.95) Victory House Press. teresafunke.com.

Nonfiction/Reference

First Place

Designing Poppers, Sliders & Divers by Steven B. Schwitzer ($44.95) Pixachrome Publishing. pixachrome.com.

Honorable Mentions

Artful Color in Nuno Felt by Beverly Ash Gilbert ($29.99). beverlyashgilbert.com.

Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years by Sharon Sultan Cutler, Arlene Sullivan and Ray Smith ($30.00) Coney Island Press. bandstanddiaries.com.

Behind the Lines by Jeffrey B. Miller ($18.95) Milbrown Press.

Poetry

First Place

Of Magic and Madness by KV Thompson ($12) CreateSpace. ofmagicandmadness.com.

Honorable Mentions

Peace in Pieces by Peggy Belles ($14.99).

Two Ends of a Loose String by John S. Gilbertson ($11.10) Main Street Rag.

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