Announcing the Winners of the 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

Congratulations to all the winners of the 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards! Read an interview with the the Grand Prize-winning picture book author Katherine S. Ulshafer in the…

Congratulations to all the winners of the 27th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards! Read an interview with the the Grand Prize-winning picture book author Katherine S. Ulshafer in the March 2020 issue.

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

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.

About Cassandra Lipp

Cassandra Lipp is managing editor of Writer's Digest. She is the author of Queen City Records, which tells the stories behind the indie record shops of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Her work has appeared in Greener PasturesThe Belladonna, Little Old LadyPoints in Case, and Ohio's Best Emerging Poets 2019. Follow her on Twitter @Cassie000000.