There are so many book awards for indie authors to submit to, and their submission deadlines vary, which means you have a chance to submit pretty much year-round. There’s also a wide variety of types of awards, increasing your chances that some will be a great fit for your book.
Below I’ve listed seven of the best options with upcoming deadlines. I’ll also give you some tips about submitting, and explain why these awards are worth your effort.
Book Awards for Indie Authors with Approaching Deadlines
As I mentioned, submission periods for these many book awards are active throughout the year, but you don’t want the right submission period to pass you by. That’s why it’s good to check in every quarter on submission periods. Below are the book awards with deadlines that range from rapidly approaching to early summer in case you need more time. If you’d like an evergreen list of the indie book awards I recommend, you can find that here.
I should also mention, that many of these awards are for indie books published within the current year. But if your book was published before these time frames, there are awards open to books published outside of those dates, so don’t give up hope of winning a book award!
Next Generation Indie Book Awards
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards are judged by editors, publishers, and writers. There are over 70 categories to submit to and cash prizes range from $100 to $1,500 too! Better yet, the top 80 winning books will have the chance to be reviewed by NY literary agent, Mary Allen, who has worked with Big Five publishers and best-selling authors such as Barbara Kingsolver and Ken Follet. It’s a tight deadline, but if you think your book has a chance, go for it!
The Indie Reader Discovery Awards
The IRDAs is a great book award for indie authors seeking attention and opportunities. Like the other awards listed here that offer connections to the industry, this one does that and goes a step further. Their judges include The Director of Author and Publishing Relations at Amazon and two editors from Kirkus Indie and others. Award winners get announcement coverage in The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly to name a few.
The National Indie Excellence Awards
This award is open to self-published authors as well as small to mid-sized presses and universities. The NIEA is a bit unique in that it focuses on niche genres like Fantasy, Western, and Steampunk amongst others, which some awards tend to overlook in favor of more mainstream genres. So if you write stuff that’s a little different than your average fiction, this may be a good one for you.
BookLife Prize is Among the Top Tier Book Awards for Indie Authors
The BookLife Prize is given by industry leader, Publishers Weekly. Not only does it offer a substantial cash prize of $5,000, each entry, whether a winner or not, receives a professional reviewer’s critique. Their mission is to support new authors, and the professional critique alone is highly valuable because it could help in your future success.
Dan Poynter’s Legacy eBook Award
Though Dan Poynter is no longer with us, his legacy lives on through these awards. This award is for eBooks only, so if you’ve published just an eBook, this could be your chance for an award. This book award for indie authors offers opportunities for promotion and publicity, and discounts on services you need to make your eBooks shine.
The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award
Deadline: May 1st(early bird deadline is April 1st)
The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award is open to any self-published author, with categories from Literary Fiction, to Memoir and Genre Fiction. Entries are judged on content, quality of the publication, and appearance. And the Grand Prize is $10,000! If you’re focused on a cash prize, this is the one to strive for!
The Living Now Award is A Book Award for Indie Authors Focused on Wellness
This award focuses solely on those in the wellness space. But it’s unique in that it offers awards to illustrators and publishers as well as authors. There are also over 30 categories to submit to, creating a bigger chance that your book could be a fit. So check into this one if you’re all about inspirational writing, whether self-help, memoir, or even cookbooks!
Tips to Increase Your Chances of Winning a Book Award for Indie Authors
Besides having a professional quality book that stands out, there are a few other things you can do to increase your chances of winning one of these book awards for indie authors, and I’ve listed them below.
- Submit a book that follows professional conventions (learn more about that here and here)
- Do research on the award to see if your book fits
- Choose the right category for your book
- Submit earlier rather than later
- Submit to multiple awards if appropriate and if your budget allows it
- If applicable, submit to multiple categories
- Carefully review and follow each award’s specific submission guidelines
Why These Indie Book Awards are Worth the Effort
Besides the possibility of big cash prizes from some of these book awards for indie authors, they also offer credibility to your book and open up the opportunity to reach a wider audience. Some of these awards even come with reviews and features in publications that cater to booksellers and librarians. This means your book will have the eyes of the people behind the scenes that matter on it.
There are other big benefits to winning a book award, including bragging rights, of course. You can read about five of these benefits here. You can also find out what you should do with your award-winner status in this post.
Ultimately, there is little risk to submitting to these book awards for indie authors, besides the entry fees, and the possibility for a big reward. Just make sure your book is up to professional standards, do your research to make sure your book is a good fit and the award offers the benefits you’re looking for. Who knows, with the right strategy you may soon be an award-winning indie author!
Feel free to leave thoughts or questions in the comments, or reach out to me directly. I love hearing from my readers and helping indie authors reach their goals.
