Self-Published Book Awards

ENTER NOW! DEADLINE: 6/1/20 Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published Book Awards is currently accepting submissions. This is the only Writer’s Digest competition exclusively for self-published books.
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Deadline: June 1, 2020

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 28th 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.

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Prizes
One Grand Prize winner will receive:

  • $8,000 in cash
  • A feature article about you and your book for the March 2021 issue of Writer's Digest
  • A paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, including a coveted Pitch Slam slot

One First Prize winner in each category will receive:

  • $1,000 in cash
  • Promotion in the March 2021 issue of Writer's Digest

All Grand Prize and First Prize winners will receive:

  • Be featured on the Writer’s Digest website
  • One year subscription to Writer's Digest Tutorials
  • A digital award seal for use in promoting your win.

Honorable Mention Winners will receive promotion on www.writersdigest.com and a digital seal for use in promoting your win.

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
  • Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories, Memoirs)
  • Early Readers/Children’s Picture books
  • Middle-Grade/Young Adult
  • Poetry

How to Enter

  • All entrants must send a printed and bound book. You may register your book online. All books not registered online must be accompanied by an Official Entry Form. 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. We accept check, money order or credit card payment for the required judging fee. All checks will be cashed within 60 days of the competition final deadline. Entry fees are non-refundable.
  • 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. PDFs and proofs will not be accepted. Entries will be evaluated on content, writing quality and overall quality of production and appearance. No handwritten books are accepted. All books published or revised and reprinted between 2015 and 2020 are eligible. (Writer’s Digest may demand proof of eligibility of semifinalists.)
  • Due to U.S. Government restrictions we are unable to accept entries from Syria, Iran, North Korea, or Crimea.
  • Click here to download the printable entry form (for entries not registered online)
  • For more information visit our Preparing Your Entry Page or our FAQ page.

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