Award-winning books stand out above the rest!

CONTEST PERIOD: The contest period runs from January 1st through December 31st of each year, and the deadline for submitting your book is 11:59pm EST on December 31st. Results will be posted on Indies Today on or before February 15th, and winners & runners-up will be notified soon thereafter.

ELIGIBILITY: The Indies Today Awards contest is available to authors of both fiction and nonfiction books, including authors that are self-published, independent or are using small press publishers. Books entered in the contest may have a published date of the current year, next year or any prior year.

REQUIREMENTS: After paying the entry fee, authors will need to submit a digital file of their book for our judges to consider. We can accept .pdf (PDF), .epub (Ebook) or .docx (MS Word) files.

JUDGING CRITERIA: Our judges will rate each book based on a variety of literary qualities. These vary by genre, but typically include overall plot, character development, narrative coherence, grammar, and reader engagement. Placements in the contest will be determined solely by the combined average ratings of our judges.

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GRAND PRIZE: One Best Book of the Year grand prize winner will be selected. The grand prize winner will receive:

Publicity on the Indies Today website, including a feature on the homepage for the entire year
A personalized Best Book of the Year award trophy
A digital Best Book of the Year badge and a digital Award Winning Author badge, which can be used in marketing and/or displayed on your book’s cover
Ability to submit future books for review even when our review submissions are closed
Quotable endorsements by some of our contest judges featured on your book’s Indies Today review page or award page

GENRE WINNERS: A Genre Winner will be selected for twenty-four different genres. Each Genre Winner will receive:

Publicity on the Indies Today website, including a feature on the homepage for the entire year
A digital Best in Genre badge and a digital Award Winning Author badge, which can be used in marketing and/or displayed on your book’s cover
Ability to submit future books for review even when our review submissions are closed

ADDITIONAL DESIGNATIONS: Books that are rated highly in the judging period will also be acknowledged.

RUNNER-UP IN GENRE: Each of the genre runners-up will receive a digital Runner-Up in Genre badge that can be used in marketing and/or displayed on your book’s cover
FINALISTS: Finalists will receive a digital Award Finalist badge that can be used in marketing and/or displayed on your book’s cover
Additional books that rank highly in the judging period will be acknowledged and may receive a digital badge upon request

AWARD WINNER BENEFITS:

Our award-winning authors have used the recognition of their work to secure interviews and other promotional opportunities.