2017 Summer Indie Book Awards!

It’s already been a sizzling summer, and Metamorph Publishing has announced their second annual Indie Book Awards! You heard that right, a summer book awards! The event officially begins on January 1

You heard that right, a summer book awards! The event officially begins on January 1^st of each year, and nominations will be accepted through midnight CST on June 1^st each year. Voting will begin on September 1^st and end on September 10^th each year.

“What’s the big deal,” you ask? “There are all kinds of contests out there.” And you’re right, there are hundreds, probably thousands of book awards. But many of them are only for unpublished authors, or authors who only write in certain narrow genres, or for authors who have never published before in a particular genre. Plus, there are plenty that charge an entry fee, some of which are prohibitive to authors who publish independently, without the backing of a large and powerful publishing house.

So, they are hoping to do something different with the Summer Indie Book Awards. Entry is free, and nominations will be accepted from any indie or small-press author, regardless of their current published or non-published state, or what genre they write in. They are accepting donations of print or e-books, author swag or novelty items (bookmarks, pens, keychains, etc.) gift cards, but a donation is not required as a condition for nomination; donations can be made here.

Feel free to like the official Facebook page of the Summer Indie Book Awards. You can also sign up for the newsletter.  So you can stay up to date with all the latest news.  In the pinned post of the Facebook event, you’ll find these links, along with links to a Google Drive folder where you can look and see who’s already been nominated. And any author who is nominated will have access to an official contest nominee badge, that they can use on their book covers or any promotional media if they so desire.

Winners in each genre will receive a prize (hopefully we’ll get enough donations for this), beginning with the 1^st place winners. If we get enough prizes donated, we’ll go next to 2^nd place winners, and then to 3^rd place. Regardless of the prizes, winners will get a high-quality winner badge, stating their place and the genre of the book. These will be of high enough resolution for authors to use on their print books if they want to.

But it’s not only the winners that will benefit from the Summer Indie Book Awards. All nominated authors will have the potential to reach hundreds, if not more, of new readers (readers often have a preferred genre, and while they’re voting for their favorite author, will come across others they may not have tried yet), and reach a huge new audience through the social media forums. And best of all, it’s meant to have fun, to reach out and network with other authors, potentially forming long-lasting relationships. And readers will benefit from having a wealth of new books in front of them, as well as a vast amount of new stories to immerse themselves in.

Though they are using Facebook and other social media as a platform to reach more authors and readers, none of these social media outlets are affiliated with the awards. They are hosted strictly by Metamorph Publishing.

You can share the awards on your social media pages and use the hashtag #SIBA to link in with others doing the same.

For more information, please visit Metamorph Publishing.

I’m equally thrilled to say that my book The Truth Will Out has been nominated in the thriller category. It’s very exciting that people found it good enough to be considered as this is the first time I’ve written a thriller story.

You can read a bit more about how I came to write it and what inspired me here.