Self-Published Book Awards

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 31st 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.

Prizes
One Grand Prize winner will receive:

NEW! $10,000 in cash
An interview with them in Writer’s Digest (March/April 2024 issue) and on WritersDigest.com
A paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, including a special trophy presentation at the keynote
A coveted Pitch Slam slot at the Writer’s Digest Conference where the winner will receive one on one attention from editors or agents
Publication of an excerpt from their winning book on WritersDigest.com

One First Prize winner in each category will receive:

$1,000 in cash
Their name and the winning book’s title published in Writer’s Digest (March/April 2024 issue) and on WritersDigest.com

Categories

Mainstream/Literary Fiction
Genre Fiction
Nonfiction/Reference (General Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Guidebooks, Textbooks, How-To, etc.)
Inspirational/Self-Help
Memoirs/Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories)
Early Readers/Children’s Picture books
Middle-Grade/Young Adult
Poetry Collections

Word Count / Line Count Requirements
Online Entry forms must have the word/line/page count listed where requested.

Count refers to all words making up the story (no matter the number of letters in the word). Do not count the title or contact information in the word count.

Rhyming Poem and Non-rhyming Poem: 40 lines maximum. Only count the lines containing text. Do not count blank lines between stanzas & do not count the title or contact information.
Memoirs/Personal Essay, Nonfiction Essay or Article and Children’s/Young Adult Fiction: 2,000 words maximum.
Inspirational Writing: 2,500 words maximum.
Mainstream/Literary Short Story, Genre Short Story and Humor: 4,000 words maximum.