Awards season for independent authors is here. Many of the big indie book awards close between December and February, so if you published in 2026 now is the time to enter. Here are five worth looking at.
1. The Selfies Book Awards (UK, now international)
Run by BookBrunch and London Book Fair, the Selfies celebrate the best of self-publishing. There are categories for Adult Fiction, Children’s and Memoir. Your book must have been published between 1 January and 31 December 2026 and written in English. Entry costs £40, which you pay by taking out a BookBrunch subscription with code SELFIES2027.
Deadline: midnight, Tuesday 12 January 2027.
2. Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards
This is one of the most respected awards in US indie publishing, and it’s open to self-published, small press and university press titles published in 2026. Books must be on sale in print or as an ebook. Reissues are not eligible, and books containing AI-generated text or illustrations are not accepted. Entry is around $119 per category.
Deadline: register by 15 January 2027, PDF by 22 January 2027.
3. The Eric Hoffer Book Award
This award is for small, academic and self-published books, with a $7,500 grand prize. Print books must have been published within the last two years, and ebooks have no date limit. There are also special prizes, including the da Vinci Eye for cover design and the First Horizon Award for debut authors.
Deadline: postmarked by 21 January (early discount ends 10 December).
4. The Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs)
The IPPYs have over 100 categories, including regional and ebook categories, and are open to books with a 2025, 2026 or 2027 copyright. You don’t need an ISBN. The final deadline isn’t until 4 March, but the cheaper early-bird rate ($89 rather than $99) ends soon.
Early-bird deadline: 16 December 2026.
5. The Rubery Book Award (UK)
A UK prize just for self-published and independent-press books, open internationally to print books and ebooks. The categories cover literary and genre fiction, non-fiction and memoir, children’s and YA, poetry, short stories and hybrid works. Entry is £46, and there’s a cash prize for Book of the Year and for each category winner.
Deadline: 31 March 2027.
Before you enter: making your book award-ready
Judges are looking at the whole book. The writing comes first, but most awards also judge the book as a finished object. The IPPYs judge on “the quality of content, design, and production”. The Selfies list “a well produced book” and “a well designed cover and intriguing blurb” among their criteria. The Eric Hoffer Award has a separate prize, the da Vinci Eye, for cover art. A good story with a weak cover or a messy interior starts at a disadvantage.
Check the rules on AI. Awards are tightening up on AI, and the rules are not all the same:
Foreword INDIES won’t accept books containing AI-generated text or illustrations, and you don’t get your fee back if they find any.
The IPPYs say AI use “is discouraged and may factor into the judges’ final decision”.
The Selfies, Eric Hoffer and Rubery don’t publish an AI policy at the moment, but that could change.
AI covers can disqualify a book. In 2026, the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ruled out two books by well-known authors because their covers had been made with AI, even though the text was entirely the authors’ own. If your cover, illustrations or interior used AI tools, read the rules carefully. A cover designed by a person is the safest choice.
Is it worth the fee? Entry fees run from about £40 to £120 per category, and some awards charge more for extras. Winning or being shortlisted gives you a sticker for your cover, a line for your author bio and a reason to contact the press and bookshops. A few awards also offer cash prizes or contact with agents and publishers. Before you pay, ask:
Does my book actually fit the category?
Is the award well-known to readers and the trade?
Will I actually use a win in my marketing?
One or two well-chosen entries usually do better than lots of scattered ones.
The standards to meet. A strong entry has:
Professional editing and proofreading: structural or copy editing first, then a separate proofread of the final layout. Typos are one of the quickest ways to lose a judge’s goodwill.
A cover that works for its genre and at thumbnail size, with a clear title, readable author name and a back-cover blurb that does its job.
A well-set interior: a sensible typeface and size, comfortable margins, consistent headings, no widows or orphans, and properly ordered front and back matter.
Correct details: ISBN, imprint page, copyright line, and metadata that matches across every edition.
How a designer can help. A book designer does more than make it look nice. We make sure the book meets the standards of trade publishing:
a cover designed for your genre and readers
an interior typeset for easy reading
consistent print and ebook editions
files that pass printer and retailer checks first time
A designer can also spot problems before they reach a judge, and confirm that every image and font is properly licensed and made by a person. Each well-made indie book that does well at an award raises the reputation of self-publishing as a whole.
If you’d like a pre-entry review, then I can do that in a one-hour consultation which will also help you with polishing your book for launch to your readers too. Book a slot online.
