One more year for Indie Ink Awards! Winners were announced September 19, and I shared them live on Bluesky. You can check all the finalists by cover only on the Indie Story Geek website, or better yet, you can continue to see the full list of finalists and winners. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’re probably familiar with the contest, but if this is your first time hearing about them, here’s a short description from their website.
About Indie Ink Awards:
Books by marginalized authors, self-published books, and books by small presses often get overlooked. The Indie Ink Awards is a unique event that brings together the writing community to celebrate books that have made an impact on us. This is our way of highlighting the future we want to see in books–by uplifting those that shine.
All awards are segmented into two categories: Best-In and the Writing The Future We Need awards. The “Best In” awards should exemplify the chosen category. We are looking for exceptional inclusion and diversity in works nominated for “Writing the Future We Need” awards.
This contest is exclusive to independently published books; it’s free to enter, nominated and voted by the community, and finally judged by people with lived experience in the category (for Writing The Future We Need awards). Below you’ll find the award categories with their respective winners, and a list of the finalists for each. They should all be celebrated.
You can jump directly to the category of your interest or keep scrolling for the full list.
All categories:
Best-In
Best audio narration
Winner: A Kingdom of Curses by Danielle D. Drummond, narrated by Kate Clover.
Finalists:
- A Hex For Hunger by Alistair Reeves
- A Soul Divided by Daniel M. Quilter
- Demon Engine by Marten Norr
- Everything Not Saved by N.M.J. Coveney
- Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The Redstone Rescue by Ben Moxon
Best Book Cover and Cover Artist
Winner: Cubs & Campfires by Dylan Drakes, illustration by DaisukeBear
Finalists:
- Crown of Olympus by Kate Asher
- Depths of Vanalf by Brady Hunsaker
- Dissonance of Bird Song by Alexandra Beaumont
- Magic, Maps and Mischief by David Green
- Marigolds and Murder by A.K. Ikezoe
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The North Tower by Michelle N. Hagood
- We Are Made of Scars and Starlight by Nicole Zelniker
Best Friendship
Winner: Magic, Maps, and Mischief by David Green
Finalists:
- Crown of Olympus by Kate Asher
- Crying Out for Magic by P.S.C. Willis
- Demon Engine by Marten Norr
- Go Easy on Me by Bradley James
- How to Survive This Fairytale by S.M. Hallow
- Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan
- Marigolds and Murder by A.K. Ikezoe
- Runelight by J.A. Andrews
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
Best Light Read
Winner: Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan
Finalists:
- Bite Marks and Broken Hearts by T.J. Rose
- City in the Dragon’s Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
- Crying Out for Magic by P.S.C. Willis
- Cubs & Campfires by Dylan Drakes
- First Oaths by C.J. Tuma & Quinn Cameron [My review of First Oaths]
- Grim Reflection by A. Lawrence
- Magic, Maps and Mischief by David Green
- My Harimau King by Annie McCann
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The Redstone Rescue by Ben Moxon
Best Mentor Character
Winner: Bathed in Ink and Blood by Robert C. Laymon
Finalists:
- Child of Shivay by J.R. Cathers
- City in the Dragon’s Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
- DELTA by M.T. Zimny
- First Oaths by C.J. Tuma & Quinn Cameron [My review of First Oaths]
- Go Easy on Me by Bradley James
- Magic, Maps and Mischief by David Green
- The Light Within by Carliann Jean
- The Monsters Among Us by Kent Priore
- The Source of Strife by Alex Arch
- This Too Shall Burn by Cat Rector [My review of This Too Shall Burn]
- Usurper by J.M. Rose
Best Morally Gray Character
Winner: The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson
Finalists:
- Crown of Olympus by Kate Asher
- How to Survive This Fairytale by S.M. Hallow
- Runelight by J.A. Andrews
- Silver Star, Red Dragon by C.A. Chaplin
- The Death Made Prince by Lisette Marshall
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The Monsters Among Us by Kent Priore
- The North Tower by Michelle N. Hagood
- The Winds of War by Mosha Winter
Best Setting
Winner: Child of Shivay by J.R. Cathers
Finalists:
- City in the Dragon’s Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
- Crown of Olympus by Kate Asher
- Crying Out for Magic by P.S.C. Willis
- Demon Engine by Marten Norr
- Dissonance of Bird Song by Alexandra Beaumont
- Magic, Maps and Mischief by David Green
- My Harimau King by Annie McCann
- The Missing Piece of History by Niranjana Siva and Archana Sujai
- The Monsters Among Us by Kent Priore
Best Use of Tropes
Winner: Wriggly Little Hands by Alex Knight
Finalists:
- Cello’s Gate by Maurice Africh
- Child of Shivay by J.R. Cathers
- Everything Not Saved by N.M.J. Coveney
- Foresyth Conservatory by A.L. Sterling
- Grim Reflection by A. Lawrence
- Heir of Sun and Moon by Jenessa Ren
- How to Survive This Fairytale by S.M. Hallow
- Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The North Tower by Michelle N. Hagood
Prettiest Book Interior
Winner: Aurethia Rising by Atlas Laika
Finalists:
Side Character MVP
Winner: Cello’s Gate by Maurice Africh
Finalists:
- City in the Dragon’s Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
- Crown of Olympus by Kate Asher
- Everything Not Saved by N.M.J. Coveney
- Go Easy on Me by Bradley James
- Grim Reflection by A. Lawrence
- Marigolds and Murder by A.K. Ikezoe
- Ranger by Dietrich Stogner
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The Winds of War by Mosha Winter
- Third and Long by Rebecca Minelga
This Book Made Me Hungry/Thirsty
Winner: The Death-Made Prince by Lisette Marshall
Finalists:
- A Third Kind of Madness by Christiane Knight
- A Thousand Burning Ravens by Kier Smelcer
- Child of Shivay by J.R. Cathers
- Growing Home by C.M. Howes
- In the Name of Honor by Courtney & Clarke Collins
- My Harimau King by Annie McCann
- Tavern Tale by Kristina W. Kelly
- The Floating Castle by L.N. Holmes
- The Memoir of Johnny Daywalker by Meghan Davis [My review of The Memoir of Johnny Daywalker]
Wittiest Character
Winner: Rise of the Dragonwitch by Timothy K. Clark
Finalists:
- Bathed in Ink and Blood by Robert C. Laymon
- Child of Shivay by J.R. Cathers
- City in the Dragon’s Eye by Jordan Loyal Short
- Grim Reflection by A. Lawrence
- Magic, Maps and Mischief by David Green
- Skalterra By Nightmare by M.T. Zimny
- The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
- The North Tower by Michelle N. Hagood
- The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson
- The Winds of War by Mosha Winter
Check the next page for the Writing the Future We Need categories.
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