London, 17 March 2022. BookBrunch, the online magazine for the publishing industry, has today announced the shortlists for the fourth year of the Selfies Book Awards. Launched by BookBrunch in 2018 to recognise excellence in the indie or self-publishing market, these awards are sponsored by Ingram’s award-winning self-publishing platform, IngramSpark® and are run in association with The London Book Fair and Nielsen Bookdata.
The Selfies are judged not just on the quality of the writing, but also on the success of the author’s PR and marketing campaign, sales success and overall production values, including cover design. Winners receive £750 each and a profile in BookBrunch, with all the shortlisted authors gaining free entry to Authors HQ – where a series of events aimed at indie authors is being programmed – during this year’s London Book Fair at Olympia, 5-7 April.
This year’s Selfies have three prizes on offer for indie authors who published in 2021, for best adult fiction, children’s book, or memoir/autobiography.
BookBrunch managing director Jo Henry said: “Once again we’ve been blown away by the sheer professionalism and inventiveness of the indie publishing community, and it’s been very hard to choose just eight titles for each shortlist – in fact we have had to stretch to nine on the adult fiction list as the quality was so good.”
In the adult fiction category, won last year by Halima Khatun with her wry look at 21st century family-managed dating, The Secret Diary of an Arranged Marriage, contenders include two authors previously shortlisted, and the list covers a wide range of genres from thrillers to comedy, sf to contemporary fiction.
The shortlisted titles are:
Christine Webber’s So Many Ways of Loving
Jill Morris’s The Big Fix
Simon McCleave’s The Menai Bridge Killing
Jill Marsh’s White Heron
Paula Harmon’s Death in the Last Reel
Heide Goody and Iain Grant’s Sealfinger
Elena Kravchenko’s Breathe
Peter Turnham’s None Stood Taller
Ivan Wainewright’s The Other Times of Caroline Tangent
In the children’s book category, won last year by Kate Claxton with her vibrant picture book My Mum’s a Tiger, illustrated by Angela Mayers, contenders include one author previously shortlisted as well as a previous winner of this category, and showcases beautifully illustrated picture books as well as middle grade readers. The full shortlist is:
Hajera Memon’s Where is Moon Buggy? illustrated by Rose Hill
Kim Ansell’s Frederick the Fox, illustrated by Lisa Read
Jill Michelle Smith and Jennifer Watson’s An A-Z of Extraordinary Extinct Creatures, illustrated by Jill Michelle Smith
Sally Doherty’s Toby and the Silver Blood Witches
Danielle Verbeeten’s Eddie the Elf
Hannah Peckham’s Conker the Chameleon, illustrated by Stephanie Jayne
Jemma Hatt’s The Adventurers and the Jungle of Jeopardy
J.C. Perry’s The Best Nest: A Tale of Roosting Rivalry
The shortlist for the memoir/autobiography category offers eight very different books, including a child’s Second World War diary, a sex-worker’s story, a perilous journey through a post-war landscape and a mother’s poignant memoir of the child she lost. The full shortlist is as follows:
War Diary: The Diary of Mike Rogers, edited by Alan Beardsley
Emily J. Johnson’s Pushing Through the Cracks
Anna James’ Covid Kindness UK:2020; a celebration of hard work, adaptability and kindness
Joan Leech’s Married to the Man Who Washed Himself Away, edited by Michael McGeary
Melissa Todd’s My Body Is My Business
Else Elfriede Burt’s Return to Neckarstrasse
Hannah Powell’s The Cactus Surgeon: Using Nature to Fix A Faulty Brain
Ninette Hartley’s Dear Tosh
Expert judging panels are now reading the shortlisted titles and assessing the publishing expertise of the authors to select their best indie-published books of 2021. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 5 at 4.30 pm in Author HQ at The London Book Fair, Olympia London. For further information, or for an invitation to this event, please email selfies@bookbrunch.co.uk.