London (March 30, 2020) – BookBrunch has today announced the winners for the second Selfies Awards, the prize for the best self-published adult fiction and – for the first time in 2020 – children’s book published in the UK in 2019. Launched by BookBrunch in 2018, the Selfies are sponsored by Ingram’s award-winning self-publishing platform, IngramSpark® and supported by the London Book Fair and Nielsen Book.
The winner of the adult category was Clare Flynn with her historical love story The Pearl of Penang, while Jemma Hatt takes home the children’s prize with middle-grade escapade The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle. The winner in both categories receives a prize of £1,000 and a copy of Scott Pack’s new book Tips from a Publisher. Hatt thanked her cover designer Andrew Smith and editor Amanda Horan, and a ‘shocked’ Flynn – whose brother was able to attend the ceremony from Australia – followed suit as she thanked her editor Debi Alper and cover designer Jane DixonSmith.
Originally scheduled to be announced at the London Book Fair, the ceremony was moved to an online ceremony when the Fair was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hosted by BookBrunch md Jo Henry on Zoom, the event was attended not only by all the shortlisted authors and illustrators but their friends and family members from across the world.
The Selfies Awards are judged on the quality of the writing; the production values of the book; an enticing cover and blurb that successfully addresses the target audience; and an effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy that has the potential for great sales. The judges were Robin Cutler of IngramSpark, Scott Pack of Unbound and Henry for the adult prize, while Jill Coleman, director of children’s books at BookTrust, author Ken Wilson-Max, and Moon Lane Ink CIC bookseller Meera Ghanshamdas made up the judging panel for the children’s prize.
Henry said that the standard of submissions had been excellent, and that it had been a ‘real privilege’ to have so many wonderful books to read on the shortlist during January and February.
Cutler was able to confirm that IngramSpark was still fully operational as an ‘essential business’; she also praised the quality of the submissions, adding that she had found it hard as a judge of the adult
prize to pick a winner.
The first Selfies Award was presented to Jane Davis for her eighth self-published novel, Smash All the Windows, at LBF in March 2019. She attended yesterday’s award ceremony and underlined the importance of a prize that awards book production and book production standards as well as story.
The shortlist for the 2020 adult fiction Selfies Award was:
- Notes from the Lost by Cathy Hartigan
- Secrets at St. Brides by Debbie Young
- Going Up by A. E. Radley
- Jaffle Inc. by Heide Goody and Iain Grant
- The Pearl of Penang by Clare Flynn
- Katharina Fortitude by Margaret Skea
The shortlist for the 2020 children’s Selfies Award was:
- The Christmas Tree Wish by Karen Inglis, illustrated by Anne Swift
- Grandad’s Fish-pond by John Carter, illustrated by Keith Phelpstead
- Vlad and the Space Race by Kate Cunningham, illustrated by Sam Cunningham
- The Wonder Girls by Jan Carr
- The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle by Jemma Hatt
- The Little Cockroach by Susie Violet, illustrated by Alex Patrick
Following the success of The Selfies Awards in the UK, a similar awards program has been launched in the U.S. in partnership with Publishers Weekly / BookLife and Combined Book Exhibits. The shortlists for these inaugural awards will be announced in April. For further details please contact www.selfiesbookawards.com.
London (February 26, 2020) – BookBrunch has today announced the shortlists for the second Selfies Awards, the prize for the best self-published adult fiction and – for the first time in 2020 – children’s book published in the UK in 2019. Launched by BookBrunch in 2018, the Selfies are sponsored by Ingram’s award-winning self-publishing platform, IngramSpark® and supported by the London Book Fair and Nielsen Book.
The Selfies Awards are judged on the quality of the writing; the production values of the book; an enticing cover and blurb that successfully addresses the target audience; and an effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy that has the potential for great sales. The winner in both categories will receive £1,000 cash and a copy of Scott Pack’s new book Tips from a Publisher: A Guide to Writing, Editing, Submitting and Publishing Your Book, while all shortlisted authors will receive free entry to the 2020 London Book Fair and Authors’ HQ, where a series of events aimed at indie authors have been programmed. The winners will be announced in the Authors’ HQ at 5.15 on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, with best-selling author L.J. Ross.
‘We were delighted with the number of submissions this year and the overall standard of the titles submitted,’ said Jo Henry, managing director of BookBrunch. ‘Over the past two months a team have been reading their way through a tremendously diverse selection of books from writers up and down the country. We’ve been amazed yet again by the fantastic work that is being done by indie authors in the UK and are so pleased that we’re able to recognise this excellence through these Awards.”
“It is a privilege for IngramSpark to sponsor the Selfies Awards for the second year. We applaud BookBrunch, the team of judges and London Book Fair for giving self-publishers such a great platform to showcase their work,” said Robin Cutler, Director of IngramSpark. “The finalists represent some of the best work among all books published in the UK last year. They just happen to be Indie.”
The shortlist for the 2020 adult fiction Selfies Award is:
- Notes from the Lost by Cathy Hartigan
- Secrets at St. Brides by Debbie Young
- Going Up by A. E. Radley
- Jaffle Inc. by Heide Goody and Iain Grant
- The Pearl of Penang by Clare Flynn
- Katharina Fortitude by Margaret Skea
The shortlist for the 2020 children’s Selfies Award is:
- The Christmas Tree Wish by Karen Inglis, illustrated by Anne Swift
- Grandad’s Fish-pond by John Carter, illustrated by Keith Phelpstead
- Vlad and the Space Race by Kate Cunningham, illustrated by Sam Cunningham
- The Wonder Girls by Jan Carr
- The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle by Jemma Hatt
- The Little Cockroach by Susie Violet, illustrated by Alex Patrick
Following the success of The Selfies Awards in the UK, a similar awards program is being launched in the U.S. in 2020. It too will be sponsored by IngramSpark. The closing date for U.S. entries is February 29. Self-published authors living in the U.S. who would like to enter should check online for details of how to enter: www.selfiesbookawards.com. For further details about the UK Selfies awards please see www.theselfies.co.uk.