Submit Now So 2026 Can Be Your Book’s North Street Book Prize Winner...

...and Great Reading from 2025’s list of category winners! (see below!). But before July 1, do one last, quick edit and submit your partner- or self-published book for this prestigious prize from Winning Writers.  I support them based on their ethics and the value-added benefits they offer all their contestants as well as their winners!

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Deadline: July 1 We're one week from the close of our twelfth annual North Street Book Prize. We'll award $23,500 in cash prizes for self-published and hybrid-published books, including a grand prize of $10,000. The ten top winners will enjoy bonus awards from our co-sponsors, and everyone who enters online can choose to receive feedback from our judges at no extra charge. Entry fee: $95. LEARN MORE AND SUBMIT Gallery of Our 2025 Winners Grand Prize Teresa Tennyson's speculative novel Five Years imagines humanity facing imminent extinction due to climate change and collapse of the ecosystem, symbolized by the extinction of bees. For the residents of one New England town, the existential question is whether they can face the end with dignity and mutual aid, or be swayed by a strongman who advocates survival of the fittest.   First Prize: Art Book The Endless Sphere of Time, edited by Kate Jordahl, has remarkable production values and international scope. This luxuriously bound book pairs Geir Jordahl's circular black-and-white images of liminal spaces in nature and architecture with short works by Norwegian modernist poet Rolf Jacobsen, in their original language alongside English translations by Roger Greenwald. First Prize: Children's Picture Book Katherine Lockwood's cheery and educational picture book My Body Beeps! Growing Up with Diabetes, illustrated by Olga Sall, features an active little girl named Katie who just wants to play hide-and-seek like her other friends, but she is worried about the sound of her glucose monitor giving her away. A pal with asthma helps her find humor and companionship in their differences. Playful in spirit, with vibrant illustrations, this book has appeal beyond those directly affected by its topic, as kids in this age group can easily relate to the push-pull of independence versus safety. First Prize: Creative Nonfiction & Memoir Ben Stubenberg's The Jamaican Bobsled Captain: Dudley "Tal" Stokes and the untold story of struggle, suffering, and redemption behind Cool Runnings is a book that makes us glad we expanded our Creative Nonfiction category to include narrative journalism and biography. A former US government worker, private pilot, and current magazine writer in his adopted home of Turks and Caicos Islands, Stubenberg is dedicated to chronicling the cultures and history of the Caribbean. First Prize: Genre Fiction Jessica Mann's ecological fantasy novel Uplift tells a story of interspecies cooperation through the coming-of-age journey of a Clark's Nutcracker, a bird of the high mountains of the American West and a member of the crow family. Breaking with her family's insular ways, Columbina learns about loss and legacy from creatures whose lifespans range from a season to centuries, and returns with fresh ideas to save their habitat. First Prize: Graphic Novel & Memoir Pumpkin Guts: The Hellbound Halloween, written and illustrated by Jacoby A. Matott, is a colorfully grotesque graphic novel that pays homage to teen slasher movies, with sassy characters who crack jokes about the tropes that they're reenacting. (The one Black teen, for instance, decides to nope out of the adventure early on, knowing that such movies treat the token minority sidekick as disposable!) First Prize: Mainstream/Literary Fiction Rashid Darden's literary novel A Peculiar Legacy lovingly portrays a tight-knit Black neighborhood in Washington, DC where a newly arrived gay couple and a Quaker matriarch do their best to mentor the local teenagers after one of the youths is murdered.       First Prize: Middle Grade Michael Wardner's middle-grade novel Kris Kringle and the Great Magic Swindle is a witty romp that will entertain both children and adults. Santa's elves have quit, and the Supreme Council of Sorcery, Witchcraft, and Tricks is about to revoke his magic license. But there's a bigger conspiracy afoot to steal all the magic in the world. With help from trolls, elves, the Easter Bunny, and Ms. Kringle in her airplane, our jolly friend discovers that dividing people into "naughty" and "nice" may be the root of the problem. First Prize: Poetry Kathleen Spivack's poetry chapbook Homage is comprised of tributes to guiding figures in her life as an artist, from cellist Pablo Casals and painter Gustav Klimt to poets Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bishop, as well as personal mentors and ancestors. This tightly conceived collection shows a mature poet's mastery of craft and insight. LEARN MORE AND SUBMIT Prefer to enter by mail? You may mail your entry and $95 fee to Winning Writers, Attn: North Street Book Prize, 351 Pleasant Street Suite B PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3998, USA. Send a check or money order drawn on a US bank, or enclose $95 in US currency. You may also send the fee via PayPal to adam@winningwriters.com. Please postmark your entry by July 1. Please note that feedback will only be provided for entries submitted online, and not those entries submitted by mail. If you would like us to return your book at the conclusion of the contest, please request this at the time of your entry and enclose an extra $10 for postage and handling.

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER 

 Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.