Winners of One of the World’s Most Generous Contests for Self-Published Books

I am so pleased to be working with Winning Writers’ winners of their North Street Book Prize again this year!  Founded in 2001, Winning Writers is a partner member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. In addition to the North Street Book Prize, Winning Writers also sponsors the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee). All of these contests are recommended by Reedsy. Winning Writers has also been named one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2023). Here are their winners for 2023 were just announced! 

You’ll also find more about this year’s new contest announcement below and at twitter.com/winningwriters! Knowing more about last year’s selected winners will help authors evaluate the kinds of books (very diverse!) that have won in the past.  And see below for more about WinningWriters, the #NorthStreetBookPrize, what the generous prizes consist of and details for the becoming part of the next round of winners!  

Daniel Victor of New York, New York won this year's Grand Prize across all genres for The Evil Inclination, a tragicomic literary novel about an Orthodox Jewish man and an Italian Catholic woman who fall in love as students at Brooklyn College. Fearing that both families would be horrified, the lovers carry on an affair whose secrecy intensifies their lust but strains their relationship. In an ironic twist, she feels drawn to explore Jewish observance while he is losing faith in it. Victor received $10,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, three months of Plus service (a $207 value) and a $500 account credit from Book Award Pro, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value).

Category winners include:

Michael Bracey of Maywood, Illinois, and Ruth Goring of Chicago, Illinois won First Prize in Art Book for Caras Lindas de Colombia/Beautiful Faces of Colombia, a bilingual book of photojournalism celebrating Colombia's African-descendant communities.

Steve Wolfson of Regina, Saskatchewan won First Prize in Children's Picture Book for Aunty Jane Knits Up a Storm, a dynamic and effective tale about how a community supports one of its beloved elders when she is widowed.

Karen Glinski of Albuquerque, New Mexico won First Prize in Middle Grade for Badge of Honor, a lively and well-researched adventure story in which a tween boy and his plucky dachshund rescue Navajo cultural treasures from a gang of thieves.

Dmitri Jackson of Ballwin, Missouri won First Prize in Graphic Novel & Memoir for Blackwax Boulevard Is Listening, the second installment of his comic strip about the staff of an urban record store who contend with unrequited love, addiction, and fallen idols in a compelling storyline inspired by the #MeToo movement. This is Jackson's second win in this category.

Irene Cooper of Bend, Oregon won First Prize in Genre Fiction for Found, a psychological thriller about a grieving mother with a preternatural ability to help the police find missing children.

Lucy May Lennox of Seattle, Washington won First Prize in Mainstream/Literary Fiction for Flowers by Night, an immersive historical novel that explores cultural mores around class and gender in early 19th-century Japanthrough the same-sex love story of a low-ranking samurai and a blind masseur.

Mark S. Robinson of Ridgefield, Connecticut won First Prize in Creative Nonfiction & Memoir for Black on Madison Avenue, a compendium of high points and anti-discrimination battles from the 40-year career of a trailblazing Black advertising executive.

Geof Hewitt of Calais, Vermont won First Prize in Poetry for Only What's Imagined, a meditative collection rooted in the rugged landscape and working-class culture of Vermont.

WHAT CATEGORY WINNERS RECEIVE:

 

The category winners each received $1,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, three months of Plus service from Book Award Pro (a $207 value), and one free ad in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $175 value). See what the grand prize #NorthStreetBookPrize wins above in the section on Daniel Victor.

Ten Honorable Mentions of $300 each and three months of Plus service from Book Award Pro (a $207 value) went to Russel Ray, Phyllis Schwartz, Sally Hinkley, Ned Gannon, J.H. Mann, Lee Call, Anne Calcagno, Lin Haire-Sargeant, Sarah Birnbach, and Rick Lupert.

MORE ON WINNING WRITERS AND THE  North Street Book Prize

This contest recognizes the best books being self-published or hybrid-published today. 1,862 books were received from around the world.  

The judges' remarks and excerpts from the winning entries are published at winningwriters.com. $21,000 was awarded in all, making this one of the world's most generous contests for self-published and hybrid-published books.

The tenth North Street competition opens today with a deadline of July 1, 2024. The entry fee is $79 per book. All entrants will receive free gifts from the contest's co-sponsors—Carolyn Howard-Johnson, BookBaby, Book Award Pro, Self-Publishing Made Simple, and Laura Duffy Design.

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.