The Bookshelfie Awards
The Bookshelfie Awards are our annual celebration of exceptional indie books, works that push boundaries and leave a lasting mark on readers. With our website having launched late in 2024, 2025 marks the inaugural year of these awards. All books submitted to us for guaranteed review during the year are automatically entered for consideration (when the submission box is ticked). Alternatively, submission can be completed below.
At the end of this year, our panel will select the most outstanding books that have crossed our desks. We’re looking for books that are special, and not necessarily in traditional ways, such as impressive originality, beautiful writing and page-turning pacing that serves the author’s vision. The Bookshelfie Awards will celebrate books that dare to be different, while maintaining the craft and polish of traditional publishing. The rules? Only that all books must be published by an indie publisher or self-published, and released in 2025.
We award winners a bespoke medal graphic, an interview published on our blog and a lasting place on our site. All books submitted are featured on our digital bookshelf, even if they don’t win anything. In future years, we hope to offer cash prizes as well. It’s our little way of celebrating great writing and shining a light on indie gems. Below, you can find details on our twelve award categories!
The Twelve Award Categories
The Bookshelfie Awards will present twelve prizes annually:
1st Place Overall
The top honor goes to the book that exemplifies everything we value: a work that transcends genre boundaries through exceptional originality, masterful prose, and unforgettable storytelling. This winner will be a book that challenges readers, stays with them long after the final page, and represents the pinnacle of contemporary writing craft. We’re seeking that rare work that combines bold creative vision with flawless execution.
2nd Place Overall
Our runner-up prize represents extraordinary achievement in independent literature, demonstrating remarkable skill in innovative storytelling techniques, distinctive voice, or groundbreaking subject matter. This book will showcase exceptional, well-edited prose while offering readers something genuinely fresh and memorable. It will be a work that proves indie books can stand among the year’s finest, and that excellence in literature isn’t confined to big publishing houses.
3rd Place Overall
The third-place prize will celebrates books that excel through impeccably written character development, a compelling premise, or a particularly engaging writing style. The winning book should demonstrate strong craftsmanship and polish, while offering readers an experience that resonates emotionally. We’re especially looking for books that take bold creative risks or that tell stories that are impossible to forget.
Best Literary Fiction
This award honors fiction that pushes artistic boundaries, feature innovative thematic exploration, and contain exceptionally well-crafted or memorable prose. We’re particularly seeking works that challenge literary conventions while maintaining readability and emotional depth. The winning book will demonstrate how literary fiction can be both intellectually stimulating and accessible to a general audience, with characters and situations that illuminate the human condition in unexpected yet relatable ways.
Best Adventure
Our adventure category celebrates books that combine thrilling, fast-paced storytelling with strong character development and immersive world-building. We’re looking for works with page-turning action sequences and likeable characters that explore old themes or tropes in never-before-seen ways. The winning book should feature compelling protagonists facing genuine stakes which readers will not be able to put down, with prose that keeps readers engaged from beginning to end.
Best Fantasy
The fantasy award celebrates books with exceptional worldbuilding and imaginative scope. We’re looking for stories that contain vividly imagined magic systems and heroes’ journeys that feel fresh and meaningful. Ideally, the winner will transcend overused tropes while capturing the sense of wonder that makes the fantasy genre so popular. The winning book will accordingly do something new while honouring the genre’s spirit, leaving a lasting impact through memorable characters, inventive storytelling, and most importantly, imagination.
Best Romance
This category honors romance or erotica novels that elevate the genre through exceptional character chemistry, readability and fresh approaches to age-old love story tropes. We’re looking for books that go beyond formula to explore the complexities of human connection with wit, passion, and genuine insight. The winning work will likely feature compelling romantic tension balanced with strong character arcs and innovative takes on traditional romantic ideals. Spiciness is allowed.
Best Non-fiction
Our non-fiction award celebrates memoirs and non-fiction works that combine compelling narratives with exceptional prose and unique perspectives. We are looking for books that inform, inspire, or challenge readers while demonstrating the author’s voice and attention to craft. The winning work will be well-researched, offer insights that extend beyond the immediate subject matter, and will be well worth a read even for people who may not be traditionally interested in the subject.
Best Poetry
Our poetry award is seeking collections that feature innovative use of language, a strong artistic vision and an unforgettable voice. We are hoping to find a work that captures both heart and mind, where every line lingers long after the page is turned. The winning collection will offer verses that transcend the ordinary, whether through memorable imagery, bold experimentation, or simply making a deep personal connection with the reader.
Best Children's Book
Best Experimental fiction
This award honours bold, boundary-defying fiction that rewires the reader’s expectations. These works play with language, structure, or form to reveal new ways of telling stories. The winning book does not have to be accesible, but does have to provoke thought and feeling in equal measure, offering a reading experience that is as daring as it is beautiful. We are really looking for a work of fiction that challenges conventions, bends genre, and invites readers to become co-creators in the act of storytelling.
Best Science Fiction
This award celebrates bold works of imagination that peer into the future, whether that be crumbing dystopias or dazzling utopias. We are looking for stories that confront what humanity might become when faced with the consequences of its own inventions. From Fallout-esque wastelands to the glittering utopias of the Jetsons, these books explore the tension between progress and peril. The winning work will imagine a vivid look into what the future may look like—and offer a warning of what we must avoid.
How to Submit
Entering the Bookshelfie Awards Is Simple. Just Submit Your Book Through Our Submission Form and Click the Box That Says “Submit to Bookshelfie Awards.” Alternatively, You Can Submit Above for a Reduced Fee