For the past six years, SparkPoint Studio’s hybrid publishing imprints—She Writes Press and SparkPress—have swept the indie book awards season, taking home more book award finalist and winner accolades than any other indie publisher. As of April 2021, both imprints are on track to sweep the awards season once again for the sixth year in a row.

In summer 2020, She Writes Press and SparkPress collectively hit over 1000 award and finalist titles! Now, She Writes Press and SparkPress titles have reached the landmark of over 1600 award and finalist titles collectively with the 2021 indie awards seasons.

So far, highlights from 2021 include 338 winner and finalist titles:

  • 2 winners and 4 finalists in the Book Excellence Awards
    • 2 winners: Appearances by Sondra Helene (Caregiving); A Delightful Little Book on Aging by Stephanie Raffelock (Non-Fiction)
    • 4 finalists: Sky Queen by Judy Kundert (Female Empowerment); After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen (Marriage); The Girl in the Red Boots by Judith Ruskay Rabinor (Memoir); Gobbledy by Lis Anna-Langston (Holiday)
  • 16 winners in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards
  • Gold Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards: Gobbledy by Lis Anna-Langston (Books for 9-12 year olds)
  • 2 winners and 7 finalists in the Sarton Awards
    • 2 winners: Child Bride by Jennifer Smith Turner (Historical Fiction); Luz by Debra Thomas (Contemporary Fiction)
    • 7 finalists: Copy Boy by Shelley Blanton-Stroud (Historical Fiction); Freedom Lessons by Eileen Harrison Sanchez (Historical Fiction); Queen of the Owls by Barbara Linn Probst (Contemporary Fiction); The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch (Contemporary Fiction); Finding Venerable Mother by Cindy Rasicot (Memoir); When the Red Gates Opened by Dori Jones Yang (Memoir); Watermark by Elise Schiller (Contemporary Fiction)
  • 5 winners and 4 finalists in the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards
    • 5 winners: A Child Lost by Michelle Cox (Mystery); Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table: Book Two by Carole Bumpus (Travel); A Ritchie Boy by Linda Kass (War & Military Fiction); The Journalist by Jerry Rose and Lucy Rose Fischer (Autobiography & Memoir); and Child Bride by Jennifer Smith Turner (Historical Fiction)
  • 1 finalist for the Gilda Prize in the Story Circle’s Women’s Book Awards: Brave(ISH) by Margaret Davis Ghielmetti
  • Gold Winner in the Nonfiction Authors Association Book Awards: Hope is a Bright Star by Faith Fuller Wilcox
  • 5 winners and 3 distinguished favorites in the Independent Press Awards
    • 5 winners: The Lines Between Us by Rebecca D’Harlingue (New Fiction); A Child Lost by Michelle Cox (Romantic Suspense); Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger (Western Fiction); Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry (Chick-Lit); Gobbledy by Lis Anna-Langston (Holiday: Children’s)
    • 3 “Distinguished Favorites”: The Lines Between Us by Rebecca D’Harlingue (Historical Fiction); A Child Lost by Michelle Cox (Audiobook: Fiction); I’m So Glad You’re Here by Pamela H. Gay (Memoir)
  • 2 silver winners in the Nautilus Book Awards: Api’s Berlin Diaries by Gabrielle Robinson (Memoir & Personal Journey); Rootlines by Rikki West (Memoir & Personal Journey)
  • Silver Medalist in the eLit Book Awards: Stepping Stones by Marilea C. Rabasa (Women’s Issues)
  • Eric Hoffer Book Awards 
    • 1 winner, 1 1st runner-up, 6 category finalists, and 5 honorable mentions in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards
      • 1 winner: All of Us Warriors by Rebecca Whitehead Munn (Health)
    • 4 finalists in the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Awards
    • 3 finalists in the Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Awards
    • 7 short list finalists in the Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize: A Wife in Bangkok by Iris Mitlin Lav; All of Us Warriors by Rebecca Whitehead Munn; Finding Venerable Mother by Cindy Rasicot; Poetic License by Gretchen Cherington; Talland House by Maggie Humm; The Sound Between the Notes by Barbara Linn Probst; Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
  • Gold Winner in the Literary Titan Book Awards: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill
  • 3 Grand Prize winners, 21 1st Place winners, and 10 finalists in the Chanticleer International Book Awards
    • Grand Prize Winners:
      • JOURNEY Book Awards: The Parrot’s Perch by Karen Keilt
      • Hearten Book Awards: Love, Life, and Lucille by Judy Gaman
      • Goethe Book Awards: The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit
  • 1 finalist in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Star Award: Queen of the Owls by Barbara Linn Probst (debut)
  • 7 winners and 15 finalists in the 15th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards
    • 2 of our titles won special honors: No Rules by Sharon Dukett won the Indie Excellence Sponsor’s Choice Prize, and The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch won the 15th Annual Indie Excellence Juror’s Choice Award
    • Other winners: Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger (in Book Interior Design: Fiction, Fiction: West, and Western Fiction); Indelible by Laurie Buchanan (in Crime Fiction and Suspense)
  • 18 winners in the IPPY Awards
  • 4 winners and 25 finalists in the International Book Awards
    • 4 winners: Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger (Best Cover Design: Fiction / Best New Fiction); The World Looks Different Now by Margaret Thomson (Health: Death & Dying); Life and Other Shortcomings by Corie Adjmi (Fiction: Short Story)
  • 4 winners in the Living Now Book Awards: Twice A Daughter by Julie McGue (Gold Winner in Memoir – female); Creatrix Rising by Stephanie Raffelock (Silver Winner in Aging/Death & Dying); Hope is a Bright Star by Faith Fuller Wilcox (Gold Winner in Digital Media); and Joyful, Delicious, Vegan by Sherra Aguirre (Bronze Winner in Health & Wellness)
  • 1 finalist in the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Awards: Answer Creek by Ashley E. Sweeney (Best Novel)
  • 12 winners and 20 finalists in the American Fiction Awards
    • 12 winners: All’s Fair and Other California Stories by Linda Feyder (Best Cover Design: Adult Fiction); Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom (Cross Genre; General Fiction; Literary Fiction); Purple Lotus by Veena Rao (Multicultural Fiction); Salvation Station by Kathryn Schleich (Mystery/Suspense: General); Del Rio by Jane Rosenthal (Mystery/Suspense: Multicultural & Diverse; Thriller: Legal); Gravity is Heartless by Sarah Lahey (Science Fiction: General); On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff (Short Story Fiction); The Takeaway Men by Meryl Ain (Historical Fiction); Cold Snap by Code Schneider (Mystery/Suspense: Cozy Mysteries/Cozies)
  • 1 finalist for The Sperber Prize: The Journalist by Jerry Rose and Lucy Rose Fischer
  • 11 winners, 5 finalists, and 5 honorable mentions in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards
    • 11 winners: Once a Girl, Always a Boy by Jo Ivester (Gold Medal in Non-Fiction – Audiobook); The Field House by Robin Clifford Wood (Gold Medal in Non-Fiction – Biography); Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (Gold Medal in Non-Fiction – Memoir); Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom (Silver Medal in Fiction – Inspirational); The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (Bronze Medal in Fiction – General); Jenna Takes the Fall by A.R. Taylor (Bronze Medal in Fiction – Intrigue); On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff (Gold Medal in Fiction – Literary); The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch (Silver Medal in Fiction – Literary); Ski Weekend by Rektok Ross (Bronze Medal in Young Adult – Thriller); Cold Snap by Code Schneider (Bronze Medal in Fiction – Animals); He Gets That from Me by Jacqueline Friedland (Gold Medal in Fiction – General)
  • 1 finalist in the Canadian Book Club Awards: The Best Part of Us by Sally Cole-Misch (Fiction)
  • 1 winner in the Zibby Awards: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (Best Structure)
  • 36 winners in the Firebird Book Awards: Hope is a Bright Star by Faith Fuller Wilcox (Cancer; Memoir; Parenting & Family); What’s Not Said by Valerie Taylor (Chick Lit; Contemporary Novel; Marriage; Romantic Comedy); Butterfly Awakens by Meg Nocero (Grief); Dovetails in Tall Grass by Samantha Specks (Historical Fiction); Mt. Moriah’s Wake by Melissa Norton Carro (new Adult Fiction; Religion/Fiction; Southern Fiction; Women’s Fiction); The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (Relationships); and Final Table by Dan Schorr (Political Thriller); In Our Blood by Caitlin Billings (LGBTQ Nonfiction; Parenting and Family; Psychiatry/Psychology); What’s Not True by Valerie Taylor (Chick-Lit; Contemporary Fiction; Marriage; Series; Romantic Comedy); Lemons in the Garden of Love by Ames Sheldon (Current Events; Historical Fiction); Out of the Bronx by Irene Sardanis (Inspiration); These Walls Between Us by Wendy Sanford (Multicultural Non-Fiction; Memoir); Fifty First Dates After Fifty by Carolyn Lee Arnold (Memoir; New Age Culture Non-Fiction; Relationships; Sexuality); My Famous Brain by Diane Wald (New Adult Fiction; Speculative Fiction; Visionary Fiction; Paranormal)
  • 2 finalists in the 2021 Page Turner Book Awards: You Can’t Buy Love Like That by Carol Anderson, and Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
  • 1 honorable mention in the 2021 Writers Digest Self-Published Book Awards: Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer (Middle-grade/YA)
  • 8 winners and 4 distinguished favorites in the NYC Big Book Awards
    • 8 winners: The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (Book Cover Design-Fiction); Love, Life & Lucille by Judy Gaman (Friendship); After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen (Marriage); When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew by Hendrika de Vries (Memoir and Young Adult Nonfiction); Twice a Daughter by Julie Ryan McGue (Personal Growth); My Famous Brain by Diane Wald (Visionary Fiction); Even in Darkness by Barbara Stark-Nemon (Audiobook-Fiction)
    • 4 distinguished favorites: The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (Women’s Fiction); After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen (New Fiction, first-time published); Twice a Daughter by Julie Ryan McGue (Parenting & Family); The Moon Always Rising by Alice C. Early (Women’s Fiction) 
  • 3 winners and 3 finalists in the IAN Book of the Year Awards
    • 3 winners: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (Non-Fiction Book of the Year; Outstanding Non-Fiction: Memoir); On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff (Outstanding Short Story Collection)
    • 3 finalists: After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen (Fiction: Women’s Fiction); Butterfly Awakens by Meg Nocero (Non-Fiction: Grief/Hardship); Ski Weekend by Rektok Ross (Fiction: Young Adult/Teen/ New Adult)
  • 6 winners and 19 finalists in the Best Book Awards
    • 6 winners: Dancing in the Narrows by Anna Penenberg (Autobiography/Memoir); Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom (Fiction: Inspirational); Prohibition Wine by Marian Leah Knapp (Nonfiction: Creative); Saint Hildegard by Susan Garthwaite (Religion: General); Attachments by Jeff Arch (Fiction: General); Dovetails in Tall Grass by Samantha Specks (Fiction: Western)
  • 1 winner in the Arizona Authors Association Awards: On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff (Second-Place in Fiction)
  • 1 winner and 1 finalist in the American Writing Awards: Sophia’s Return by Sophia Kouidou-Giles (Winner in Best Cover Design: Non-Fiction; Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir)
  • 3 winners in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards: On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Ebertt Beeaff (Second-Place in Collection of Short Stories); The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (1st Place in Relationships); Butterfly Awakens by Meg Nicer (1st Place in Self-Help/Inspirational)
  • 1 winner in the Book Viral Millennium Book Awards: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill
  • 1 winner in the Moritz Thomsen Peace Corps Experience Awards: Between Inca Walls by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre
  • 1 winner in the International Impact Book Awards: The Sound of Wings by Suzanne Simonetti (Women’s Fiction)
  • 1 finalist in the Indies Today Awards: In Our Blood by Caitlin Billings
  • 1 honorable mention in the William Faulkner Literary Competition: Winter’s Reckoning by Adele Holmes