...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!
Carolyn’s Mom’s Motto: “You can’t win if you don’t try!”
Sponsored by Winning Writers 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. |
Gallery of Our 2025 Winners |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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!) |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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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.
Dear SWWriters Visitors and Subscribers:
Heads Up!
Time to make yourself essential to whatever writers group is lucky enough to have you as a member. By now, you. might know that I believe in borrowing from others--other industries, even ther authors as long as you credit their largess. This comes from a group I presented for them way back when Covid demanded that every event be done via Zoom and fell in love with them and their far- North peninsula I knew so little about at the time. So, naturally I get their newsletter announcing this amazing way for a writers’ group to serve its members! Here is an excerpt from it explaining my enthusiasm:
"MARQUETTE, Mich. — The Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) is inviting authors to participate in its U.P. Libraries Program, a unique opportunity to place books directly into the hands of librarians attending the U.P. Regional Library Conference on September 21–22 in Marquette, Michigan.”
We all know how important it is to keep in touch with our local libraries, but that idea can easily be extended all while making closer friends of librarians (and serving their needs, while doing it! ) It comes from @Victor Volkman and I bet when you search the name, you’ll find him (and his newsletter?) a great addition to that information stream that keeps you marketing your own books.
Sending summer hugs to you all. I’ve been kind of out of it recently caretaking my husband and trying to keep up with writing duties--the latter with very limited success.
Best, Carolyn
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 .
Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer and Self-Publisher Self-publishing is amazing. It has brought the world of publishing into the hands of everyone and anyone who wants to write a book. It has brought writing power and freedom to all.
But, with writing power and freedom comes responsibility. This is especially true when writing for children.
This means that while it’s true that self-publishing has opened a tremendous amount of doors and anyone can now write and publish a book, it doesn’t mean you can slap anything together and self-publish. You need to produce quality (edited) content for three reasons.
There are at least three reasons you should edit your manuscript before you self-publish:
Reason number one: You have an obligation to your reader.
You want to give the reader her money’s worth. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, you want to create a book that will engage the reader. You don’t want the reader to stumble over grammatical and content errors while reading.
One drawback to the ease of self-publishing is that those new to the arena don’t realize they should hone their craft before actually publishing a book. This means taking the time to learn about writing and self-editing, and realizing the importance of hiring a professional editor to edit the book before giving it to the world.
Reason number two: You have an obligation to other writers.
Part of the problem today is the ‘I want it now’ syndrome that self-publishing tends to foster. Authors don’t want to take the longer ‘proven’ road. But learning the ropes really does matter.
Once your book is ‘out there,’ it becomes another determining factor as to whether self-published books are of the same quality as traditionally published books. This is where your obligation to other writers comes into play. It’s not fair to diminish the value of self-published books.
Reason number three: Self-editing is a good book marketing move.
In book marketing 101, the first step is to create a quality product. In a webinar, pro marketers Daniel Hall and Jason Fladlien discussed the importance of ‘the offer’ (your product) compared to the sales copy. By far, a quality product is much more important.
If your intent is to publish only one book, then quality may not matter from a marketing perspective. The saying goes, ‘if you fool me once, shame on me.’ If this is the scenario, then you don’t have to worry about readers/purchasers buying more from you. But, you’ll need to be careful here, because word-of-mouth is lightning fast in the internet world. This could easily stop your one-time purchasers as well.
On the flip side, let’s assume you love writing and have decided to earn an income from it. Then, self-editing will play a huge part in your book marketing success. If you produce a substandard product (book), it will discourage a customer from buying your future books.
Remember, a great product will not only sell itself, but it will usually write its own copy. Editing before publishing helps create a quality product.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, writer, and self-publisher with clients worldwide. For more tips on writing for children or if you need help with your children’s story, please visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children. While there, you can check out Karen’s books.
And don’t forget to CONNECT.
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A feature in the right column of this blog lets you subscribe to #SharingwithWriters so you don’t miss any of Karen’s posts on writing for children.
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A feature
in the right column of this blog lets you subscribe to #SharingwithWriters so
you don’t miss any of Karen’s posts on writing for children.
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.
Today I am sharing an ad with you done by Adam at @WinningWriters.com, something I’ve never done before. I’m doing it because the different rates of response ranged from 6% to above 12%. Those of you who know me well, know that I prefer almost any kind of book promotion that’s free to paid advertising which by definition is paid for!! But with results like this there are several features here that might be responsible for such great results that you can emulate in all kinds of different promotions you are doing currently or are planning.
So where did I get those statistics. From one of the classes I took for my BA degree at the University of Southern California taught by the former president who had just resigned from Western Airlines. He told us he was teaching Public Relations 10--which wasn’t the usual custom for a department head-- because he wanted to get to know the most promising students on a personal basis so he could talk to them about the importance of PR and other marketing classes for near guaranteed success in the business world!! He was fantastic and I can specifically name things I did with our retail stores (which is what my husband and I were doing back than) because of demands he made on his students. Fun demands, but demands none-the-less!
This may be the best of all the ads the owner of WinningWriters and I have done together in terms of results. (He carefully measures statistics on them and we have been doing that for several years now. So, behold! It includes lots of free stuff and that helps, but other things, too. Some of it can be adapted for you to use and you’ll find more detail across the spectrum of book promotion in my multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter.
PS: I love the idea of including icons of awards and related organizations in ads--its a powerful way to set any book apart of thousands of other great books on the same subject--no exaggeration!
MORE ABOUT YOUR 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.
ENTER THIS NO FEE CONTEST FROM TALES2INSPIRE®Check out these value added features:
- Critiques from 3 fellow authors
- Opportunity to revise entry based on critiques and resubmit
- Each winners gets:
- Story published in a new Tales2Inspire gem anthology
- Dedicated full page in book to tout each author’s other accomplishments
- Full screen teaser about each author’s winning story on theTales2Inspire website
- Story and author featured as a permanent blog article on the Tales2Inspire website
- Story and author featured on a rotating basis in the Tales2Inspire monthly newsletter and linked to the blog posting
And did I mention that all of this is free?
So this is my invitation to you:
If you'd like to learn more about participating in the Tales2Inspire 2026 contest, just CLICK HERE (or copy and paste https:/www.tales2inspire.com/contest-2 into your browser), for all posted details. Each Tales2Inspire winner gains another feather in their cap as an author of talent!
ABOUT THE CREATOR OF TALES2INSPIIRE: Lois W. Stern is an Associate at TheNewBookReview. She is also the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. And best of all, it’s Free. Lois has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Jewel Collection anthologies and six award winning Tales2Inspire 2-in-1 Diamond Collection anthologies. She is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As TheNewBookReview review coordinator, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent.
Get a FREE Tales2Inspire book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts Visit her Tales2Inspire blog HERE.
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.
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