The American Library Association is launching a new literary award that is primarily aimed at debut and self-published authors. They are running it in conjunction with the Library Journal and Bilbioboard.
The formation of the SELF-e Literary Award began with BiblioBoard and Library Journal’s SELF-e program, an e-book discovery service launched in May 2014 that helps connect self-published authors with librarians nationally and internationally.
There are not many awards that self-published authors who exclusively publish e-books are eligible for. Amazon, Kobo have Wattpad run their own annual events, but most people would be scratching their heads if asked who won last year.
The deadline for the self-published fiction and poetry submissions is December 18 and is only open to African-American authors in the U.S. Winning entries will be decided during ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Boston in January 2016, and awards will be presented in Orlando during ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in June 2016. This year’s award will be given in tribute of Charleston librarian Cynthia Hurd.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
