Sunday, December 11, 2011

Selp pub writer wins Southern Fiction Award

I am quite excited about this news because it shows that self published authors can have as much quality and clout as "regularly" published authors. Jessica James (I like that name, too!) has won the 2011 John Esten Cooke Fiction Award for her historical fiction novel Noble Cause.

The award is presented each year by to an author of a historical novel dealing with the South. According to a press release: "Other John Esten Cooke Award winners include New York Times bestselling authors Donald McCaig for Jacob's Ladder, Robert Macomber for Point of Honor, and Harry Turtledove for The Guns of the South."

In the coming months and years, I hope more self published books win literary awards, as it will show agents and publishing companies that they really need to pay attention to indie writers! Do you know of any other indie award winners? Please let me know, and I'll post them here.

5 comments:

marianne wheelaghan said...

Hi Louisa,
I think times are definitely changing in the book world and the more success indie authors have, the more attention they will get - and the more respect. Changed days, for the better!!

Jessica James said...

Thanks for the mention! Winning this award finally gave me the confidence to "come out" that my novel was self-published. It has won other national awards, but none quite so prestigious or dear to my heart as the John Esten Cooke Award. I am proud to be an indie author!

Louisa said...

Thanks for stopping by, and congratulations on your award! You give all indie authors hope!

Unknown said...

Wonderful news to hear. I've wondered about self-publishing myself. Will definitely think more about it now! www.deborahmartinauthor.com

Louisa said...

Hi Deborah,
Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, I think it's worth a try. I've published some short stories on smashwords, and I'm glad just to have my work out there; it gives me motivation to keep writing.