Message from Catherine Goulet, Chair of the
2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards program began four years ago, and every year we have been thrilled with the entries. But this year surpassed all expectations. There were close to 50% more entries than last year and throughout the judging process, I heard continuous feedback from our judges about how impressed they were with the outstanding quality, the excellence in writing, and the creativity of books entered.

All of us at Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group are grateful to be part of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest not-for-profit book awards program in the world, which continues to honor and recognize so many talented individuals within the independent book publishing industry. This year's cash prizes total more than $12,000 with over 240 awards to be handed out to the winning authors and publishers.

Judges of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards

With a significant increase in the number of entries, it was essential for us to increase the size of our judging team this year. The judges included seasoned book editors (including many who have worked with major publishing houses such as Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Penguin Books, Bantam Books, Dell Publishing and Avon Books) as well as designers, book buyers, agents, book reviewers, publishing executives, writing professors, best-selling authors, and other industry leaders.

A big thank you goes out to each of the members of our prestigious judging team this year including: Beth Bruno, C. Hope Clark, phenomenal lead fiction judge Charlotte Cook, Richard Cook, Emily Courtney, Peter Cyngot, Gareth Esersky, Mary Ellen Gavin, Sandi Gelles-Cole, Tag Goulet, Danelle McCafferty, John McDougall, Brenna Pearce, Sheila Seifert, Myrsini Stephanides and the many other judges who prefer to remain anonymous.

Thank You and Congratulations to Entrants

A heartfelt thank you and congratulations goes out to all entrants in the 2011 awards! We were honored to have reviewed your books. Without you, this awards program would not exist.

Congratulations to all the Finalists and Winners and to the seven Grand Prize Winners. In June, the seven Grand Prize Winners will receive an elegant trophy, gold medal, and cash prize ranging from $250 to $1,500. Each of the 60 category Winners will receive a gold medal and $100 cash prize, while each Finalist will receive a silver medal. We look forward to celebrating with this year's Winners and Finalists at the world famous Plaza Hotel in NYC this May!

Thank You to Our Partners and Sponsor

Thank you to Marilyn Allen and the Allen O'Shea literary agency for their support and partnership with the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for another year. Marilyn is a stand up person with a prestigious publishing background. Each year we hear from Marilyn how happy she is to be involved with this program and how much she admires the professionalism of all involved. Marilyn commented "Congratulations to all of the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winners. You should feel very proud of this honor. This is truly a rewarding step on your publishing path. I look forward to reading the top 60 books."

Thank you once again to FabJob Inc. for providing their continued financial support and for being the lead sponsor of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. A special thank you goes out to Shelley Anderson, Awards Co-ordinator, and Dave Brandt, Books and Judge Co-ordinator, who worked tireless hours to ensure the success of the awards program. For 2012 we hope to have additional sponsors who will receive recognition for their support of indie book publishing.

We hope each of the books in this year's awards will receive all the recognition they deserve!