2018 MEDALISTS

Congratulations and sincere thanks to the independent authors and publishers who participated in our 22nd annual, 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards contest.

Here are the purchasing links for the gold, silver and bronze medalists in General categories 43-83. For the Regional, E-Book, and Outstanding category medalists, click the links at the right.

 

43. Aging/Death & Dying

GOLD

Heart Guide: True Stories of Grief and Healing

By Diana J. Ensign, JD

(SpiritHawk Life Publications)

 

SILVER

A Friend Indeed: Help Those You Love When They Grieve

by Amy Florian; with Ken Florian

(Corgenius)

 

BRONZE (tie)

While They’re Still Here: A Memoir

By Patricia Williams

(She Writes Press)

 

Holding the Net: Caring for my Mother on the Tightrope of Aging

By Melanie P. Merriman

(Green Writers Press)

44. Animals/Pets

GOLD

The Quarry Fox: And Other Critters of the Wild Catskills

By Leslie T. Sharpe

(The Overlook Press)

 

SILVER (tie)

The Pet Healer Project: Stories of the Healing Bond Between Humans and Animals

By Sandy Johnson

(Top Reads Publishing, Inc.)

 

Welcome Home: An Animal Rights Perspective on Living with Dogs & Cats

By Nathan & Jennifer Winograd

(Almaden Books)

 

BRONZE

Wild & Furry Animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains

By Lee James Pantas

(R. Brent & Co.)

45. Business/Careers/Sales

GOLD

You Don’t Own Me: How Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie’s Dark Side

By Orly Lobel

(W.W. Norton & Co.)

 

SILVER

Non Obvious: How to Predict Trends and Win the Future

By Rohit Bhargava

(IdeaPress Publishing)

 

BRONZE (tie)

Capitalists ARISE!: End Economic Inequality, Grow the Middle Class, Heal the Nation

By Peter Georgescu with David Dorsey

(Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

 

Seeing Around Corners: How to Unlock the Potential of Big Data

By Graham Hogg

(LID Publishing)

46. Cookbooks - General

GOLD

Lee Miller: A Life with Food, Friends & Recipes

By Ami Bouhassane

(Grapefrukt Forlag & Penrose Film Productions Ltd)

 

SILVER

The Elote Cafe Notebook

By Jeff Smedstad; photography by Janise Witt and Jeff Smedstad; edited, designed and produced by Carol Haralson

(Self Published)

 

BRONZE (tie)

Bubbe and Me in the Kitchen: A Kosher Cookbook of Beloved Recipes and Modern Twists

By Miri Rotkovitz; photography by Evi Abeler

(Sonoma Press)

 

Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion

By David Wolfman and Marlene Finn

(Douglas & McIntyre)

47. Cookbooks - Nutritional/Vegetarian

GOLD

Earth Eats: Real Food Green Living

By Annie Corrigan with Daniel Orr

(Indiana University Press)

 

SILVER

Healthy Baking: Cakes, Cookies + Raw

By Teresa Cutter; photography by Paul Cutter ACS

(The Healthy Chef Pty Ltd)

 

BRONZE

Canning Full Circle: From Garden to Jar to Table

By Diane Devereaux; photography by Jeff Hage

(Devereaux Cyber Inc.)

48. Current Events I (Political/Economic/Foreign Affairs)

GOLD

China’s Great Migration: How the Poor Built a Prosperous Nation

By Bradley M. Gardner

(Independent Institute)

 

SILVER

Reimagining Journalism in a Post-Truth World; How Late-Night Comedians, Internet trolls, and Savvy Reporters are Transforming News

By Ed Madison and Ben DeJarnette

(Praeger)

 

BRONZE (tie)

Gangsters to Governors: The New Bosses of Gambling in America

By David Clary

(Rutgers University Press)

 

Broke and Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country

By Francesco Duina

(Stanford University Press)

49. Current Events II (Social Issues/Humanitarian)

GOLD

Meeting in the Margins: An Invitation to Encounter Society’s Invisible People

By Cynthia Trenshaw

(She Writes Press)

 

SILVER (tie)

Witnesses of the Unseen: Seven Years in Guantanamo

By Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir

(Redwood Press)

 

Ten Cultures, Twenty Lives: Refugee Life Stories

By Daina Jurika-Owen

(Amaya Books)

 

BRONZE

Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium

By Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco, PhD

(Praeger)

50. Education I (Workbook/Resources)

GOLD

HEART!: Fully Forming Your Professional Life as a Teacher and Leader

By Timothy D. Kanold

(Solution Tree Press)

 

SILVER

The New Art and Science of Teaching

By Robert J. Marzano

(Solution Tree Press)

 

BRONZE

Research-Based Strategies: Narrowing the Achievement Gap for Under-Resourced Students

By Ruby K.Payne, PhD, and Bethanie H. Tucker, Ed.D

(Aha! Process, Inc.)

51. Education II (Commentary/Theory)

GOLD

What I Didn’t Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher

Edited by Lee Gutkind

(In Fact Books)

 

SILVER (tie)

Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By Joseph E. Aoun

(MIT Press)

 

The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System™ for Transforming the Teenage Mind

By Amy Edelstein

(Emergence Education Press)

 

BRONZE

Mr Clark’s Big Band: A Year of Laughter, Tears, and Jazz in a Middle School Band Room

By Meredith O’Brien

(Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing)

52. Environment/Ecology/Nature

GOLD 

Eat the Beetles!: An Exploration into our Conflicted Relationship with Insects

By David Waltner-Toews

(ECW Press)

 

SILVER

Yellowstone Migrations

By Joe Riis

(Braided River)

 

BRONZE

Sage Grouse: Icon of the West

By Noppadol Paothong and Kathy Love

(Self-Published)

53. Finance/Investment/Economics

GOLD

Wealth by Virtue

By Chad Gordon

(GreenStar Press)

 

SILVER

The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty

By Jonathan Morduch & Rachel Schneider

(Princeton University Press)

 

BRONZE

Financial Nutrition for Young Women: How (and Why) to Teach Girls about Money

By Melissa Donohue, Ed.D.

(Praeger)

54. LGBT+ Non-Fiction

GOLD

¡Cuéntamelo!: Oral Histories by LGBT Latino Immigrants 

By Juliana Delgado Lopera

(Aunt Lute Books)

 

SILVER

The Inheritance of Shame: A Memoir

By Peter Gajdics

(Brown Paper Press)

 

BRONZE

The Authenticity Experiment: Lessons From the Best & Worst Year of My Life

By Kate Carroll de Gutes

(Two Sylvias Press)

55. Gift/Specialty/Journal

GOLD

The Historical Heroines Coloring Book: Pioneering Women in Science from the 18th and 19th Centuries

By Elizabeth Lorayne; Illustrated by Kendra Shedenhelm

(White Wave Press)

 

SILVER

I Will Always Love You

By Melissa Lyons; Illustrated by Mary Cindrich

(Choose to Choose Inc.)

 

BRONZE

Losing My Reflection: A Coloring Book Journal to Record Your Personal Grief Experience

By Kim Owen Mazur

(Beaver’s Pond Press)

56. Holiday

GOLD

The Santa Thief

By Alane Adams; Illustrated by Lauren Gallegos

(SparkPress)

 

SILVER

Fog Valley Winter: Pioneer Heritage, Backroad Rambles, & Vintage Recipes

By Frances Rivetti

(Fog Valley Press)

 

BRONZE

Chanukah Tales from Oykvetchnik

By Scott Hilton Davis; Illustrations by Amy F. Levine

(Jewish Storyteller Press)

57. Health/Medicine/Nutrition

GOLD

The Secret Life of Your Microbiome: Why Nature and Biodiversity are Essential to Health and Happiness

By Susan L. Prescott, MD, PhD and Alan C. Logan, ND

(New Society Publishers)

 

SILVER

Back to Balance: The Art, Science, and Business of Medicine

By Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright

(Disruption Books)

 

BRONZE

Food Truths From Farm to Table: 25 Surprising Ways to Shop & Eat Without Guilt

By Michele Payn

(Praeger)

58. History (U.S.)

GOLD

The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote

By Brooke Kroeger

(SUNY Press)

 

SILVER

Music at the White House from the 18th to the 21st Centuries

By Elise K. Kirk

(The White House Historical Association)

 

BRONZE (tie)

Lynched: The Power of Memory in a Culture of Terror

By Angela D. Sims

(Baylor University Press)

 

Forgotten Under a Tropical Sun: War Stories by American Veterans in the Philippines, 1898-1913

By Joseph P. McCallus

(Kent State University Press)

59. History (World)

GOLD

World War II and the Caribbean

Edited by Karen E. Eccles and Debbie McCollin

(University of the West Indies Press)

 

SILVER

The Blue Shirts: Adrien Arcand and Fascist Anti-Semitism in Canada

By Hugues Théorêt

(University of Ottawa Press)

 

BRONZE (tie)

The Truth of the Russian Revolution: The Memoirs of he Tsar’s Chief of Security and his Wife

By Konstantin Ivanovich Globachev and Sofia Nikolaevna Globacheva

(SUNY Press)

 

The World Turns to War

By Jay Wertz; foreword by Gerhard Weinberg, PhD

(Monroe Publications)

60. Home & Garden

GOLD

The Holistic Home: Feng Shui for Mind, Body, Spirit, Space

By Laura Benko

(Helios Press)

 

SILVER

Boathouses of Lake Minnetonka

Photography by Karen Melvin and Written by Melinda Nelson

(Big Picture Press)

 

BRONZE

Garden Wisdom: 365 Days

By Cheryl Wilfong

(Heart Path Press)

61. How-To (Crafts/Hobby/Industrial Arts)

GOLD

Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts, & Conversations

By Rebecca Crowell & Jerry McLaughlin

(Squeegee Press)

 

SILVER

Dollface Vintage: An Everyday Gal’s Guide to a Vintage Lifestyle

By Cherry Dollface

(Working Class Publishing)

 

BRONZE

The Crochet Wildlife Guide: Amigurumi Techniques, Tips, and Patterns

By Phillip Ha and Jeff Wiehler

(Self-Published)

62. Inspirational/Spiritual

GOLD

To Be Soul Do Soul: Adventures in Creative Consciousness

By Hiro Boga

(Deva Publishing)

 

SILVER

Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body

By Angela Doll Carlson

(Ancient Faith Publishing)

 

BRONZE

Walking With Dogs: A Spiritual Journey

By Marti Healy; illustrated by Mimi Durand Caroe

(The Design Group Press)

63. New Age/Mind-Body-Spirit

GOLD

Embracing the End of Life: A Journey Into Dying & Awakening

By Patt Lind-Kyle, MA

(Llewellyn Publications)

 

SILVER

The Year of Drinking Magic: Twelve Ceremonies With the Vine of Souls

By Guy Crittenden

(Apocryphile Press)

 

BRONZE

Change the Story of Your Health: Using Shamanic and Jungian Techniques for Healing

By Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD

(Findhorn Press)

64. Parenting

GOLD

18 Master Values: Be the Parent You Wish You’d Had

By Christine Crockett Smith

(Kekuatan Satu Publishing)

 

SILVER

Born to Eat: Whole, Healthy Foods from Baby’s First Bite

By Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN & Wendy Jo Peterson, MS, RDN

(Skyhorse Publishing)

 

BRONZE

Stepparenting the Grieving Child: Cultivating Past and Present Connections with Children Who Have Lost a Parent

By Diane Ingram Fromme

(Merry Dissonance Press)

65. Popular Culture

GOLD

Marvel’s Black Panther: The Illustrated History of a King: The Complete Comics Chronology

By Dennis Culver

(Insight Editions)

 

SILVER

Playboy Laughs: The Comedy, Comedians, and Cartoons of Playboy

By Patty Farmer

(Beaufort Books)

 

BRONZE

Seeing, Selling, and Situating Radio in Canada, 1922-1956

By Michael Windover and Anne F. MacLennan

(Dalhousie Architectural Press)

66. Psychology/Mental Health

GOLD

Uniquely Normal: Tapping the Reservoir of Normalcy to Treat Autism

By Robert J. Bernstein with Robin Cantor-Cooke

(Future Horizons)

 

SILVER

Baffled by Love: Stories of the Lasting Impact of Childhood Trauma Inflicted by Loved Ones

By Laurie Kahn

(She Writes Press)

 

BRONZE

A to Z Healing Toolbox: A Practical Guide for Navigating Grief and Trauma with Intention

By Susan Hannifin-MacNab

(Wise Ink Creative Publishing)

67. Sports/Fitness/Recreation

GOLD

Legendary Lumber: The Top 100 Player Bats in Baseball History

By Joe Orlando with Tom Zappala and Ellen Zappala

(Peter E. Randall Publisher)

 

SILVER

Rockne & Jones: Notre Dame, USC, and the Greatest Rivalry of the Roaring Twenties

By Thomas Rupp

(Kent State University Press)

 

BRONZE

Downhills Don’t Come Free: One Man’s Bike Ride From Alaska to Mexico

By Jerry Holl

(Wise Ink Creative Publishing)

68. Reference

GOLD

The Encyclopedia of Trade Goods: Vol 6 - Provisions of the Fur Trade

By James A. Hanson

(Museum of the Fur Trade)

 

SILVER

American Academy of Pediatrics Quick Reference Guide to Pediatric Care

By Deepak M. Kamat, MD, PhD, FAAP

(American Academy of Pediatrics)

 

BRONZE

The American Middle Class: An Economic Encyclopedia of Progress and Poverty

Edited by Robert S. Rycroft

(Greenwood)

69. Religion (Eastern/Western)

GOLD (tie)

The Last Christians: Stories of Persecution, Flight, and Resilience in the Middle East

By Andreas Knapp

(Plough Publishing House)

 

Religious Agrarianism and the Return of Place: From Values to Practice in Sustainable Agriculture

By Todd LeVasseur

(SUNY Press)

 

SILVER

Truth and Illusion: The Politics of Spirituality and How One Person's Lie Is Another One's Truth

By Carol E. Richardson

(Highest Harmony Healing & Coaching)

 

BRONZE

Who Cut God's Hair

By Garrett Glass

(Self-Published)

70. Science

GOLD

UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says

By Donald R. Prothero and Timothy D. Callahan

(Indiana University Press)

 

SILVER 

Rising Tides: Climate Refugees in the Twenty-First Century

By John R. Wennersten and Denise Robbins

(Indiana University Press)

 

BRONZE

North Dakota’s Geologic Legacy

By John P. Bluemle

(North Dakota State University Press)

71. Self Help

GOLD

Living Happy to Be Me!: Dancing Your Soul Lightstyle

By Valerie René Sheppard

(The Heart of Living Vibrantly)

 

SILVER

Swing for the Fences: Show Up. Dig In. Suck Less

By Gregory Bancroft

(Wise Ink Creative Publishing)

 

BRONZE

Mind To Mouth: A Busy Chick’s Guide to Mindful Mealtime Moments

By Heather Sears

(Kensho Press)

72. Sexuality/Relationships

GOLD

Watching Porn: And Other Confessions of an Adult Entertainment Journalist

By Lynsey G.

(The Overlook Press)

 

SILVER

Vegan Love: Dating and Partnering for the Cruelty-Free Gal, with Fashion, Makeup & Wedding Tips

By Maya Gottfried; illustrated by Dame Darcy

(Skyhorse Publishing)

 

BRONZE

Evolution of Loving

By Carl Studna

(Motivational Press)

73. Transportation (Auto/Aviation/Railroad, etc.)

GOLD

Red 4WD Tractors 1957-2017: High-Horsepower Four-Wheel-Drive Tractors from International Harvester, Steiger, J.I. Case & Case IH

By Lee Klancher

(Octane Press)

 

SILVER

Book of Gow

By Mr. Bones, Ken Schmidt and Jon Suckling

(Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop)

 

BRONZE

Big History in Flight: From Drifting and Soaring to Flying and Deep Space Exploration

By Wendy Curtis and Evan Penn Serio

(GeoBook Studio)

74. Travel – Essay

GOLD

The World’s Most Travelled Man: A Twenty-Three-Year Odyssey to and Through Every Country on the Planet

By Mike Spencer Bown

(Douglas & McIntyre)

 

SILVER

Beyond Mile Zero: The Vanishing Alaska Highway Lodge Community

By Lily Gontard; photography by Mark Kelly

(Lost Moose)

 

BRONZE

Four Seasons in a Day: Travel, Transitions, and Letting Go of the Place We Call Home

By Deborah L. Jacobs

(DJWorking Unlimited Inc.)

75. Travel – Guidebook

GOLD

Hiking Acadia National Park: A Guide to the Park’s Greatest Hiking Adventures

By Dolores Kong and Dan Ring

(FalconGuides)

 

SILVER

Base Camp Las Vegas: 101 Hikes in the Southwest

By Deborah Wall

(Imbrifex Books)

 

BRONZE

Secret New Orleans

By Chris Champagne

(Jonglez Publishing)

76. Women's Issues

GOLD

Before All Memory is Lost: Women’s Voices from the Holocaust

Edited by Myrna Goldenberg

(The Azrieli Foundation)

 

SILVER

Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites who Fought for Women’s Right to Vote

By Johanna Neuman

(Washington Mews Books/NYU Press)

 

BRONZE (tie)

Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Nine Political Wives

By Anne Michaud

(Ogunquit-NY Press)

 

#Me Too: Essays About How and Why This Happened, What it Means, and How to Make Sure it Never Happens Again

Edited by Lori Perkins

(Riverdale Avenue Books)

77. Writing/Publishing

GOLD

Write Like a Pro: Ten Techniques for Getting Your Point Across at Work (and in Life)

By Carl Hausman

(Praeger)

 

SILVER

How to Create a Successful Children’s Picture Book

By Bobbie Hinman

(Best Fairy Books)

 

BRONZE

Writing as a Path to Awakening: A Year to Becoming an Excellent Writer & Living an Awakened Life

By Albert Flynn DeSilver

(Sounds True)

78. Book/Author/Publisher Website

GOLD

www.Robot-Proof.com

Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By Joseph E. Aoun; web developer Derrick Henry

(MIT Press)

 

SILVER

www.PonyDreams.com

The Smallest Horse

By Lorie List & Amanda Holbo

(Pony Tales, LLC)

 

BRONZE

www.FortyGavels.com

Forty Gavels: The Life of Reuben Soderstrom and the Illinois AFL-CIO

By Carl Soderstrom, Robert Soderstrom, Chris Stevens, and Andrew Burt

(CWS Publishing)

79. Cover Design – Fiction

GOLD

Jasper Wild: Book Three in the Dyed in the Green Series

By George Mercer; cover design by Dan Stiles

(Write Nature)

 

SILVER

The Atheist and the Parrotfish

By Richard Barager; cover design by D. Robert Pease

(Evolved Publishing)

 

BRONZE

Wild, Wild Voices: Everyday Rhymes for the Untamed Minds

By Amy Lou Miller; Illustrations by Melinda Moen; Cover design by Sally Frances Lee

(Second Swan Press)

80. Cover Design – Non-Fiction

GOLD

Derby Girl: A Memoir

By Sammi Jones; cover designed by Jamie Hohnadel Trosen

(North Dakota State University Press)

 

SILVER (tie)

Things that Join the Sea and the Sky: Field Notes on Living

By Mark Nepo; cover design by Jennifer Miles

(Sounds True)

 

It’s Nice to Meet Me Too: The Laughter and Lessons Learned from Raising Randy, a Young Man with Tuberous Sclerosis

By Cynthia Rust; cover design by Amy Ashford

(Beaver’s Pond Press)

 

BRONZE

Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina’s Superdome

By Bruce S. Snow; cover designed by Amy Ashford

(Et Alia Press)

81. Cover Design - Non-Fiction Oversize

GOLD

Perfectly Aged: 40 Years of Stories from the Taste of Texas

Designed by Limb Design - Elise DeSilva, Linda Limb, Kara Forage, Guillermo Cubillos; photography & styling by Debora Smail

(Taste of Texas)

 

SILVER

Kanban: Traditional Shop Signs of Japan

By Alan Scott Pate; design by Jeff Wincapaw; principal photography by Steve Oliver and iocolor, Seattle

(Mingei International Museum / Princeton University Press)

 

BRONZE

Spring is Here

By Nancy Jo Shaw; illustrated by Andrea Larson; design by Laura Drew

(Beaver’s Pond Press)

82. Best First Book - Fiction

GOLD (tie)

Hollywood Homicide

By Kellye Garrett

(Midnight Ink)

 

 

 

 


Alphonse

By Carl Sever

(SparkPress)

 

SILVER

Clown William

By Robin Elno

(IngramElliott Publishing)

 

BRONZE

In the Shadow of Light

By Tracy Causley

(The Amethyst Press)

83. Best First Book - Non-Fiction

GOLD (tie)

Armand Merizon: His Life and Art 1920-2010

By Muriel Zandstra with Jan Keessen and Randall VanderMey

(ArtBookPrinting)

 

Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

By Carolyn Porter

(Skyhorse Publishing)

 

SILVER

Go Tell the Crocodiles: Chasing Prosperity in Mozambique

By Rowan Moore Gerety

(The New Press)

 

BRONZE

Kitchen Table Tarot: Pull up a Chair, Shuffle the Cards, and Let’s Talk Tarot

By Melissa Cynova

(Llewellyn Publications)
 

 

 

 

 

Continue to Regional and Ebook categories