We are proud to announce the Winners and Finalists in the eighth annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, along with the Ten Outstanding Books of the Year. IPPY awards will be presented to winning publishers at BookExpo America 2004 in Chicago. Congratulations to all participants for their fine work!
This year, 2.068 titles were entered by 1,327 publishers. Entries came in from all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C., nine Canadian provinces, the Philippines, and one Central American country (Guatemala). This year we opened entry to overseas publishers who market their books in North America, and were joined by 12 foreign countries, including Bahrain, Serbia, and Greece.
It is a great honor to be involved with this worldwide, vibrant and diverse independent publishing community, and we are very grateful to be part of the promotional plans of so many and varied publishers. We will strive to bring attention to this community and its books through these Awards, our website, and dealings with other media.
Here’s to a great year in publishing, and here’s hoping you all have a 2005 IPPY-winning book in the works right now!
10 OUTSTANDING BOOKS OF THE YEAR
For 22 years our mission at Independent Publisher has been to recognize and encourage the work of independent authors, artists and publishers. We applaud those who are out there on the front lines producing what it takes to get noticed and impressing readers in a world of superstores and publishing conglomerates. This year’s Ten Outstanding Books were chosen for exemplifying this kind of courage, creativity, and independent spirit. Each will receive a $500 cash award.
Most Inspirational to Youth: Finders Keepers?, by Robert Arnett; illustrated by Smita Turakhia (Atman Press)
Business Breakthrough of the Year: The Smart Spot, by Dia North (Red Wheel / Weiser)
Most Likely To Save the Planet: Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches, by Daniel Imhoff (Watershed Media/Sierra Club Books)
Best Health Book: More Humane Medicine: A Liberal Catholic Bioethics, by James F. Drane (Edinboro University Press)
Best Book Arts Craftsmanship: Buddha, Gregory Wakabayashi, designer and The Little Big Book of Life, John Glick, designer (Welcome Books)
Best Corporate Branding Book: North Bay Heritage Carousel, by Patty Fedeli; photography by Ed Eng; designed by Richard M. Ference; edited by Edna Scott (North Bay Heritage Carousel)
Most Life-Changing: Almost Perfect, by Wayne Schoenfeld (SWC Editions)
Most Original Concept: The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark: Recipes for an Expedition, by Mary Gunderson (History Cooks)
Story Teller of the Year: Joseph Bruchac, author of Our Stories Remember (Fulcrum Publishing)
Most Unique Design: ITALIA Flip-o-rama About Italians in Movement, by Elliot Erwitt (a de.MO Project)
2004 Winners and Finalists
1. Fine Art
Winner: Coming Home: American Paintings 1930-1950 from the Schoen Collection (Georgia Museum of Art)
Finalists: Tammy Garcia: Form Without Boundaries (Tapestry Press)
Calder (Storm King Art Center)
2. Performing Arts
Winner: Notes on Directing (RCR Creative Press)
Finalists: Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo (Collectors Press)
No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century (Yale University Press)
3. Photography
Winner: The Pueblo Imagination: Landscape and Memory in the Photography of Lee Marmon (Beacon Press)
Finalists: The Grand River: An Aerial Journey (Grand River Conservation Foundation)
The History of Japanese Photography (Yale University Press)
4. Architecture
Winner: Built by Hand: Vernacular Buildings Around the World (Gibbs Smith, Publisher)
Finalists: The Art of the 92 County Walk (The Indiana State Museum)
Center, Vol. 12/13: The Good Building/Pressing Style (University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture)
5. Fiction - General
Winner: The Sleeping Father, by Matthew Sharpe (Soft Skull Press)
Finalists: Daughter’s Keeper, by Ayelet Waldman (Sourcebooks Landmark)
Walter Falls, by Steven Gillis (Brook Street Press)
6. Short Story Fiction
Winner: McSweeny’s 11, Various Authors (McSweeny’s Quarterly)
Finalists: Grasslands, by Michael Hetherton (Coteau Books)
Eclectica Magazine Best Fiction, Various Authors (Eclectica.org)
7. Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction
Winners: One Mom Too Many!, by Ann Bryant (Lobster Press)
Finalists: Jasper, by Michelle Groce; illustrated by Laura Duis (Novello Festival Press)
Mahalia Jackson: Gospel Singer and Civil Rights Champion, by Montrew Dunham (Patria Press)
8. Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Winner: Swords for Hire, by Will Allen (CenterPunch Press)
Finalists: The Tels, by Paul Black (Novel Instincts)
Out of Place, Out of Time, by Eric D. Knapp (iUniverse)
9. Historical/Military Fiction
Winner: The Riviera of Hades: Black Sea Assignment, by Michael Woodthorpe (Eerdmans Publishing)
Finalists: Where the Water-Dogs Laughed: the Story of the Great Bear, by Charles F. Price (High Country Publishers)
Gudrun’s Tapestry, by Joan Schweighhardt (Beagle Bay Books)
10. Horror
Winner: Sleeping Beauty, by David Halliday (LTDBooks)
Finalists: Satan’s Choice, by Bonita Wagner (iUniverse)
Fierce, by Jarrod Spicer (Ninja Productions)
11. Multicultural Fiction
Winner: Welcome to Havana, Señor Hemingway, by Alfredo José Estrada (Vista)
Finalists: The Bird is Gone: A Manifesto, by Stephen Graham Jones (Fiction Collective 2)
Dead Time, by Carlos Rubio (Gival Press)
12. Multicultural Fiction - Juv/Young Adult
Winner: The Enemy Has a Face, by Gloria D. Miklowitz (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers)
Finalists: Once Upon a Cuento, edited by Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Curbstone Press)
Xochitl and the Flowers (Xóchitl, la Niña de las Flores) by Jorge Argueta; Illustrated by Carl Angel (Children’s Book Press)
13. Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Winner: The Hit, by Jere Hoar (Context Books)
Finalists: Lowcountry Boil, by Carl T. Smith (River City Press)
The Ice Floe, by J. Tracksler (Llumina Press)
14. Romance
Winner: Threads of Passion, by Holly Hayes (Muybridge Press)
Finalists: Corn Maiden, by Joyce Jones (Lean Press)
A Love Foretold, by Suzanne DeYoung (The High Road)
15. Visionary Fiction
Winner: Monday Redux, by Robert Favole (Flywheel Publishing)
Finalists: The Hundredth Woman, by Kate Green (iUniverse)
Forward to Camelot, by Susan Sloate & Kevin Finn (1st Books)
16. Children's Picture Book (6 & under)
Winner: A Chick Called Saturday, by Joyce Dunbar; Illustrated by Brita Granström (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers)
Finalists: Playful Pals: Now I’m Reading, by Nora Gaydos; Illustrated by BB Sams (innovative KIDS)
Sink or Swim, by Valerie Coulman; illustrated by Rogé (Lobster Press)
17. Children's Picture Book (7 & over)
Winner: Whale Snow, by Debby Dahl Edwardson; Illustrated by Annie Patterson (Charlesbridge Press)
Finalists: In Every Moon There is a Face, by Charles Mathes; illustrated by Arlene Graston (Illumination Arts)
Almost to Freedom, by Micheaux Nelson; illustrated by Colin Bootman (Carolrhoda/Lerner)
18. Children’s Interactive (Activity, Audio, CDRom, etc.)
Winner: New York City Subway Trains (New York Transit Museum)
Finalists: Rain Forest Adventure (innovative KIDS)
Jellyfish Inside Out (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
19. Juv/Young Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know (Annick Press)
Finalists: Flying: Just Plane Fun (Spoonbender Books)
Jihad: Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism (Lerner Publishing Group)
20. Multicultural Non-Fiction – Juv/Young Adult
Winner: Imagine a House (Out of the Box)
Finalists: Sacagawea (Carolrhoda Books/Lerner)
The Seventh Generation: Native Students Speak About Finding the Good Path (Educational Resources Information Center)
21. Multicultural Non-Fiction Adult
Winner: Searching for Lost City: On the Trail of America’s Native Languages (The Lyons Press)
Finalists: Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class (Seal Press)
Voices of Healing: Spirit and Unity after 9/11 in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community (East West Discovery Press/Organization of Chinese Americans)
22. Essay/Creative Non-Fiction
Winner: In the Shadow of Memory, by Floyd Skloot (University of Nebraska Press)
Finalists: Our Twelve Days Before Christmas, by Christopher White (ECW Press)
War Talk, by Arundhati Roy (South End Press)
23. Autobiography/Memoir
Winner: Searching for a Mustard Seed, by Miriam Sagan (Quality Words in Print)
Finalists: Next of Kin: A Brother’s Journey to Wartime Vietnam, by Thomas L. Riley (Brassey’s Inc.)
Will Work for Food or $: A Memoir from the Roadside, by Bruce Moody (Red Wheel/Weiser)
24. Biography
Winner: Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, by William Taubman (W.W. Norton)
Finalists: Betty Shabaz: The Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X, by Russell J. Rickford (Sourcebooks)
The Last Sure Thing: The Life and Times of Bobby Riggs, by Tom LeCompte (Black Squirrel Publishing)
25. Aging/Death & Dying
Winner: No Regrets: Last Chance for a Father and Son, by Barry Neil Kaufman (H.J. Kramer/New World Library)
Finalists: Understanding Your Grief (Companion Press)
The Glory Walk: A Memoir (VanderWyk & Burnham)
26. Animals/Pets
Winner: 20 Ways to Track a Tiger (Wildlife Worlds)
Finalists: Second Chances: More Tales of Found Dogs (The Lyons Press)
San Diego Zoo Animal Library – Baby Series (Candy Cane Press/Ideals Children’s Books)
27. Business/Career
Winner: Catch! A Fishmonger’s Guide to Greatness (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)
Finalists: You Can Compete: Double Sales Without Discounting (Brixton Manor Publishing)
How to Get a Job in Europe (Planning/Communications)
28. Coffee Table Books
Winner: Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky (Art Wolfe, Inc.)
Finalists: Spirit of America: Hour of Power (Ken Duncan Panographs)
Albemarle: A Story of Landscape and American Identity (Albemarle Books)
29. Computer/Internet
Winner: The Backup Book (Schaser-Vartan Books)
Finalists: Monster Gaming (Paraglyph Press)
Rescue & Relief for Computer Users (Good Natured Publishing)
30. Cookbooks
Winner: Ray’s Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest (Documentary Media)
Finalists: Creating Chefs: A Journey Through Culinary School (The Lyons Press)
The Ace Bakery Cookbook (Whitecap Books)
31. Current Events
Winner: WAR: USA, Afghanistan, Iraq, by VII Photo Agency (de.MO)
Finalists: Burned: The True Story of the Sheila Bryan Murder Case, by Jana Cone (PublishAmerica)
Mexifornia: A State of Becoming, by Victor Davis Hanson (Encounter Books)
32. Education/Academic/Teaching
Winner: Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice (Encounter Books)
Boys and Girls Together: Improving Gender Relationships in K-6 Classrooms (Northeast Foundation for Children)
Realism: A Study in Human Structural Anatomy (Kasterstener Publications)
33. Environment/Ecology/Nature
Winner: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land (Mountaineers Books)
Finalists: In the Path of an Avalanche (Greystone Books)
Natural States: The Environmental Imagination in Maine, Oregon & the Nation (RFF Press/Resources for the Future)
34. Erotica/Sexuality
Winner: In the Inner Quarters: Erotic Stories from Ling Mengchu’s TWO SLAPS (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Finalists: Seducing the Burks (1st Books Library)
Dirty Pictures (Long Wind Publishing)
35. Finance/Investments/Economics
Winner: Money for Nothing: Real Wealth, Financial Fantasies and The Economy of the Future (Nicholas Brealey Publishing)
Finalists: Cash Cow Kids: The Guide to Financial Freedom at Any Age! (Abacus Publishing)
Taming the Tuition Tiger: Getting the Money to Graduate (Bloomberg Press)
36. Gay/Lesbian
Winner: GLBTQ*: The Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens (Free Spirit Publishing)
Finalists: Homosexuality & Civilization (Harvard/Belknap)
Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society (HumanityWorks!)
37. Health/Medicine/Nutrition
Winner: Six Modern Plagues and How We are Causing Them (Shearwater/Island Press)
Finalists: As Good as New: A Consumer’s Guide to Dental Implants (The Dental Implant Center)
The Sober Kitchen (Harvard Common Press)
38. History
Winner: The Old Chicago Neighborhood: Remembering Life in the 1940s (Chicago’s Neighborhoods Inc.)
Finalists: One of Ourselves: John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Ireland (Images from the Past)
In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863 (W.W. Norton)
39. Home & Garden
Winner: Natural Home Heating: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Options (Chelsea Green)
Finalists: A Gardener’s Guide to Frost (Willow Creek Press)
Pools & Spas: Ideas for Planning, Designing, and Landscaping (Creative Homeowner)
40. How-To (Hobby/Crafts)
Winner: Celebrity Scarves (Sixth&Spring Books)
Finalists: Debbie Mumm’s Quilts from a Gardener’s Journal (Debbie Mumm, Inc.)
Quiltmaking by Hand: Simple Stitches, Exquisite Quilts (Breckling Books)
41. Humor
Winner: The Complete Far Side, by Gary Larson (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
Finalists: Giraffes? Giraffes! by Dr. and Mrs. Haggis-On-Whey (McSweeney’s Publishing)
Dog’s Life: The Magazine for Today’s Dog, by Heidi Ott (Riverbank Press)
42. Inspirational/Spiritual
Winner: A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity, by Wm. S. Coperthwaite (Chelsea Green)
Finalists: The Station: A Reminder to Cherish the Journey, by Robert Hastings (Tristan Publishing)
His Children, by Anita Schiller and Susan Noyes Anderson (Vantage Point Press)
43. New Age
Winner: Mastering the Toltec Way (Red Wheel/Weiser)
Finalists: From Inside Out Body Energy: A Yoga Notebook (Ganesha Press)
Humanity’s Spiritual Plague (Body, Mind & Spirit Healing Center)
44. Parenting
Winner: Toddler: Real-life Stories of Those Fickle, Irrational, Urgent, Tiny People We Love (Seal Press)
Finalists: Rewards for Kids! Ready to Use Charts & Activities for Positive Parenting (American Psychological Association)
The Power of Positive Talk: Words to Help Every Child Succeed (Free Spirit Publishing)
45. Poetry
Winner: The Lord Has a Taste for Clowning, Selected Poems, by Stanley F. Chyet (Skirball Cultural Center)
Finalists: Hammer: Poems, by Mark Turpin (Sarabande Books)
What I Stole, by Diane Sher Lutovich (Sixteen Rivers Press)
46. Popular Culture
Winner: The Silver Age of Comic Book Art (Collectors Press)
Finalists: Time Off! The Unemployed Guide to San Francisco (Leisure Team Productions)
It’s a Man’s World: Men’s Adventure Magazines, the Postwar Pulps (Feral House)
47. Psychology/Mental Health
Winner: The Bard on the Brain (The Dana Press)
Finalists: Challenging Experience: An Experiential Approach to the Treatment of Serious Offenders (Wood ‘N’ Barnes)
So, What’s Normal? (Rhonnie & Company)
48. Sports/Recreation
Winner: Stoked! A History of Surf Culture (Gibbs Smith Publishers)
Finalists: The Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair McDonald (Clock Tower Press)
Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America’s Great Age of Pool (The Lyons Press)
49. Reference
Winner: Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture (ABC/CLIO)
Finalists: The Slate Roof Bible: Understanding, Installing and Restoring the World’s Finest Roof (Jenkins Publishing)
Literary Law Guide for Authors: Copyright, Trademark, and Contracts in Plain Language (Literary Entrepreneur Series/FYOS Entertainment)
50. Religion
Winner: Come and See: A Photojournalist’s Journey into the World of Mother Teresa (DC Press)
Finalists: Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart (Ascension Press)
Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living in an Affluent Society (Westminster John Knox Press)
51. Science
Winner: For the Love of Insects (Belknap/Harvard)
Finalists: Plants of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Whose View of Life? Embryos, Cloning, and Stem Cells (Harvard University Press)
52. Self Help
Winner: Swim Lessons: Ten Secrets for Making Any Dream Come True (Clydesdale Press)
Finalists: A Short Course In Kindness (L.M. Press)
50 Self-Help Classics (Nicholas Brealey Publishing)
53. Travel - Essay
Winner: The Kindness of Strangers: Tales of Fate & Fortune on the Road (Lonely Planet)
Finalists: No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late (Seal Press)
See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image (Lens & Pen Press)
54. Travel - Guidebook
Winner: 100 Hikes in Yosemite (The Mountaineers Books)
Finalists: Australia: An Ecotraveller’s Guide (Interlink Books)
Montreal: The Unknown City (Arsenal Pulp Press)
55. Women's Issues
Winner: Everything a Girl Needs to Know About Her Periods (Ronnie Sellers Productions)
Finalists: Temptress: From the Original Bad Girls to Women on Top (Greystone / Douglas & McIntyre)
Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (Princeton University Press)
