About awards for indie published children’s books

June 12, 2026 — Most people, especially authors and lovers of children’s books, have heard of the Caldecott and Newberry Awards. The Caldecott is awarded for illustrations and the Newberry, for the story.

The Caldecott and Newberry accept submissions from independently published books, however an indie book has not yet won. With so many books entered by the large publishing houses, it seems to be a moon shot for an indie to win. I think it would be wonderful for an indie book to break through one of these days. I’ve read that judges find some real gems among independent books, with others being ranked fair to poor. Indie authors don’t always have the money for expensive editiing, art, printing and more.

The Newberry was the very first literary award for children’s books. The Caldecott was the first major award for a children’s book illustrator. Nowadays, book award programs have proliferated, for traditionally published and indie books alike. For newer authors, or those new to considering submitting their book for an award, the array of choices can make anyone dizzy. How do we know if it’s a reputable award and worth our time and money (in most cases)? Many of the awards are non-profit and use any fees to help pay for running the program.

A great resource I’ve come across by The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) ranks award programs for independently published authors. According to their website, “The ratings are the opinion of the ALLi watchdog, based on pricing, reputation of the award, contract terms and conditions, transparency, judging process, and value to the author.” I’m grateful to The Wishing Shelf Book Awards for calling this resource to my attention.

I consulted this list before entering Into the Thicket into several award programs. The illustrator, John Megahan, and I are delighted to have placed in several award programs listed below.*

I did an informal poll on Facebook from my author page, asking people’s thoughts about printing award seals on the book cover. And/or placing award stickers on the cover. I posted my question on my author Facebook page and to several Facebook author groups and the result varied, especially by group. My question was:

Peeps! What are your thoughts on having 1 (or 2) award sticker images PRINTED on the front (and/or back) cover of a book to attract attention and possibly lend credibility to an indie published book? Please vote:

YES or NO 
and say WHY if you wish. I’ve heard arguments against (some people/bookstores(?) don’t like it if it’s not a well-known award). I’m talking about being a bronze medal winner and a finalist in 2 reputable indie awards.

One answer seemed elitist (and frankly, rude) to me. She wrote “Ridiculous. Having an award doesn’t mean anyone will read your book. How demeaning to the Caldecott and Newberry winners.” Yes, these are the most well-known and prestigious, but it doesn’t mean they are the only ones of any real value. This was from a group called KitLit411. She certainly could have expressed her views in a less offensive way. There were many more helpful and supportive answers from this group and the others.

I was considering whether or not to print one or more of the award seals on my front or back cover. The thinking is that the awards, whether or not a potential buyer is familiar with a particular one or not, could attract attention and sway someone to purchase the book. In other words, using the award seal as a marketing tool that might lend some more credibility or prestige to one’s book.

Other groups I posted my question in were: Authors Supporting Authors, Michigan Authors, Pages Promotions Indie Reads, The Wishing Shelf Awards and Written in the Mitten.

The poll results broke down like this:

Yes - 24

Depends - 12

No - 11

I didn’t include the answers on my author page, which were all affirmative. Seems like that could be skewed. There were a couple respondents who “hate” stickers on covers and even moreso hate when the seals are printed on the covers, because you can’t remove them.

As you can see, about half said yes, to use the stickers or revise the cover to print an award seal or two on the cover.

The ones who responded with a caveat wrote things like it depends on the award, whether or not you actually won (it wasn’t clear to me if they meant won first place or won versus being a finalist, say.)

Some gave alternative ideas, which I liked, such as rather than printing the seal on the front cover, we might want to include the awards on the back cover and rather than using the seal/logo, write it out. Some felt it detracts from the clean look of a cover.

The gist of it is that, of course, you’ll never please everybody, so please yourself. It’s really the author’s and illustrator’s call. We didn’t change the cover this time around but I include all my book news, including awards, on my author website and on social media. I will probably incorporate the awards on a new postcard and/or bookmark, as well, for book events.

We’ve been making some minor adjustments (like ISBN and other printing details) for our paperback version, which we are publishing through Ingram Spark. One of the best parts of this is that our paperback will be available to bookshops and libraries through Ingram, the largest wholesale book distributor in the United States and the world. They have a global reach. Our hardcover publisher, Book Baby, no longer works with Ingram. This was disappointing, but was the push I needed to move forward with a digital and paperback version. A Kindle version is available, free with Kindle Unlimited (we’re paid for pages read) and 14.99 for the paperback

Our paperback price is much more reasonable than the hardcover at $27.99. We’re really happy about being able to make our book more affordable. We’re waiting for a printed proof copy that’s being mailed to me. There was a margin issue on the last one that we’re hoping is resolved (a white line/space at the top of all the pages that should have had the illustration “bleed” off the page (bleed is the printing term). If this proof looks good, the paperback will be available, perhaps as soon as next week, I’m happy to say.

Into the Thicket awards to date

• Goodnightreads All-Star Award - June 2026 - A reader driven honor for children’s books with the most 5-star nominations
• Next Generation Indie Book Awards - Finalist 2026 - Children’s Picture Book Illustrations (Best Illustrator)
• Readers’ Choice Book Award - Silver Medal winner 2026 - Children’s Book Ages 3-7 / 5 star review 2026
• The Wishing Shelf Book Awards - BRONZE MEDAL WINNER 2025 - Children’s Books ages 6-8