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21-04-2020

My Book Awards

Fun to Run or a Total and Utter Nightmare

 

Seven years ago, I set up the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Why? Well, I was upset with book awards open to self-published and independently published authors. I felt they were a total rip-off. I remember, I was a finalist in one America-based award - I was so excited – and they didn’t even bother to tell me. Then, in another award, also America-based, I did very, VERY well but all they were interested in was selling me dodgy winner stickers at a crazy, inflated price. Then there was the feedback I got from another award. It was a joke! It was 19 (yes, 19!) words long and congratulated me on writing a wonderful adult book set in war-time France. IT WAS A CHILDREN’S BOOK SET IN A MAGIC BOOKSHOP!

So I went for a walk…

I went for a walk and decided in amongst the tall chestnut trees to set up my own book award. And that is what I did.

But it had to be different. Much, much different to what was on offer at present. So I thought to myself, what do I want from a book award? Well, I want the organisers to see me, actually see me – and my book. I don’t just want to be a ‘$’ sign or a ‘£’ sign to them. Also, I want to get ‘value for money’ so, even if I don’t win, I want to get feedback from the judging. And, finally, I don’t want to pay lots of money to enter.

So, from this, I set up The Wishing Shelf Book Awards (www.thewsa.co.uk).

Over the last seven years, it has grown. Wow! How it’s grown. In the first year we had 42 authors and publishers enter. This year it will be closer to 300! Now we have a very interactive Facebook page where the authors and publishers can discuss the award and how best to run it. Now we provide the authors who enter a catchy quote to help them to market their books. Now we post reviews – based on the feedback – on Amazon, Goodreads and Bookbub. Now we actively support Blind Children UK, helping them to produce books for children with sight problems. Now we have over twenty schools and two adult reading groups (1 in London, 1 in Stockholm, a total of 67 adult readers) helping us to judge the books. Now we are recommended by ALLi; not many are! Now we send authors who enter feedback based on the readers’ comments. They look at the cover, the content, the editing and the style. We even provide the authors with statistics e.g. How many of the readers would read another book by this author. How many of the readers felt the cover was strong etc. etc. And the prize list for the finalists and winners is pretty impressive too.

So now, my tiny award is a bit of a monster and is taking more and more of my time. Is it fun? Yes, most of the time it is. And that’s important as the Award is not run for profit and every penny/cent of the entry fee is spent on running the award and helping to support Blind Children UK. In fact, most of the time it is very rewarding and our reputation on and off the web is ‘glowing’. Don’t get me wrong. We do mess up. Three years ago, for example, it took too long to get all the feedback to the authors. So, this year, I’m employing help. The Wishing Shelf Awards actually has a member of staff! An ex-primary school head teacher who will help me to correlate all the feedbacks. It’s all very exciting.

But do you know what the best bit is? The very, VERY best bit. Twice now, one of the US-based awards I hate has attempted to buy my small awards. And I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed telling them to go to…well, you know where. Now THAT was fun!

Edward Trayer, under the pen name Billy Bob Buttons, is the author of sixteen children’s books including the UK People’s Book Prize Winner, I Think I Murdered Miss. He is also the organizer of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards.

www.thewsa.co.uk

 

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01-04-2020

2019 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

THE WISHING SHELF BOOK AWARDS 2019

WINNERS

Below is a list of the 2019 WINNERS in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. The adult books were read and judged by 2 Reading Groups, 1 in London and 1 in Stockholm; the children’s books by 8 UK primary and secondary schools. The books were marked according to EDITING, THEME, STYLE, COVER and, in the case of many of the children’s books, ILLUSTRATIONS.

If you happen to be looking for a good read, the readers at The Wishing Shelf Awards thoroughly recommend the following:

www.thewsa.co.uk/winners2019

 

 

Category 1 Pre-School Picture Books

GOLD

Don’t Drink the Pink, B.C.R. Fegan, ill. by Lenny Wen

SILVER

A Spooky Tale, Sue Wickstead

Molly’s Magic Brolly, Sarah Morrell

BRONZE

Oscar the Ferry Cat, Molly Arbuthnott, ill. by Agnes Treherne

Bears Can't Play Soccer, Beth Thompson, ill by Roksana Oslizlo

Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap, Justine Avery, ill by Daria Yudina

 

Category 2 Books for 6 – 8 Year Olds

GOLD

Imagine That: The Magic of the Mysterious Lights, George Yuhasz

SILVER

The Book of Silly Rhymes, Cheryl Lee-White, ill by Louise Rarity

A Tiger’s Tale, Wayne Gerard Trotman

BRONZE

It is All Right Now, Riki Ella

Persephone: Book 7- Early Myths: Kids Books on Greek Myth, Dr Simon Spence, Foreword by Stephen Fry

Dash and Victoria Find True Love: Pet and Historical Figures Book 2, Vicki Tashman, ill. by Wendy All

Category 3 Books for 9 – 12 Year Olds

GOLD

The Adventurers and The Cursed Castle, Jemma Hatt

SILVER

The Haunting, Kristin A. Fulton

The Boy Who Dreamt the World, Jethro Punter

BRONZE

Hidden Scales, A. M. Robin

Britfield and the Lost Crown, C R Stewart

Monty and the Monster, Rhonda Smiley

 

Category 4 Books for Teenagers

GOLD

Dear Jane, Marina DelVecchio

SILVER

Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall, Rae Knightly

iGiST, L. S. Larson

BRONZE

Battle Ground, Rachel Churcher

Taelstone, Robyn Prokop

The Wolf and the Rain, Tanya Lee

 

Category 5 Books for Adults (fiction)

GOLD

The Lost Valor of Love, E A Carter

What You Don't See, Livi Hallahan

SILVER

Honor Kills - Angelina Bonaparte, Nanci Rathbun

Cooperative Lives, Patrick Finegan

How Dare The Birds Sing, Marina Osipova

Llywelyn, Michael Hill

 

BRONZE

VanOps: The Lost Power, Avanti Centrae

Love in an Undead Age, A. M. Geever

Harps Upon the Willows, M B Gibson

Wake of the Sadico, Jo Sparkes

Glamorous: A Grace Bishop Novel, Denise Bossarte

David - Savakerrva, Volume 1, Lawrence Brown

 

Category 6 Books for Adults (non-fiction)

GOLD

Inconvenient Memories: A Personal Account of the Tiananmen Square Incident and the China Before and After, Anna Wang

SILVER

Your Body's Environmental Chemical Burden, Cindy Klement

Excess Baggage: One Family's Around-the-World Search for Balance, Tracey Carisch

 

BRONZE

90 Days to Live, Rodney Stamps, Paige Stamps

A Mother's Heart: Memoir of a Special Needs Parent, Eichin Chang-Lim

There is Nothing to Fix, Suzanne Jones

 

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16-02-2020

THE 2019 FINALISTS

THE WISHING SHELF BOOK AWARDS 2019

FINALISTS

Below is a list of the 2019 FINALISTS in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. The children’s books were read and judged by children in 8 UK primary and secondary schools, the adult books by 2 Reading Groups, 1 in London and 1 in Stockholm. The books were marked according to EDITING, THEME, STYLE, COVER and, in the case of many of the children’s books, ILLUSTRATIONS. Every book that was awarded over 30/40 is a finalist.

 

The WINNERS will be announced on April 1st, 2020.

 

If you happen to be looking for a good read, the readers at The Wishing Shelf Awards thoroughly recommend the following:

 

 

 

Category 1 Pre-School Picture Books

 

A Spooky Tale: A Walk with the Teacher, Sue Wickstead

All Families Invited, Kathleen Goodman, ill. by Jo Edwards

Atch…Oops! Nicky Gilbody, ill. by Phil Littler

Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap, Justine Avery, ill by Daria Yudina

Bailey Brings Her Friends Together With Music, Kali Bate

Bears Can't Play Soccer, Beth Thompson, ill by Roksana Oslizlo

Counting on Ha Ha Island, Noni - Sandra Jackson Ford, ill. by Lori Lay and Freddy Miller Santana

Don’t Drink the Pink, B.C.R. Fegan, ill. by Lenny Wen

Finding Tiger, Megan Chen, ill. by Amberly Tran

Greedy Gertie, Salma Zaman, ill by Ric Lamb

Greedy Gertie, Salma Zaman, ill. by Ric Lumb

I Hope It's A Puppy! Lindsay Achtman, ill. by Andra Morosan

Jess and the Pirate Hat, Anna Luciano, ill. by Rachel Middleton

Mollie’s Magic Brolly, Sarah Morrell

My Teacher Dad, Sonya Annita Song, ill. by Kate Fallahee

Neat Freaks, John Joseph Arvai, ill. by Adam Walker-Parker

Oscar the Ferry Cat, Molly Arbuthnott, ill. by Agnes Treherne

Oscar the Hebridean Cat, Molly Arbuthnott, ill. by Agnes Treherne

PERCY: The Racehorse Who Didn't like to Run, M.J. Evans, ill. by Gaspar Sabater

ROO, THE LITTLE RED TUK TUK, Nadishka Aloysius, ill. by Privanka Fonseka

Ruby, Alfie and the Mother’s Day Card, Hil Gibb, ill. by Stuart Mole Catterson

Silly Animal Rhymes and Stories A to Z, Anil, ill. by Kalpart

Snap! Go the Jaws of the Alligator, Grandpa Krogstad

Spreading Her Wings: Butterfly Princess, Alisa Hope Wagner, ill. by Albert Morales

The Harvest Moon Takes a Dip, Kate Shannon

The Last Honey Bee by Wayne Gerard Trotman

The Last Surviving Dinosaur: The TyrantoCrankaTsuris, Steven Joseph

The Trekkers’ New Hope, Kevin Poplawski, ill by Michael Rausch

What Wonders Do You See…When You Dream? Justine Avery, ill by Liuba Syrotiuk

Wildlife on Ha Ha Island, Noni - Sandra Jackson Ford, ill. by Lori Lay and Freddy Miller Santana

 

Category 2 Books for 6 – 8 Year Olds

 

A Tiger’s Tale, Wayne Gerard Trotman

ABC of Gender Identity, Devika Dalal

Dash and Victoria Find True Love: Pet and Historical Figures Book 2, Vicki Tashman, ill. by Wendy All

Imagine That: The Magic of the Mysterious Lights, George Yuhasz

Is Number 2 Useless? Mary Heneghan, Kate Heneghan, John Heneghan

It is All Right Now, Riki Ella

Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure, Sue Wickstead

Persephone: Book 7- Early Myths: Kids Books on Greek Myth, Dr Simon Spence

The Book of Silly Rhymes, Cheryl Lee-White, ill by Louise Rarity

 

Category 3 Books for 9 – 12 Year Olds

 

Britfield and the Lost Crown, C R Stewart

Corallai, Michelle Path

Eternal Seas: The Relic Hunters: Book One, Lexi Rees

Fool's Errand (book 2 in the Beat Street Series), Jenna Zark

Grandpa Jock and the Incredible Iron-Bru-Man Incident, Stuart Reid

Hemlock Jones and the Underground Orphans, Justin Carroll

Hidden Scales, A. M. Robin

Long Nose Legacy: A Dog’s Story of Royalty and Loyalty, J G Eastman

Magic Charms: The Kangaroo Kraze, Louise Marie Miller

Monty and the Monster, Rhonda Smiley

Professor Parro and the Liars and Thieves, Lynda Jolen

Ranger Nader & The Sunstruck Phantom, Kam Karem

Roses in the Dragon's Den, Jacob Devlin

Sea Rangers, Jeff Bolinger

Secrets and Spies, Mary Rosambeau

Snake Food, Kristin A. Fulton

Space Dragons, Robin Bennett

Terror in Boring Town, Hoot N. Holler

The Adventurers and The Cursed Castle, Jemma Hatt

The Adventurers and the Temple of Treasure, Jemma Hatt

The Adventures of Polo the Bear: a Story of Climate Change, Alan Hesse

The Boy Who Dreamt the World, Jethro Punter

The Crystal Navigator, Nancy Lodge

The Haunting, Kristin A. Fulton

The Moon Pigeon, David Winship

The Proto Project, Bryan R. Johnson

The Pumpkin Room, Mark Milbrath

The Slug Queen Chronicles, S O Thomas

The Stone of Wisdom, Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles, M.J. Evans

The Untold Stories of a Water Dragon, Carmen Cardashian

The Word Dancer, Maxine Rose Schur

Tommy Turner’s Tremendous Travels, Ali Seegar

Zombie RiZing: Dragon's Wrath, Matt J Pike

 

Category 4 Books for Teenagers

Battle Ground, Rachel Churcher

Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall, Rae Knightly

Billy Blacksmith: The Demonslayer, Ben Ireland

Colours, Alastair Crombie

Dear Jane, Marina DelVecchio

Dragon’s Truth, Leanne M. Pankuch

First Earth, Cami Murdock Jensen

F'lorna of Rodesh, Alisa Hope Wagner, ill. by Albert Morales

From Russia With Fur, Rene Fomby

Fyrian's Fire, Emily H. Jeffries

Greener: Part 2 of the Going Green Trilogy, Heather S. Ransom

I Know When You’re Going To Die, Michael J. Bowler

iGiST, L. S. Larson

Last Girl Standing, Marjory Kaptanoglu

Lilly Peppertree Lilly's Spell, Julie Hodgson

Matilda Seer, M D Allen

Queen of the Warrior Bees: One misfit girl and 50,000 bees (Natural Forces Book 1), Jean Gill

Shrug: A Novel, Lisa Braver Moss

SLIP, Quoleena Sbrocca

Taelstone, Robyn Prokop

The Backwater, Judith Crow

The Fractured Empire, Robin D. Mahle

THE JODE: Part 1: General Ygl & the Genie, PJ Selarom

The LoveLock, Eichin Chang-Lim

The Path Divided (Risking Exposure Book 2), Jeanne Moran

The Rose Queen, Alison McBain

The Translucent Boy and the Girl Who Saw Him, Tom Hoffman

The Wolf and the Rain, Tanya Lee

Tupelo Honey, Lis Anna-Langston

Two Dark Moons (Sãoni Cycle Book 1), Avi Silver

Urbantasm, Book One: The Dying City, Connor Coyne

 

Category 5 Books for Adults (fiction)

 

A Geordie Up the Ganges, Nell Cook

A Matter of Honor, George R Hopkins

A Meddle of Wizards, Alexandra Rushe

A Place in the World, Amy Maroney

Alice Black, J. Schlenker

Be Careful Who You Marry, Lizzy Mumfrey

Body and Soul, Mario DellOlio

Brooklyn Bitters, Sally Saylor De Smet

Caravaggio: A Light Before the Darkness, Mora Mesarcia

Cognition, Jacques St-Malo

Cooperative Lives, Patrick Finegan

Cycles of Norse Mythology, Glenn Searfoss

DART, Dale Renton

David - Savakerrva, Volume 1, Lawrence Brown

Destroyer's Blood – Book 1 of The Blood Series, Michael Lynes

Epiphany - THE CRYSTALLING, Sonya Deanna Terry

Faith in Abertillery, Tracy Traynor

Famously Dead, JJL Green

Fight, Sharnette Woosen-Henry

Forty Ways to Square a Circle, Neil Hummasti

Game of Bones, Geraldine Evans

Glamorous: A Grace Bishop Novel, Denise Bossarte

Grace in Mombasa, T N Traynor

Harps Upon the Willows, M B Gibson

Heliopause, The Questrison Saga: Book One, J. Dianne Dotson

High Stakes, John F. Dobbyn

Honor Kills - Angelina Bonaparte, Nanci Rathbun

How Dare The Birds Sing, Marina Osipova

Irish Echoes, Paula Martin

Little Girl Leaving; A Novel Based on a True Story, Lisa Blume

Llywelyn, Michael Hill

Love in an Undead Age, A. M. Geever

Man With No Yesterdays, Susan Moore Jordan

My Memory Told Me a Secret, Jeremy Bradley

No Hero’s Welcome, Jeffrey K. Walker

Paperclip, Dan Woll and Walter Rhein

Playing Faith: Damiano Series Opus 1, P E Younglibby

Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives, Martha Bátiz

Q1: A Survival Guide to Adulting, Bianca Lajara

Shadow of Doubt, S L Beaumont

Singularity, Joshua Edward Smith

Sisters of the Soul, Kristin Fulton

Storytellers, Bjørn Larssen

Stroika with a London View, William B. Foreignerski

Stumbling Toward Happiness: Haibun and Hybrid Poems, Kat Lehmann

Synthetic, Cat Thomas

Tatiana and the Russian Wolves, Stephen Evans Jordan, Stephen Evans Jordan

The Amber Maze, Christopher Bowden

The Arms of Death: Loch Lonach Mystery Series: Book One, Maggie Foster

The Case of the Disappearing Director, Susan Moore Jordan

The Charming Man: A Q.C. Davis Novel, Lisa M. Lilly

The Focus Program, K.T. Dady

The God Jar, Phill Featherstone

The Illustrated Hen, Scott Charles

The Lost Valor of Love, E A Carter

The Madness of Grief, Panayotis Cacoyannis

The Reschen Valley, Season 1: 1920 - 1924, Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

The Turning of Heaven, John Lazarus

The White Hand, Konn Lavery

True Love is a Durable Fire, Julie Hodgson

TWELVE: A DATE WITH OBSESSION, Alan Reynolds

Twisted: Volume Two, J.B. Forsyth

Two Spoons of Bitter, Sonja Mongar

Undertakers, Harlots, and Other Odd Bodies: A Novel Inspired by Real Events and Smothered in Blarney, Mege Gardner

Unlikely Friends, Sahar-Abdulaziz

VanOps: The Lost Power, Avanti Centrae

Vernon Hall and Other Stories, Sana Pirzada

Viking Vengeance: Loch Lonach Mysteries: Book Three, Maggie Foster

Wake of the Sadico, Jo Sparkes

What You Don't See, Livi Hallahan

When We Were Brave, Karla M. Jay

Where Acorns Landed, Anne M. Curtis

Woman: A Collection of Short Stories, V.P. Evans

Zeus Is Undead: This One Has Zombies, Michael G. Munz

 

Category 6 Books for Adults (non-fiction)

90 Days to Live, Rodney Stamps, Paige Stamps

A Broken Childhood, Lydia Ola Taiwo

A Mother's Heart: Memoir of a Special Needs Parent, Eichin Chang-Lim

Abundant Kids Rock! Creating An Awesome Life Using Positive Thinking, Traci L Clayton PhD, Nathan Clayton, Justin Clayton

Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, Andrea Wilson Woods

Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World? Anu Taranath

Con Artist Dating, Millie Osborne

Cruising the Mississippi, Al and Sunny Lockwood

Excess Baggage: One Family's Around-the-World Search for Balance, Tracey Carisch

Fall from Grace, Kimberly Marasco

Feasible Living - Dealing with Ecological Anxiety While Adapting to Our Changing World, Ken Kroes

Holistic Gemz: How to treat seasonal and year-long allergies naturally, Keisha Christian

How Languages Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival, Stefanie Naumann

Inconvenient Memories: A Personal Account of the Tiananmen Square Incident and the China Before and After, Anna Wang

Intoxicating Tango: My Years in Buenos Aires, Cherie Magnus

Jewels of Nature, Elspeth McLean

Lately Lesbian, J D Simmons

Mother of Millennials, Kathryn, Harriet and Sally Mortimer

Nail It! 7 Steps to Life & Business Mastery for Entrepreneurial Leaders, Sudhana Singh

ParentShift: Ten Universal Truths That Will Change the Way You Raise Your Kids, Wendy Thomas Russell

Raising a Child With Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to know, Don M. Winn

Skinny House-A Memoir of Family, Julie L Seely

Tales from the 359th Fighter Group, Janet Fogg

TALL JERRY in Summer of Shadows, Bodies and Bridges, Jerome Mark Antil

The Little Love That Could, Pamela Capone

The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected, Edwin Wong

There is a Reaper: Losing a Child to Cancer, Michael Lynes

There is Nothing to Fix, Suzanne Jones

Throttle Up: How To Accelerate The Impact of 21st Century Leadership, John P. Dentico

Your Body's Environmental Chemical Burden, Cindy Klement

Your Sailboat Needs No Engine, Preeti Gupta

 

 

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