I’m not sure which is more exciting — getting a trio of book prizes for Chained Birds or my new gorgeous cover with a shiny fresh award sticker … do I have to choose?
I’ll tackle my prizes first and say I have a lot of love for BestThrillers.com, Independent Book Review, and Literary Titan. I’ve been honored with book awards by all three outlets in the last couple of weeks and am so excited to share the news!
Chained Birds has been named “one of the year’s best thrillers” by BestThrillers.com, giving me my first official placement on an end-of-year book list. BestThrillers also recognized me as one of four “notable debut authors” on their 2024 list of best thrillers. This is especially humbling, and I’m truly honored to be included among such fantastic thriller book authors 🥹
My BestThrillers editorial review remains one of my favorites, and my publisher, WildBlue Press, and I have appreciably used this pull quote from it in many places:
An emotional, eye-popping and personal expose of the American prison system that begins with an orchestrated stabbing and ends with a realistic exploration of second chances … Highly recommended.
That BT book award came with a fancy new Finalist Seal and this fun blurb, which arrived just in time to appear on my new cover (truncated): “Chained Birds is one of the year’s best thrillers.”
The new cover had been in the works almost from the initial launch when my publisher’s marketing team felt the original design wasn’t connecting as it should have with Chained Birds‘ intended audience. It turns out that in publishing, you really do judge a book by its cover, and the new version better captures the story’s themes. It should appeal more broadly to true crime and thriller readers; time and Amazon’s algorithms will certainly tell.
But back to my book awards …
Chained Birds also landed on Independent Book Review’s list of “The Best Books We Read in 2024” — another accolade I’m over the moon about!
IBR is a “celebration of indie books,” which it defines as either self-published or published by an independent press. In my case, WildBlue Press, which publishes about 20 books a year, fits that definition. And because IBR only reviews books and curates reading lists from the “indies,” you will not find a “Big 5” (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Harper Collins, and MacMillan) title among its collection. As Joe Walters, IBR’s founder and editor-in-chief puts it, “We want to shout indie books from the rooftops since the Big Five publishers already have real estate up there.”
To curate IBR’s Best of 2024 list, Joe asked each of his 21 reviewers to choose their top two favorites (as well as honorable mentions), and Chained Birds was reviewer John Murray’s top pick. WildBlue Press and I have made much use of this pull quote from John’s review:
Conti writes with an endearing balance of humor and passion, and she is a driven and intelligent advocate for those without a voice … Chained Birds is like two great books in one: a captivating true crime story that exposes a deplorable prison program and an engrossing memoir of a journalist making a difference.
And just when I thought I had all my breaking news lined up to share about Chained Birds, Literary Titan let me know my book was a December 2024 Silver Book Award winner.
When Literary Titan reviewed my book earlier this year, it focused on the courtroom drama aspect of the story, and my publisher and I continue to use this pull quote from it:
If you’re fascinated by courtroom dramas and the inner workings of the legal system, this memoir will provide a deep and unsettling dive into both.
In my email notification of the award, Thomas Anderson, Literary Titan editor-in-chief, said Chained Birds “deserves extraordinary praise, and we are proud to acknowledge your hard work, dedication, and writing talent. Start telling the world that you’re an award-winning author because we will be!”
Hmmmm, award-winning author? That has a nice ring to it. Maybe I should start saying that 🤔 🏆
So are these awards really something to brag about?
Yes! For some perspective on why this is boast-worthy, consider this often-quoted conservative estimate of the number of traditionally published books per year: between 500,000 and 1 million. This is not to mention the explosion of self-published books, which adds millions to this range. And, BestThrillers.com says mystery and thriller fans themselves have more than 3 million new books to choose from each year!
Amid all that competition and noise, making any reputable end-of-year book list or earning stand-out praise is coveted and exceptional. It’s an especially BFD for a no-name author with a tiny platform and a debut book to get this kind of shout-out. I am grateful. Many, many thanks to BestThrillers, Independent Book Review, and Literary Titan for putting Chained Birds on the map 🥳
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
