Holy moly! Chained Birds has been honored with its first “true crime” book prize thanks to the Next Generation Indie Book Awards! I was gobsmacked yesterday to find a congratulatory email from the awards program (in my spam folder, no less!) alerting me to a First Place award for my true crime memoir. I’m honored and thrilled to share the limelight in this category with seven finalists and a co-winning writing team … that’s right, there is a tie for first place! I share the highest honor in this true crime category with The Velvet Hammer: Judge Belvin Perry, Jr.’s Capital Murder Cases and Memoir, by Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. and Amy Mitchell. Judge Perry presided over the Casey Anthony murder trial π±
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA or “IndieBook Awards”) is the largest international awards program for independent authors and publishers. It recognizes outstanding indie books across 80+ categories and provides participants with cash prizes, book stickers, certificates, and medals.Β And yours truly will pick up some of this bling at their invite-only awards ceremony for finalists and winners, to be held June 27th in … wait for it … Philadelphia! My hometown! What are the odds?
Before learning I was a winner, I was π€ hoping to be a finalist π€ and mused about where the awards ceremony might be. It was in San Diego last year, and was previously held in Chicago and Washington, D.C. I felt the odds were good it might land on the East Coast this year, and wouldn’t you know? The judges honored me with a First Place prize, and I’ll get to mingle and party with my fellow finalists and winners just a short drive away in downtown Philly on the last Friday in June.
Book bling and partying aside, there is some wonderful PR and exposure that comes with being an IndieBook Awards winner. The top 80+ winning books will be reviewed by New York literary agentΒ Marilyn Allen of Allen Literary Agency (formerly the Allen O’Shea Literary Agency) or one of Ms. Allen’s co-agents for possible representation. π±π±π±
Also, a judge’s book review will be available for all winning titles soon. As soon as the review for Chained Birds is available, I’ll update this post. Once again, I’d like to thank the contest organizers and judges for honoring me in their true crime category, and I congratulate all the 2025 IndieBook Awards finalists and winners! I hope to see many of you in Philly!
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir of Justice, Survival and Redemption Behind Bars, is out now with WildBlue Press.
