Oh, how I love my indie book award programs! Chained Birds has won another True Crime literary honor, this time taking the 2025 True Crime top prize in the Indie Reader Discovery Awards, announced today. I’m not sharing this award with anyone, and there are no True Crime finalists to congratulate — it’s just little ole’ me getting the top and only prize in my genre … I am now officially insufferable, with my growing collection of digital stickers, as indie book award season hits its stride 🤣
I’ve had to keep this secret for ten days, as IndieReader notified winners ahead of time in order to get author-with-book photos and winner interview questions submitted. One of the terrific perks that come with winning an IndieReader book award is an author interview on IRDA’s “All About the Book” feature. I’ll update this article with that link as soon as it posts.
Other bonuses that come from being an IndieReader winner include media exposure and notification to their 12K + subscribers. Plus, every author who enters the contest gets a compact “verdict blurb” from a professional reviewer, like this one for Chained Birds. IRDA posted my fantastic verdict blurb to their site in March, which I wrote about here. I continue to use parts of it for social media graphics and shout-outs 🎉👏
15th annual IR Discovery Awards
This is the 15th annual IR Discovery Awards, which grew out of the IndieReader book review service founded by Amy Edelman in 2009. Amy — who was both traditionally published with Simon & Schuster and Crown, plus was a self-published author — created the service to try and “level the playing field” for self-published, hybrid, and small press authors.
The yearly contest, which draws over 500 submissions, is open only to these types of indie authors. Approximately 50 subcategory winners are announced along with an overall first, second, and third prize winner in both fiction and non-fiction categories.
“The books that won the IRDAs this year are not simply great indie books; they are great books, period,” Amy said. “We hope that our efforts via the IRDAs ensure that they receive attention from the people who matter most. Potential readers.”
Congratulations to all my fellow winners, and especially those taking the fiction and nonfiction top honors. And thank you, judges, for choosing Chained Birds as your True Crime award prizewinner 🥳 🙏
Carla Conti is an award-winning true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A Crimemoir, won multiple 2025 national book awards, including 1st Place in True Crime from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Winner in True Crime from the Indie Reader Discovery Awards, Silver in True Crime from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), and a 1st Place Nellie Bly Journalism award from the Chanticleer International Book Awards. Carla lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, who tolerates her true crime habit.
