The Independent Publisher Book Awards, also styled the IPPY Awards, are a set of annual book awards for independently published titles. They are the longest-running unaffiliated contest open exclusively to independent presses. The IPPY Awards are open to authors and publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market. According to the IPPY website, the awards "reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing."
History
The IPPY Awards were founded in 1996 by the Small Press publishing magazine. In 1998, Small Press became the Independent Publisher magazine, but continued to run the annual IPPY Awards. The IPPY's mission statement claims that the awards are intended to "recognize the deserving but often unsung titles published by independent authors and publishers, and bring them to the attention of booksellers, buyers, librarians, and book lovers around the world." The IPPY criteria for an "independent" publication mandates that all entries must be from publications that are either 1) independently owned and operated, 2) operated by a foundation or university, or 3) long-time independents that became incorporated but operate autonomously and publish fewer than 50 titles a year. The first IPPY awards received 325 entries and awarded 90 gold, silver, and bronze medals. In 2020, over 3,000 books were entered into the IPPYs, and 422 medals were awarded. In 25 years, IPPY entry categories have expanded from the 28 available in 1996 to more than a hundred options in 2020, including separate categories for specific genres, regions, and E-books.
Entry and prize consideration
Entry is chargeable. In 2020, the entry fee was $85. Entry discounts for regional and E-book categories are often available. For the 25th anniversary IPPY Awards in 2021, a $25 off discount was available for early submissions. Entries are judged based on first impression, design, originality, use of language, message delivery, and relevance. IPPY medalists receive certificates, medals, and book sticker seals. They also have the option to purchase additional merchandise, including plaques, electronic images, and additional medals and seals. About 2,400 publishers throughout the English-speaking world participate in the awards each year. In 2017 the contest drew over 5,000 entries, and medals were awarded to authors and publishers from 43 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces and 15 countries. In 2020, medals were awarded to authors and publishers from all 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 61 countries.
Outstanding Book of the Year
In 2010, the IPPYs introduced additional “Outstanding Book of the Year” awards. Every IPPY submission is considered for an Outstanding Book award, regardless of category. The outstanding medalists are chosen for exemplifying “daring spirit” with a book that is “the most heartfelt, unique, outspoken and experimental among all entries.” In 2020, there were eleven Outstanding Books in eight categories:
Notable Outstanding Books of the Year include Peter Kalmus’ Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution, which was named 2018’s Most Likely To Save the Planet, as well as Warren Lehrer’s A Life in Books: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley, 2014’s Most Original Concept.
Recipients
Books by IPPY winners in 2016, 2017 and 2018 were published by university presses including Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Wisconsin, Iowa, and other major university presses. Among the fiction gold medalists was Elena Ferrante's The Story of the Lost Child, originally published in Italy and issued in English by Europa. Previous winners in fiction categories include the small presses Milkweed, Coffee House, Graywolf, The Other Press, McPherson, Europa, and McSweeney's. IPPY Gold Medal winner Lord of Misrule also won the National Book Award and The Patience Stone also won France's Prix Goncourt for its French edition. David Eggers won a 2003 Outstanding Book of the Year for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Margaret Atwood won in 2003 for Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing. Juan Felipe Herrera, the United States Poet Laureate, won an IPPY gold medal in 2005 for Featherless .
The IPPY Awards were criticized by Writer Beware, an advocacy website sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which stated that it was one of several profiteer awards run by the Jenkins Group and that "Even among profiteers, however, Jenkins is unusual in the amount of extra merchandise it hawks to winners." The site classified profiteer awards as awards that are aimed at "making money for the sponsor. Such awards aren't really about honoring writers at all."
