I do want to congratulate my fellow finalists: the Best of Brevity (Rose Metal Press,) Beyond Repair by Sebastian Matthews (Red Hen Press), Hear Me Ohio by Jen Hirt (University of Akron Press), Terrior by Natasha Sajé (Trinity University Press), The River Always Wins by David Marquis (La Reunion Publishing), and Disparates by Patrick Madden (University of Nebraska Press.) https://www.forewordreviews.com/…/finalists/2020/essays

I think what I’m going to do is each week share more about these books from each of my fellow finalists.

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More about Foreward Review: Do you know about this contest, Book Writers? If you publish a book this year, then enter next year!

This is the 23rd annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.As part of its mission to discover, review, and share the best books from university and independent publishers, Foreword Magazine, Inc. hosts an annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2020. After more than 2,000 individual titles spread across 55 genres were submitted for consideration, the Finalists were determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners will be decided by an expert team of booksellers and librarians—representing Foreword’s trade readership—from across the country.

The complete list of Finalists for this year’s contest can be found at:

https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2020/

From their Press Release: “The pandemic did not slow down the quality of great books coming from the independent publishing community in 2020. The Finalist selection process this year was one of the hardest our team encountered due to the vast number of excellent submissions,” said Victoria Sutherland, publisher.

“While in typical years, the judging process involves our team gathering and discussing books in real time, this year, we had to read separately, take notes, and converge to discuss the entrants after we’d all taken a turn with them on our own. While at first the change was nerve-wracking, we were delighted to discover that we’re as much in agreement when the process takes place across miles and weeks as we are when we’re sitting face-to-face,” says Managing Editor, Michelle Anne Schingler. “We’re as confident as ever that these Finalists reflect the best of the books that we’ve had the privilege of seeing.”

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Since 1998, Foreword Reviews has provided trade book reviews of the best titles from independent presses. Its FOLIO award-winning design and editorial content makes the magazine a favorite among librarians, booksellers, and readers—an excellent resource when it comes to purchasing books. Foreword INDIES and the fee-for-review Clarion service complement our online content and print magazine, helping to showcase independent presses and their authors.

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You know what they say: if you ain’t in it, you ain’t gonna win it!