The U.S. Selfies book awards, which recognize self-published authors, has added a children’s prize to go along with its adult fiction award. The children’s prize is open to any self-published author who has written a children’s book in any format or age group.

Presented by PW and the U.K.’s BookBrunch, each Selfie award carries a cash prize of $1,000 and a $5,000 advertising package from PW and selected sponsors. To be eligible, books must have been published during the calendar year 2020 and demonstrate solid sales via sustained marketing and publicity efforts.

The 2021 awards submission period opens on January 1, 2021, and closes on the night of March 1, 2021. Two juried shortlists, one for each category, will be announced during the week of May 24, 2021. The U.S. Selfies awards will be presented at the American Library Association annual conference on June 26, 2021.

BookBrunch are thrilled to work with Publishers Weekly and BookLife again on an expanded U.S. Selfies book awards to include children’s books as well as adult fiction, as we seek to discover the best self-published books in the country,” said Jo Henry, managing director of BookBrunch, which administers the Selfies in the U.K, where the children’s book category was added in 2019.

With the mission to discover new talent and reward the best self-published titles each year, BookBrunch launched the Selfies Awards in the U.K. in 2018. In 2020, BookBrunch teamed up with PW and its self-publishing arm, BookLife, to launch the awards initiative in the U.S.

Cevin Bryerman, executive v-p and publisher of PW, said: “The launch of the U.S. Selfies was an overwhelming success, supporting self-published authors and helping their books gain even more traction in the library and general book market.”

Tim Westover took top prize in 2020 for The Winter Sisters, a novel of science and superstition that takes place in antebellum small-town Georgia. Westover donated the entire proceeds of his book sales, more than $50,000, to the Atlanta Children’s Hospital.

More info in how to participate in the awards is available here.