Gold Winners to be announced at the 35th Annual Midwest Book Awards Gala
Saturday, June 28, 2025 | Frey Theater, St. Catherine University | Saint Paul, Minnesota
Join us for an evening of literary celebration hosted by Kansas City media personality Cherayla Haynes. Connect with authors, publishers, and book lovers while enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Buy tickets.
Special Thanks to this year’s sponsors…

Awards design Sponsor: Illustrada Design
Creating inspired design for intriguing books. A joyfully collaborative designer focused on providing small and independent publishers with covers, interior layout & typesetting, print/ebook design, and production & publishing assistance.

Awards print sponsor: Kirk House Publishers
Our goal is to continue discovering gifted authors. We like working with writers to develop their books and careers over the long term.
2025 Finalists
Nonfiction – Anthologies
Last Cabin (maybe….)
by Mike Lein (Jackpine Writers Bloc)
Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia
by Edited by Katrina M. Powell, Introduction by Nikki Giovanni (Haymarket Books)
Nonfiction – Arts/Photography/Coffee Table Books
Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing)
Nonfiction – Autobiography/Memoir
Mission to Oslo: Dancing with the Queen, Dealmaking with the Russians, Shaping History
by Tom Loftus (Little Creek Press)
Fleetwood Dreams: Climbing a Mountain After a Landslide
by Amy Sazama (Ten16 Press)
Even So: Stories From An Overpopulated Farmhouse
by David Coster (Ice Cube Press, LLC)
Nonfiction – Biography
We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter
by Amy T. Waldman and Peter Jest (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
South Dakota Crusader: Francis Case’s Road to Congress
by Stephen L. Wilson (Joycliff Press)
Nonfiction – Business
My Little Book of Big Money
by Paul Tran (Beaver’s Pond Press)
Know Honesty
by Ken Bogard, Grace Gavin (Ethos Collective)
365 Day Leader: Recalibrate Your Calling Every Day
by Dick Daniels (The Leadership Development Group)
Nonfiction – Children’s & Young Adult
Song of the Raven
by Amanda Hall (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press)
The Resilient Brain: Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury for Kids
by Katianne Olson (Wise Ink Creative Publishing)
Brownie the War Dog: Veterans’ Best Friend
by Kelly Nelson (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Nonfiction – Cookbooks/Crafts/Hobbies
Oyster Book: A Chronicle of the World’s Most Fascinating Shellfish—Past, Present, and Future
by Dan Martino (Agate Publishing)
Extra! Extra! Eat All About It!: Recipes and Culinary Curiosities from Historic Wisconsin Newspapers
by Jane Conway and Randi Julia Ramsden (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Nonfiction – Education/Learning
Write Like Nobody’s Watching
by Mary Jane Schultz (Word Candy Productions, LLC)
Creating an Urban Ecovillage: A Model for Revitalizing Our Cities
by Jim Schenk (Pine Run Press)
Bakke’s Shakespeare: Macbeth
by Anthony Bakke (Theran Press)
Nonfiction – Family/Parenting
Mom Dad Not Hear: 30 Powerful Stories and Lessons about Leadership, Life, and Love from My Deaf Parents
by Mickey Carolan (Third Culture Books)
Nonfiction – Health
The Mastectomy I Always Wanted
by Erica Neubert Campbell (Wise Ink Creative Publishing)
From Pain to Power
by Ellen H. Saul, MS, LP (Kirk House Publishers)
Eat Move Groove: Unlock the Simple Steps to Lifelong Nutrition, Fitness & Wellness
by Susan M Kundrat (Eat Move Groove, PLLC)
Nonfiction – History, General
Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing)
First Mobile App
by R.J. King (Written in Detroit)
Artist Goes to War: Leon Granacki in the South Pacific WWII
by Victoria Ann Granacki (Archway Publishing)
Nonfiction – History, Regional
Landers: Biography of a Theater
by Kara DeBacker (Pearson Creek Publishing)
Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History
by B.J. Hollars (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Journey to Freedom: Uncovering the Grayson Sisters’ Escape from Nebraska Territory
by Gail Shaffer Blankenau (Bison Books)
Nonfiction – Inspiration
Play of Masks
by Frithjof Schuon (World Wisdom)
Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
by Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden (A Possible Life, LLC)
Find Your Beat: Walk in the Rhythm of Life
by Tim Eggebraaten (Kirk House Publishers)
Nonfiction – Nature
Salmon Capital of Michigan: The Rise and Fall of a Great Lakes Fishery
by Carson Prichard (Wayne State University Press)
Great Nature Wisconsin: A Guide for Nature Immersion in Wisconsin
by Randy Hoffman, Cody Stingley, Laura Stingley (Little Creek Press)
Nonfiction – Recreation/Sports/Travel
Mirage of Destiny: The Story of the 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars
by Kevin Allenspach (North Star Press of St. Cloud)
Nonfiction – Religion/Philosophy
Mary We Forgot
by Jennifer Powell McNutt (Baker Publishing Group)
It’s About Time (Millions of Copies Sold for Dad)
by Mark Connor (Connemara Patch Press)
For Times Such as These: A Radical’s Guide to the Jewish Year
by Rabbi Ariana Katz and Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg (Wayne State University Press)
Nonfiction – Social Science/Political Science/Culture
Icarus Curse: How Western Democracies Derailed and How to Get Back on Track
by Johan Van Overtveldt (Agate Publishing)
Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America
by Sonja Trom Eayrs (Bison Books)
Country Queers: A Love Letter
by Rae Garringer (Haymarket Books)
Fiction – Children’s
Marvelous Jackson
by Laura Anne Bird (Orange Hat Publishing)
Fumious Rex
by Freya Manfred (Nodin Press)
Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts)
Fiction – Children’s picture books
Zoe the Dinosaur Has the Hiccups
by Claire Rose (Beaver’s Pond Press)
Petunia the Perfectionist
by Marissa Bader (M.Bader Media, LLC)

I Am Beautiful
by Dionne L. Grayson (Dionne L. Grayson)
Fiction – Fantasy/SciFi/Horror/Paranormal
Sleepaway: A Novel
by Kevin Prufer (Acre Books)
Remnants of a Scarlet Flame: The Last Draegion Book One
by Cindy L Sell (Aether and Ash Press)

Point of Hopes: A Novel of Astreiant
by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett (Queen of Swords Press)
Fiction – Literary/Contemporary/Historical
Sister Lumberjack
by Simar, Candace (North Star Press of St. Cloud)
Last Rancher
by Robert Rebein (Meadowlark Press, LLC)
54 Miles
by Leonard Pitts, Jr. (Agate Publishing)
Fiction – Mystery/Thriller
Omar’s Choice
by Cathy Sultan (Calumet Editions)
Incel
by Brian Lutterman (Oak Ridge Press)
Beyond the Flames
by Gregory Lee Renz (Three Towers Press)
Fiction – Romance
To Sense a Passion
by Audrey Lynden (Penske Publishing)
Fiction – Short Story/Anthology
Signs of the Imminent Apocalypse and Other Stories
by Heidi Bell (Cornerstone Press)
Machine We Trust
by Tim Conrad (Cornerstone Press)
In the Exile Zone
by George Rabasa (Calumet Editions)
Fiction – Young Adult
Shades of a Warrior
by Robert Saxton (Calumet Editions)
Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter
by Valerie Biel (Lost Lake Press)
Poetry – Debut
Milk for Gall
by Natalie Louise Tombasco (Southern Indiana Review Press)
Find Me When You’re Ready
by Perry Janes (Northwestern University Press/Curbstone Books)
American Inmate
by Justin Rovillos Monson (Haymarket Books)
Poetry – General
Incandescent
by Emilie Buchwald (Nodin Press)
Map of My Want
by Faylita Hicks (Haymarket Books)
Cauterized
by Laura Apol (Michigan State University Press)
Poetry – Regional
We Live Here: Poems for an Ojibwe Calendar Year
by Lois Beardslee (Wayne State University Press)
Earl’s Own Dakota Odyssey
by Bruce Roseland (Scurfpea Publishing)
Ditch Memory: New and Selected Poems
by Todd Davis (Michigan State University Press)
Design – Cover Design
Rhino Keeper
by Jillian Forsberg (History Through Fiction) Christine Horner, The Book Cover Whisperer
Mermaid of Lake Superior
by Aurora Lothbrok (Beaver’s Pond Press) Cover/sketches by Jill Myer and interior by Laura Drew
Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts) TLC Book Designs
Design – Illustration

Monkey Moon
by Demi (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press) Demi
Song of the Raven
by Amanda Hall (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press) Amanda Hall
Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts) TLC Book Designs
Design – Interior Design
Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing) Lisa Schroeder
Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts) TLC Book Designs
Song of the Raven
by Amanda Hall (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press) Amanda Hall
Design – Total Book Design
Song of the Raven
by Amanda Hall (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press) Amanda Hall
Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing) Lisa Schroeder
Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts) TLC Book Designs