Bloodlines wins silver at IBPA Book Awards!
Dispatch from St. Paul, MN: Bloodlines Wins Silver!
From the IBPA:
Excellence Outside the Mainstream – The 37th Annual IBPA Book Award Winners Celebrate Unique Stories and Diverse Voices in Indie Publishing.
Last Friday, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) announced the Gold and Silver winners of its prestigious IBPA Book Award program, representing the best independently published books of 2024. With over 1,700 entries submitted for the 2025 competition, being selected as a finalist—let alone a winner—feels both humbling and surreal.
The year’s outstanding titles include:
- Finding Flaco, Our Year with New York City’s Beloved Owl (published by Owls of New York), which won Gold in two categories (Animal & Pet, as well as Art & Photography) and a Silver (Nature & Environment)
- Also the recipients of two Gold awards were:
- Science fiction novel Secret Sky, The Young Universe by T. Alan Horne (Tristellation Media)
- The Canary Code – A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work by Ludmila N. Praslova (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)
- History-based Snoopy and the Spy, A Saga of Espionage, Ingenuity, and the Epic Battle to Save International Harvester by Lee Klancher (Octane Press)
The power of independent publishing
Being recognized by the IBPA feels especially significant because independent publishing is where stories like mine find their home. Traditional publishing often shies away from mental health narratives that don’t fit neat categories or offer simple solutions. But indie publishing? It makes space for the messy, complicated, ongoing work of healing.
Congratulations to all 174 IBPA Book Award winners >>
A Moment of Pure Joy
Bloodlines won Silver in the Parenting & Family category—a placement that feels especially meaningful given the book’s exploration of how mental illness and trauma ripple through generations, and how healing becomes a family affair even when it starts with one person’s courage to break the silence.
I’m delighted to celebrate my gold award winning She Writes Press sisters, flanking Brooke Warner: Sheri T. Joseph (for Best New Voice, Fiction) and Sandra Schnakenburg (Memoir). What a thrill to be surrounded by such incredible storytellers who are also changing the landscape for women in publishing!
The awards ceremony on May 16th was a beautiful celebration of independent publishing’s power to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. Standing in that room, surrounded by authors who chose to tell their stories their way, reminded me why I embarked on this journey in the first place.
More sights from the conference and beyond.
Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald was from St. Paul? Charles M. Schulz, too?
Or that Tim O’Brien, Robert Bly, and Anne Tyler are from MN?
MN is the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and I could sure see why from the airplane window!
Thoughts on belonging
Winning silver was amazing—but what really stuck with me was everything that happened in between the panels and receptions.
As I made my way through the conference, people naturally asked what Bloodlines was about. Every time I mentioned mental illness, trauma, and healing, I watched faces go blank or the conversation shift. Honestly, if I had a dollar for every time someone nodded politely and then immediately changed the subject after I said “mental illness and generational trauma”, I could probably fund my own tiny publishing house!
It was a quiet reminder of how much work there still is to do to normalize these conversations. That’s why this award means so much. It’s not just about recognition—it’s a sign that stories like mine belong.
Why it matters
Writing is hard work. It was hard work. Every chapter took me back into spaces I’d once tried to leave behind. What kept me going (turns out) was the hope. Hope that if I told the truth about my family, my fears, and my healing, someone else might feel less alone in theirs.
The book traces how mental illness moved through my family like an invisible inheritance, passed down through generations who didn’t have the language or tools to name what they were experiencing. It’s about breaking that cycle—not just for myself, but for the daughter I’m raising and the family members still struggling to find their way.
And now, to have that work honored feels like a full-circle moment—proof that telling the hard truths can and do create connection.
This award validates not just my story, but the entire ecosystem of independent publishers, editors, and readers who believe that all stories deserve to be told with dignity and care.
If you’ve read Bloodlines—or even just thought about picking it up—know this: you’re part of the movement. Every conversation we start, every silence we break, matters. This isn’t just my story. It’s ours. So let’s keep talking.
Because here’s what I’ve learned: the stories that make us most uncomfortable are often the ones we need to hear most. And sometimes, when we’re brave enough to tell them, they get recognized with a shiny award that says, “Yes, this matters. Keep going.”
Speaking of belonging and community, check out my Toolkit. Click below to see more about my efforts to create connection through art and words.
Bloodlines is available for purchase wherever books are sold. For more information about the IBPA Book Awards and this year’s winners, visit IBPA.online.
Tracey ~ I’m SO excited for you! What great validation that your blood, sweat, and tears – lots of tears! – matters in the world. You are seen, you are heard, you are felt! Congratulations, my friend!!