2025 Top Notable Indies

Introducing our top notable titles for the 2024 Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book.

Wisdom and the Baobab Tree by Edward R. McMahon
Something in the Blood by H.H. Mika
Shooting Stars by Skye Bothma
Persephone’s Pool by Mari Glan
Golf at Northwood by John Michael McCarty
Odyssey Moscow by Michael Calvy
A World Without Trees by Joseph Blackhurst
When the Violin Weeps by Glenn Starkey
To Die Is Different Than Supposed by Alissa Butterworth
The Fateful Voyage of the Empress of Ireland by Cheryl Roberts Gayle
The Photograph by Eve M. Riley
The Game by Eve M. Riley
I Don’t Talk to Dead Bodies: The Curious Encounters of a Forensic Psychiatrist by Dr. Rhona Morrison
Saint Dymphna’s Playbook by Hilary Leftwich
Magdalene’s Journey by Renee Blodgett & Anthony Compagnone
La Ballona Creek by Brant Vickers
Vanishing Act: A Crashed Airliner, Faked Death, and Backroom Abortions by Jerry Jamison
Little Fortified Stories by Barbara Black
Moral Treatment: A Novel by Stephanie Carpenter
Life Rewritten by Carrie KC West
The Toffee Man & The Kingdom of Ends by Lk Quinn
Artama & The New Kingdom by Bruce Paul
Artifice by Kim Yesis
OLD WHITE MAN WRITING by Joshua Gidding
Lessons From Harlow by Licia Chenoweth
There Are No Stars Here by JS Thompson
Land Shadows by Rj Striegel
Infidelity Rules by Joelle Babula
Stolen Histories by BR Michaels
Indifferent Universe by Joseph Blackhurst
The Bribri and The Bridge: Tales from Life with the Indigenous People of Costa Rica by Nancy Wright-Stevens
The Cruelty of Magic by Shawn Amick
Not Yet Lost by Janis M. Falk
Tiny Wild Things by Danielle M. Wong
Flowers by Melissa Rea
Exits by Stephen Pollock
The Sins We Inherit by Carlo J. Emanuele
My Mother’s Autobiography by Roberta Payne
You’re Too Young to Understand by Liz Fiedorow Sjaastad
Secrets of a Nun: My Own Story by Elizabeth Upton
Quiet Desperation by Rodney Nelsestuen
Too Many Stones by Rodney Nelsestuen
JOURNEYS by Andrew Bays
The Thanjavur Incident by David Cornish MD
Next Year In Paterson by Ron Goldberg
Imber by Deborah Mistina
The Regolith Temple: A Sci-Fi Thriller by Roxana Armana
The Climb by Javier Forrester
Arrow, Coin, Spark by Roman Surzhykov
Lost Boy: A Novel of Life, Loss, and Hope in Appalachia by Jacob Blosser
However Long the Day by KJ Kelly
Closer by Miriam Gershow
Ghost Flight by Eva Asprakis
Where I Went Wrong by David Galef
Missing Mom by Lynn Slaughter
Seeking Fairness at Work: Cracking the Code of Greater Employee Engagement, Retention & Satisfaction by Hanna Hasl-Kelchner
Journey to 2125 by Gary F. Bengier
Missing From Me by Kathleen Stone
One Night Only by Jennifer Farwell
Out of the Blue by Jason June
A Fierce Jewel by William Graney
Who Nuked Silicon Valley? by Mike Donoghue
Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder by Erika Lynn Adams
Benjamin’s Mess: Sketches, Tirades and Spoofs by David Benjamin
An Apartment in Paris by David Benjamin
Teneō: A Novella by Kojo Gyan
Asa James by Jodi Lew-Smith
Destiny of a Free Spirit by Stephen Ford
No Free Speech for Hate by Stephen Ford
Who Am I Now? Reflections on Spirituality and Grief by Kelley A. Raab
The Godstone Decree by Mitchell Lecoultre
Christmas Inc.; A Christmas Mystery by J. Spencer Osborne
Living While Human by Arwinder Kaur
Wethersfield Road by Anna Binder Reardon
Out with Lanterns by Hillary Bowen
I Have An Idea!: Some Bonds Begin With Survival by Jeremy D. Scholz
Circle of Nine: Mercy in the Mist by Valerie Biel
The Hopeling by Maggie Master
The Sound of Violet, 10th Anniversary Edition by Allen Wolf
Light Locked by A.K. Chandler
Knights Without Ceremony: Insurrection by Ari Magnusson
Dear Orchid by Carol Van Den Hende
Cold Victory: A Novel of the Berlin Airlift by Helena P. Schrader
Because of His Heart by Stephen A. Marvin
The Photo Jumper by Tony Bible
The Scott Fenwick Diaries: A Novel by Kristin Nilson
North Country by Mike Langan
Ghost Writing by Danielle Smyth
Waking Up at the Gates: Poems of Recovery, Healing, & Transformation by Thomas Kudla
A Storytelling by David Habib
Grudges and Revenge by Grace Vice
Not Good Enough Girl: A Memoir of an Inconvenient Daughter by Sondra R. Brooks
Unicorns Can Be Deadly (A Discount Detective Mystery) by Charlotte Stuart
The Wounded Sky by Ray Strong
The Book of Chaos by Ray Strong
The Ultimate Betrayal: A Strangely Unfamiliar novel by Tia Banks
In the Good Years by Laura Creste
Under by Glen Pourciau
There’s Nothing Left for You Here by Allegra Solomon
No Small Thing by Gabriel Fried

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Article originally Published in the December / January 2025 Issue: 2025 Indie Best Award Winners.

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