The 2025 Imadjinn Awards!

Finalists have been announced!

Imaginarium 2025 is our 12th year, and we will be hosting our Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 19th, 2025, where the 2025 Imadjinn Award Winners and Film Festival Winners will be announced live!

About the Imadjinn Awards: First awarded at Imaginarium 2015, in our 2nd year, the Imadjinn Awards are a comprehensive series of juried writing awards that recognize outstanding achievement in a broad range of genres and categories.

They have become a highly respected writing award internationally, and encompass many spheres of writing including screenwriting, comics, song lyrics, and game development, in addition to a wide array of literary categories.

The next group of Imadjinn Awards will be announced and presented at Imaginarium 2025 on Saturday, July 19th, 2025 at the Awards Banquet that evening.

2025 Imadjinn Awards Finalists:

The 2025 Imadjinn Award Finalists in each category are:

Best Anthology (multiple authors)

The Rack: Stories Inspired By Vintage Horror Paperbacks

Editor – Tom Deady

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Express Elevator to Hell (Universes at War Book 1)

Editors – Chris Kennedy & Kelley Jones

–

It Came From the Trailer Park: Volume 3.5

Editors – Philip K. Booker & William Joseph Roberts

Best Audiobook Narration

Prince Liberator: The Prince of Britannia Saga, Book 6

Narrated by Michael Joss / Written by Fred Hughes

–

The Grey Man- Sunset

Narrated by Marcus Barton / Written by JL Curtis

–

Blood, Sweat, and Steel: Tales of Future Combat and Mechanized Warfare

Narrated by Brian Fairbank / Written by David Drake, Kevin Ikenberry, and William Joseph Roberts

Best Children’s Book

The Tractor Squad

Heather Dawn Torres

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HELP! Santa is in Trouble

Effin Older

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She Spoke Too: 14 More Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World

Kathy MacMilan & Manuela Bernardi

Best Cross Genre Novel

The Fae Wars: Insurgent

J.F. Holmes

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Cursed by Bandits

Stephanie K. Clemens

–

The Armored Houred

Stephanie Hansen

Best Faith-Based Novel

Wisdom of Our Elders: Living in Spirit, Wisdom, Deep Mercy, and Truth

Karen E. Simms Tolson

Best Fantasy Novel

Cursed by a Siren’s Kiss

Riley Hunt and L. S. Embers

–

Atlantis, Land of Dreams

Edale Lane

–

Chosen By The Sword

Charles Hackney

Best Game Module / Rule Book

Dark Places & Demogorgons: Ultimate Edition

Josh Palmer

Best Graphic Novel/Comic Book

Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves Complete Collection

Henry Vogel

Best Historical Fiction Novel

The Long Winter of Miðgarðr

Edale Lane

–

Silent Mine

C.M. Saunders

–

Trail of Madness

Michael Knost

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Lies in the Place of Truth

T. Lee Harris

Best Horror Novel

Mountain of Fire

Jason Cordova

–

Those Left Behind

Tom Deady

–

Ink Vine

Elizabeth Broadbent

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Never Have I Ever

Harker Jones

Best Literary Fiction Novel

Beach Therapy

Maddie James

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Rooted in Sunrise

Beth Dotson Brown

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Return of the Goatman

Lawrence Weill

Best Middle Grade Novel

Quantum Quirks: A Science Fiction Childhood

Adam Gaffen

–

A Story Unfinished

Melody Pendlebury

Best Mystery Novel

Edge of Edisto

C. Hope Clark

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Midnight: A Folly Beach Mystery

Bill Noel

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The Scheme

Amethyst Drake

Best Non-Fiction Book

You’re Not Alone In The Dark

Eric J. Gurignard & Eugene M. Johnson

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100 Things Duran Duran Fans Should Know & Do During This Life: A New, Quirky Guide to Nostalgia from 1978 to Danse Macabre

Sandy Lender

–

A Trick of the Tale: The Story of Every Genesis Song

Jen Selinsky & Travis Potts

Best Paranormal Romance Novel

Spider King

Paige Skye

–

What a Dragon Desires

Ava Cuvay

–

The House on Darkling Street

Annette Miller

Best Poetry Collection (single author)

Imitation of Life

L. Marie Wood

–

Pens, Parchment, and Pain

Jayson William Allen

–

Torn

Jen Selinsky

Best Romance Novel

Addicted

Ayla Cox

–

Given a Chance (The R&B Series Book 2)

Olivia Linden

–

Group Hug

Ariella Talix

–

Hell’s Belles: Love and War

Jon Laforce

Best Science Fiction Novel

Prince Conqueror (The Prince of Britannia Saga Book 7)

Fred Hughes

–

Salvage Purgatory

Kevin Steverson & Nick Steverson & Jason Cordova

–

Path To Freedom

James Copley

–

2028 Tomorrow Is The Day

L.R. O’Brien

Best Short Story Collection (single author)

Shadow’s Gate

Sharon Marie Provost

–

Doll Seed: Stories

Michele Tracy Berger

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Side Hustle: Vol. 1

Jason Cordova

–

SELF-MADE MONSTERS: Feminist Horrors

Rebecca Cuthbert

Best Short Story

Northward Stones Mark a Crooked Path

Tommy B. Smith

–

Las Envies

John Palisano

–

Kaleidoscope

Barbara V. Evers

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Red Waves of Slaughter

Steven L. Shrewsbury

Best Song Lyrics

Frozen

Jayson William Allen

Best Steampunk Novel

Hell’s Acre

Lilith Saintcrow

–

The Darkness of Dying in the Light

S.E. Reed

Best Thriller Novel

Doubling Down

Dan Kemp

–

SapphicLover69

Edale Lane

–

Mission Black: Father Black Book One

Mick Williams

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Harvest of Evil: Book One of the John Fisher Chronicles

William M. Lehman

Best Urban Fantasy Novel

Reka’s Grasp

H.Y. Gregor

–

Lies and Illusion

L.R. Braden

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Pinky Promise

J. D. Blackrose

Best Young Adult Novel

Superficial

Diane Billas

–

Pride and Persistence

Joe Chianakas

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The Princess Scout

Henry Vogel

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The Dreams of Gemini

K.B. Carlisle

Rules and Stipulations for the Imadjinn Awards

  • Books nominated must have been published for the first time between January 1st, 2024 and December 31st, 2024 to be eligible. Reprints published during that time frame are not eligible for these awards, unless the reprint has been out of print for at least 20 years and is part of a collection/anthology released within our required dates of entry.
  • Nominations of a title must be made by the publisher, the author, or an official representative of the publisher such as a PA, literary agent, or manager.
  • All nominees must be prepared to expedite eBook copies of titles in ePub and PDF formats for the awards jury if selected to be a finalist.  You will have one week upon notification to deliver files for our jury.
  • Multiple titles by the same author may be submitted in a single category.
  • A title may only be entered in a single category.  Please choose the category most appropriate for your nomination.
  • Nomination period will end at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, February 1st, 2025.
  • Awards will be announced and presented at the Imaginarium 2025 Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 19th, 2025 at the Holiday Inn Louisville East
  • If you are not present at the Awards Ceremony, you will be responsible for the shipping and handling fee if you wish for the award to be sent to you.