cmrosensDec 22

Indie Ink Awards 2025: Voting Open for Yelen & Yelena

YELEN & YELENA has been nominated for the Indie Ink Awards in the following categories:

  • Best Audio Narration
  • Best Friendship
  • Best Setting
  • Asexual & Aromantic Representation
  • LGBTQ+ Representation

Voting is now open, and I would love to get this book into the top 10 for one of these categories for it to be read by the judges.

Voting is open here: https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025

It’s free to create an Indie Story Geek account if you don’t have one, and then you can vote in the awards.

If you have read and enjoyed this book and would like the judges of the competition to read it, you can vote it into the 10 judged nominees from now until 31st December. If you want to participate, get your vote in before it closes! It doesn’t take long!

BUY THE BOOK:

All Book Links (links to all eBook, print, and audio options)
50% off in Smashwords End of Year Sale ($2.49, free sample available)
In a Box Set of 11 eBooks for £9.99 (RRP £29.90)
eBook and ad-free audio bundle (£8.99 – mp3 files, ePub, and PDF versions, DRM-free)
Listen free with ads on the Eldritch Girl podcast Season 04.

#IndieInkAwards
V, The Dragon Witch 🌙Dec 16

Three(!) of my books are nominated in a whole bunch of categories in the Indie Ink Awards!

To support Books and Bone, The Old Goat and the Alien, and Non-Player Character, please do go and vote for them!

https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025

#IndieInkAwards

S. KaethDec 13

Whew! All nominees for this year's Indie Ink Awards have been notified! Voting begins on the 15th!
https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025

Want to join in? We're still looking for more judges, ESPECIALLY those from marginalized communities! You get: a nifty badge, fantastic indie books to read across wide genres, and our undying gratitude!

Sign up at: https://forms.gle/SskGrZtscT2tRQU77 !

@bookstodon @romancelandia @fantasy @sciencefiction @horrorbooks

#ReadingCommunity #Readers #Bookstodon #IndieBooks #IndieInkAwards

S. KaethNov 4

The Indie Ink Awards is starting its fourth year! Nominations are now open, throughout the month of November! We've made changes this year to make it even more fair in the finals round!

For more info go to https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025
To nominate, find the book on https://indiestorygeek.com/ (or submit it!) and press the Nominate button!
Want to be a judge this year? We're looking for all the diverse judges we can get! Sign up at https://forms.gle/SskGrZtscT2tRQU77

#IndieInkAwards #IndieStoryGeek

Stelliform PressSep 15, 2025

What a surprise to discover that two Stelliform books took home top prizes at the Indie Ink Awards this weekend! Congrats to two amazing writers and their incredible books: Tiffany Morris and E.G. Condé for best Indigenous and Latinx/Latine Rep respectively! See more here: https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2024

#indieink #indieinkawards #indieinkawards2024 #indiebooks #smallpress #indigenousliterature #indigenoushorror #latinxbooks #latinebooks #lgbtqbooks #queerbooks

S. KaethSep 14, 2025

Tons of amazing winners announced among the pool of incredible finalists of the Indie Ink Awards!

Check them all out: https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2024

#IndieInkAwards #IndieBooks #IndieStoryGeek

Indie Ink Awards 2024 - Indie Story Geek

S. KaethSep 14, 2025

The Indie Ink Awards Ceremony is in one hour! I'm so excited to unveil the winners! We had a great batch of finalists, and so many wonderful books to put on your TBR!

#IndieBooks #IndieInkAwards #WriteHive #IndieStoryGeek

Show threadS. KaethJul 31, 2025

@bookstodon

Cat reviews Upscaled by Joseph John Lee, saying it "brings in a lot of humour, there are some moments I found myself laughing out loud at the silliness of it all and the tale builds up to a brilliant ending" & it's "a ya, but it feels like it would suit middle grade readers too seeing as Ailis is that age group and the adventure is very much a middle grade one."

Check it out: https://thestrawberrypost.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/book-review-upscaled-by-joseph-john-lee-indieinkawards/

#IndieInkAwards #Bookstodon #BookReview #IndieStoryGeek #Dragons #IndieAuthors

Book Review: Upscaled by Joseph John Lee #IndieInkAwards

A book review of a fun and light-hearted fantasy about a girl and her brother who one day discover a dragon egg, but how could this be when dragons aren’t meant to exist?  A finalist in the I…

The Strawberry Post
Show threadS. KaethJun 18, 2025

@bookstodon

Ollie reviews Bookstories by Sarah Tollok, which they say "does a great job of giving you that “small-world!” excitement- two seemingly disconnected characters meet, or things seem to come full-circle, and it made me want to scream with joy. There are so many smaller stories, interconnected, packed into one giant story. And I loved every one of them."

Read more at https://www.instagram.com/p/DLBp8eGsSEO/?igsh=MzNsYms2Y3h4d2Uw

#IndieInkAwards #Bookstodon #Bookstagram #BookReview #IndieStoryGeek #QueerBooks #LGBTQBooks

Queerly Curated on Instagram: "⭐️ Book Review ⭐️ My third read for this year’s @indieinkawards: 📖 Bookstories by Sarah Tollok 📖 🏳️‍🌈Bi MC and trans supporting character🏳️‍⚧️ I absolutely love a book about books. This story is particularly unique in this genre, and does a particularly great job celebrating stories, the idea of intimately learning about someone through their writing, and sharing books with each other. This book follows many different characters, and does a great job of giving you that “small-world!” excitement- two seemingly disconnected characters meet, or things seem to come full-circle, and it made me want to scream with joy. There are so many smaller stories, interconnected, packed into one giant story. And I loved every one of them. One thing I want to note is that while the characters are likable, I didn’t find the way they behave and talk to be very believable. However, the story itself was engaging and brilliant. 📖📖📖📖 (This review does not necessarily reflect my score for the book in the awards). . . . . #books #lgbtq #gaybooks #gaybookstagram #queerbookstagram #booksaboutbooks #summerreads #diversereads #supportindie #indieauthor"

2 likes, 0 comments - queerly_curated on June 17, 2025: "⭐️ Book Review ⭐️ My third read for this year’s @indieinkawards: 📖 Bookstories by Sarah Tollok 📖 🏳️‍🌈Bi MC and trans supporting character🏳️‍⚧️ I absolutely love a book about books. This story is particularly unique in this genre, and does a particularly great job celebrating stories, the idea of intimately learning about someone through their writing, and sharing books with each other. This book follows many different characters, and does a great job of giving you that “small-world!” excitement- two seemingly disconnected characters meet, or things seem to come full-circle, and it made me want to scream with joy. There are so many smaller stories, interconnected, packed into one giant story. And I loved every one of them. One thing I want to note is that while the characters are likable, I didn’t find the way they behave and talk to be very believable. However, the story itself was engaging and brilliant. 📖📖📖📖 (This review does not necessarily reflect my score for the book in the awards). . . . . #books #lgbtq #gaybooks #gaybookstagram #queerbookstagram #booksaboutbooks #summerreads #diversereads #supportindie #indieauthor".

Instagram
Show threadS. KaethJun 3, 2025

@bookstodon @romancelandia

Ollie reviews Reclaimed by Seth Haddon: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKa1RWsMnFW/?igsh=MWlweXR3MTM5ajFkeQ%3D%3D

In it, they say: "An example of some amazing 🏳️‍🌈&🏳️‍⚧️ rep! Saba has quite a lot of dysphoria, which plays a huge role in the plot. It was written in a way I could really identify with." & "Zek’s descriptions of identity around his disability are great. (Also- YES to the representation and beauty of fat bodies!!)"

#IndieInkAwards #Bookstodon #Bookstagram #BookReview #IndieStoryGeek #HistoricalFantasy

Queerly Curated on Instagram: "✨ For someone who doesn’t usually enjoy this genre, I had so much fun reading Reclaimed by Seth Haddon for the #IndieInkAwards! ✨ ✨An example of some amazing 🏳️‍🌈&🏳️‍⚧️ rep! You can find my full review on TheStoryGraph (@ OllieCy) and other reader reviews on indiestorygeek.com. But here are some brief things to note: - Saba has quite a lot of dysphoria, which plays a huge role in the plot. It was written in a way I could really identify with. While this view of the trans-experience isn’t THE only trans-experience, I think Seth does an amazing job showing it and painting Saba’s conflicting feelings. I highlighted many quotes in Saba’s reflections of identity. - Zek’s descriptions of identity around his disability are great. (Also- YES to the representation and beauty of fat bodies!!) - I was expecting a much spicier book 🌶️🌶️. There is only one sex scene, but everything was done so well that I can’t complain. - I’d like to note that Saba uses “female” terms for his anatomy. There is nothing wrong with this and every (trans) person is different, but it is something to note for other trans-masculine readers who see themselves in Saba and might be surprised by this language. - I did find the answer to the mystery a little difficult to follow, but maybe that’s just me. There is lots of political intrigue, which I enjoy. We dive pretty deeply into the motivations and reactions of one “villain” in particular at the end, and a bit into the others, but there is a lot of complicated deceit at play, and I wish this was maybe explained just slightly better. - I really like the author’s voice. It felt like I was hearing an exciting tale from someone I’d love to chat with forever! (This review does not necessarily reflect my score for the book in the awards). . . . . . #IndieInkAwards2024 #IndieBookReview #QueerBooks #TransRepresentation #ReadQueerAllYear #BookCommunity #IndieAuthorLove #BookstagramRecs #OwnVoices #DiverseReads #BookLoversUnite #BookishLove #LGBTQBooks #Bookstagram #BookTok #ReadersOfInstagram #queerbookstagram #gaybookstagram #romantasy #romantasybooks"

0 likes, 0 comments - queerly_curated on June 2, 2025: "✨ For someone who doesn’t usually enjoy this genre, I had so much fun reading Reclaimed by Seth Haddon for the #IndieInkAwards! ✨ ✨An example of some amazing 🏳️‍🌈&🏳️‍⚧️ rep! You can find my full review on TheStoryGraph (@ OllieCy) and other reader reviews on indiestorygeek.com. But here are some brief things to note: - Saba has quite a lot of dysphoria, which plays a huge role in the plot. It was written in a way I could really identify with. While this view of the trans-experience isn’t THE only trans-experience, I think Seth does an amazing job showing it and painting Saba’s conflicting feelings. I highlighted many quotes in Saba’s reflections of identity. - Zek’s descriptions of identity around his disability are great. (Also- YES to the representation and beauty of fat bodies!!) - I was expecting a much spicier book 🌶️🌶️. There is only one sex scene, but everything was done so well that I can’t complain. - I’d like to note that Saba uses “female” terms for his anatomy. There is nothing wrong with this and every (trans) person is different, but it is something to note for other trans-masculine readers who see themselves in Saba and might be surprised by this language. - I did find the answer to the mystery a little difficult to follow, but maybe that’s just me. There is lots of political intrigue, which I enjoy. We dive pretty deeply into the motivations and reactions of one “villain” in particular at the end, and a bit into the others, but there is a lot of complicated deceit at play, and I wish this was maybe explained just slightly better. - I really like the author’s voice. It felt like I was hearing an exciting tale from someone I’d love to chat with forever! (This review does not necessarily reflect my score for the book in the awards). . . . . . #IndieInkAwards2024 #IndieBookReview #QueerBooks #TransRepresentation #ReadQueerAllYear #BookCommunity #IndieAuthorLove #BookstagramRecs #OwnVoices #DiverseReads #BookLoversUnite #BookishLove #LGBTQBooks #Bookstagram #BookTok #ReadersOfInstagram #queerbookstagram #gaybookstagram #romantasy #romantasybooks".

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