Catching Memories
Runner Up
2025 Beach Book Festival

Peggy Lotz Young Peggy visits the Oregon coast with her parents and siblings, Gayle and John, and it’s a magical day. The sand, the waves, the tidal pools… what could be better? When her dad goes fishing and catches a perch in the ocean, Peggy and her siblings are in for the surprise of their…

Seasons Change and So Do I
Honorable mention
2025 Beach Book Festival

Carol A Vigoda-Fuchs Johnny mourns his uncle. He misses him, as he doesn’t come to play with him anymore. Or does he? A touching and affectionate story about a boy, who finds consolation in nature and is lovingly supported by his parents and grandmother. He discovers that his uncle is by his side through all…

Life in the Shadows- A Story of Resilience
Honorable mention
2025 San Francisco Book Festival

Kathleen Geuder Martin Her father was schizophrenic but she was not. So why keep it a secret? Martin’s memoir reveals heart wrenching honesty of family dynamics dealing with mental illness. The emotional journey also transmits joy, enchantment and love as she limns her family roots. Mental illness the silent stigma!

Sentience Hazard
Runner Up
2025 San Francisco Book Festival

Alexandru Czimbor In 2053, the US struggles to create an Artificial Intelligence to rival the one that China had already developed. A tragic love story ends up bootstrapping the AI creation. The Chinese authoritarian regime and their plan to conquer the stars put the world in unprecedented danger. Can humanity survive?

Scars Of The Heart
Winner
2025 San Francisco Book Festival

Bob Van Laerhoven Through ten stories set in different countries and eras, Van Laerhoven explores the destructive consequences of our passions as a common thread that unites them. The stories highlight the dark side of love, which fuels our violence, inner loneliness, and greedy egos.

If They Won’t Bend, Break Them!®
Runner Up
2025 San Francisco Book Festival

Geoffrey Michael This book focuses on practical negotiating advice that can be used by everyone to get what they want at the price they want. We all negotiate in our daily lives, sometimes without realizing it. This book is valuable to the average person and to anyone who negotiates for a living.

The Selfish Shellfish and the Sick Sea
Honorable mention
2025 Beach Book Festival

Andrea Harrison Caleb, a self-centered King Crab leader of the Shellfish does not want to face that his shellfish subjects are struggling to survive in the polluted ocean. He learns a valuable lesson about the importance of sharing and caring when his friends take up the cause to try and find a solution to heal…

Everything is an Event A Step-by-Step Guide
Honorable mention
2025 San Francisco Book Festival

Marinda Freeman If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed when planning an event, extraordinary event planner Marinda Freeman is here to take you from feeling stressed and unprepared to at ease and confident as she shares the secrets to planning memorable events. This comprehensive guide is enriched with over 130 vibrant photographs and illustrations.

Karma Redirected: How Did They Let You Become a Teacher?
Runner Up
2025 Los Angeles Book Festival

Mike Morris A series of tales chronicles Mo’s emergence into the world as well as his seemingly pointless meandering. After allowing the world to nurture and mold Mo’s meanness, a rotten kid blossoms, hated by teachers. In an ironic twist, Mo becomes a middle school teacher, and karma is transformed into mission.

The Ruthless Duke
Honorable mention
2025 London Book Festival

Sandra Gharabaghli What are you willing to risk for love? Emma risks it all. Theirs was a love born in passion and forged in sacrifice. The Duke and Duchess are both spies but neither knows the other’s occupation. Emma creates an elaborate ruse to free her husband from a French dungeon.