In 2024 BolognaBookPlus launched Indie Authors Book Jacket Award, as part of its initiatives dedicated to self-publishing, with the aim of giving visibility to the best covers by self-published authors, highlighting a growing sector in the book world.
According to the latest data published in February 2023, more than 2.3 million titles out of over four million were self-published in the US alone in 2021. This new initiative enables the discovery of new talent, through the variety of covers that represent them.
Graphic-editorial quality, innovation and creativity are the main criteria in the judging process.
There are four main categories: FICTION, NON-FICTION, YOUNG/CHILDREN AND COMICS. The winner and the mentions, whose covers were exhibited at the BolognaBookPlus area during BCBF2024, were additionally be given visibility in press releases, on the website, and in the fair newsletters.
For 2024 the jurors for the Indie Authors Book Jacket Design Award were Mimaster’s Ivan Canu and Giacomo Benelli, and Stefano Cipolla, Art Director, L’Espresso. They met to select the shortlist, winner and special mentions three weeks prior to the fair, April 2024.
The winner of the inaugural Indie Authors Book Jacket Award, April 2024, was Sandy Horsley, UK.
Sandy Horsley graduated with an illustration and graphics BA from Norwich University of the Arts and an MA in Children's Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. Printmaking, illustration, ceramics and artist’s books all feature in her practice, as a way to tell stories. Based in Suffolk, UK, she is inspired by the folk tales of East Anglia, interesting characters and the natural world.