The 2025 IAN Book of the Year Award Categories
Book of the Year Awards 2025 Categories
Fiction Categories
1. Action
2. Adventure
3. Christian/Religious Fiction
4. Cross Genre (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
5. Fantasy
6. First Novel (40,000 TO 70,000 Words)
7. First Novel (70,000 TO 90,000 Words)
8. First Novel (Over 90,000 Words)
9. First Novella (Under 40,000 Words)
10. General Fiction
11. Historical Fiction: Pre-20th Century (Before 1901)
12. Historical Fiction: 20th Century (1901-2000)
13. Holiday Fiction
14. Horror
15. Humor/Comedy/Satire (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
16. Inspirational Fiction
17. LGBTQ+ Fiction
18. Literary
19. Military/War
20. Multicultural Fiction
21. Mystery: Crime/Detective/Noir/Hardboiled
22. Mystery: Cozy
23. Novella (Under 40,000 words)
24. Paranormal/Supernatural
25. Political/Government
26. Romance
27. Science Fiction
28. Science Fiction: Dystopia
29. Short Story Collection (Single Author or Anthology)
30. Spiritual Fiction
31. Suspense Fiction
32. Thriller
33. Women's Fiction
Children/Young Adult Categories
34. Fiction: New Adult (Ages 18-29)
35. Fiction: Young Adult/Teen (Ages 13-18)
36. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Middle Grade (Ages 8-12)
37. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Early Readers (Ages 6-8)
38. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children’s Pre-School (Ages 0-5)
39. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Illustrated-picture book
40. Non-Fiction: Young Adult (Ages 13-18)
Non-Fiction Categories
41. Adventure
42. Animals/Pets/Nature
43. Arts: Art/Music/Performance Arts
44. Biography/Autobiography
45. Business: Leadership/Management
46. Business: Money/Finance/Sales
47. Career/Occupation
48. Crafts/Hobbies/Home
49. Education/Reference
50. First Non-Fiction
51. Fitness/Dieting
52. General Non-Fiction
53. Grief/Hardship
54. Government/Politics
55. Health/Medicine
56. History
57. How-To
58. Inspirational Non-Fiction
59. LGBTQ+ Non-Fiction
60. Memoir
61. Military/War
62. Mind/Body/Spirit
63. Multicultural Non-Fiction
64. Parenting/Family/Relationships
65. Religion/Christian Non-Fiction
66. Self-Help
67. Social Issues
68. Spiritual
69. Travel/Travel Guide
70. True Crime
71. True Story
72. Women's Non-Fiction
73. Writing and Publishing
Graphic Novel/Poetry
74. Fiction or Non-Fiction Graphic Novel
75. Fiction or Non-Fiction Poetry
First Novel and First Non-Fiction Categories
You may have published subsequent books, however, this entry must be your first published Novel or Non-Fiction. All other Fiction or Non-Fiction entries can be any book from your publishing catalogue.
First Novel 40k-70K must be your First Published novel with between 40,000 and 70,000 words.
First Novel 70k-90K must be your First Published novel with between 70,000 and 90,000 words.
First Novel Over 90k must be your First Published novel with over 90,000 words.
First Novella Under 40k must be your first Novella with 40,000 Words or less.
First Non-Fiction must be your first Non-Fiction with any word count.
(All other categories have no word count restriction)
Fiction Categories
1. Action
2. Adventure
3. Christian/Religious Fiction
4. Cross Genre (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
5. Fantasy
6. First Novel (40,000 TO 70,000 Words)
7. First Novel (70,000 TO 90,000 Words)
8. First Novel (Over 90,000 Words)
9. First Novella (Under 40,000 Words)
10. General Fiction
11. Historical Fiction: Pre-20th Century (Before 1901)
12. Historical Fiction: 20th Century (1901-2000)
13. Holiday Fiction
14. Horror
15. Humor/Comedy/Satire (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
16. Inspirational Fiction
17. LGBTQ+ Fiction
18. Literary
19. Military/War
20. Multicultural Fiction
21. Mystery: Crime/Detective/Noir/Hardboiled
22. Mystery: Cozy
23. Novella (Under 40,000 words)
24. Paranormal/Supernatural
25. Political/Government
26. Romance
27. Science Fiction
28. Science Fiction: Dystopia
29. Short Story Collection (Single Author or Anthology)
30. Spiritual Fiction
31. Suspense Fiction
32. Thriller
33. Women's Fiction
Children/Young Adult Categories
34. Fiction: New Adult (Ages 18-29)
35. Fiction: Young Adult/Teen (Ages 13-18)
36. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Middle Grade (Ages 8-12)
37. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Early Readers (Ages 6-8)
38. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children’s Pre-School (Ages 0-5)
39. Fiction/Non-Fiction: Children's Illustrated-picture book
40. Non-Fiction: Young Adult (Ages 13-18)
Non-Fiction Categories
41. Adventure
42. Animals/Pets/Nature
43. Arts: Art/Music/Performance Arts
44. Biography/Autobiography
45. Business: Leadership/Management
46. Business: Money/Finance/Sales
47. Career/Occupation
48. Crafts/Hobbies/Home
49. Education/Reference
50. First Non-Fiction
51. Fitness/Dieting
52. General Non-Fiction
53. Grief/Hardship
54. Government/Politics
55. Health/Medicine
56. History
57. How-To
58. Inspirational Non-Fiction
59. LGBTQ+ Non-Fiction
60. Memoir
61. Military/War
62. Mind/Body/Spirit
63. Multicultural Non-Fiction
64. Parenting/Family/Relationships
65. Religion/Christian Non-Fiction
66. Self-Help
67. Social Issues
68. Spiritual
69. Travel/Travel Guide
70. True Crime
71. True Story
72. Women's Non-Fiction
73. Writing and Publishing
Graphic Novel/Poetry
74. Fiction or Non-Fiction Graphic Novel
75. Fiction or Non-Fiction Poetry
First Novel and First Non-Fiction Categories
You may have published subsequent books, however, this entry must be your first published Novel or Non-Fiction. All other Fiction or Non-Fiction entries can be any book from your publishing catalogue.
First Novel 40k-70K must be your First Published novel with between 40,000 and 70,000 words.
First Novel 70k-90K must be your First Published novel with between 70,000 and 90,000 words.
First Novel Over 90k must be your First Published novel with over 90,000 words.
First Novella Under 40k must be your first Novella with 40,000 Words or less.
First Non-Fiction must be your first Non-Fiction with any word count.
(All other categories have no word count restriction)
