BCALA and BiblioLabs Announce the 2024 EBook Literary Awards Winners

The Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. (BCALA) and BiblioLabs announce the winners of the 2024
Self-Publishing EBook Awards. Following the model of the current BCALA Literary Awards, the awards honor the best
self-published EBooks in fiction and poetry by an African American author in the U.S.  This is the nineth time BCALA and
BiblioLabs have given this innovative award. The recipients will receive their awards during the National Conference of
Librarians of Color in New Orleans, LA in 2024.

FICTION

The fiction category winner is Your Turn by Lavelle Andrew Miller. Your Turn is an engaging crime story about Seven
House, a former detective who was falsely convicted of killing a police officer. The story is structured around House’s
release from jail after doing a twenty-year term, with help from his old acquaintance, Terk Swift. The book illustrates an
atmosphere of suspense and mystery along with plot twists that awaken the reader’s curiosity and fosters doubts in
their perceptions. Lavelle’s credibility in bringing out life experiences inside the prison and the details depicted
from House’s point of view enhances the story’s realism. This novel is a reflection on
the thorough analysis of the imperfections of the justice system and the striking
reality of wrongful conviction. Lavelle is currently working on his second book, The
Things I Missed, which is scheduled to be released in Early Spring of 2025.

The honor fiction winner is Blood Bayou by Lynn Emery. This work goes beyond the average murder mystery and
explores the complexities of parenting “gifted” children and accepting psychic realities. When LaShaun’s daughter gets
in trouble at school, she finds herself in the middle of an unusual investigation. Through LaShaun’s quest to help her
daughter, she must use her psychic abilities to uncover the truth. This book is filled with paranormal aspects and
mythical creatures and is the seventh book in a series. Lynn Emery is a native of Louisiana and a licensed clinical social
worker, Lynn mixes the cultural spice of her home state to create her own brand of southern suspense fiction.

POETRY

The poetry category winner is We Carry the Burden by Shakia Shine. This collection of poetry is filled with poems that
express the effects and sentimental journey of mental illnesses and other traumatic experiences. Poems such as “An
Ode to my Heart” inspire the reader to redefine what love means to them. Shine ends the book in a powerful way with
the poem “We Carry the Burden” that … Shakia is currently a freelance legal assistant and is working on her second
poetry book.

Members of the BCALA EBook Literary Awards Jury are: Tiffany A. Duck, LitDext LLC (Chair); Gladys Smiley Bell, Hampton
University; Annie Payton, Eddie Hughes, Southern University; Brenda Spencer Robertson, University of North Texas at
Dallas; Vanissa Ely, Southern University