Emma: Knightley’s Version by Hailey Jones, who spent much of her childhood in Patmos, Arkansas, has been named by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group as one of the best indie books of 2026. Jones received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Liberal Arts degrees in English from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and is a graduate of Lake Hamilton High School in Garland County.
The book is a finalist of the General Fiction/Novel (over 100,000 words) category in the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the world’s largest book awards program for independent publishers and self-published authors. The winners and finalists will be honored at a gala on June 26, 2026, at The Newberry Library in Chicago, IL, coinciding with the American Library Association Annual Conference. Jones will be in attendance to receive her award in person.
The novel, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma told from the perspective of George Knightley, is available for purchase on Amazon at www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ5BK5SL
Entering its 20th year, the awards honor outstanding independently published books in over 80 categories. Organizers of this year’s gala hope to livestream the awards presentation on Facebook, commencing at approximately 5:00 pm CT at https://www.facebook.com/NextGenerationIndieBookAwards.
Videos of the 2024 and 2025 events have been viewed more than 100,000 times.
This year’s Platinum Sponsor is FabJob.com, a leading publisher of dream career guides with over half a million satisfied customers across 6 continents. IAP Career College (iapcollege.com), which offers online certificate courses in more than 100 career fields including book editing and book publishing, returns as a Gold Sponsor of this year’s awards.
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards are judged by leaders in the indie publishing industry,
many of whom have had long careers at major publishing houses. Drawing on their deep
experience and love of great storytelling, they recognize books that deserve a wider audience.
In an article at CNN.com titled If it’s cool, creative, and different, it’s indie, journalist Catherine
Andrews wrote: “The term ‘indie’ traditionally refers to independent art – music, film, literature or anything that fits under the broad banner of culture – created outside of the mainstream and without corporate financing.” That definition remains true for book publishing.
Independent book publishing companies are independent of the major conglomerates dominating the book publishing industry. Indies include small presses, larger independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.
According to Catherine Goulet, Founder and Co-Chair of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, “Like other independent artists, many indie book publishers face challenges that the industry giants don’t experience. The indies have to work much harder to get their best books into readers’ hands.”
“Authors and publishers who compete in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards are serious about promoting their books,” adds Goulet. “They aim to stand out from the crowd of millions of books in print.”
According to the Association of American Publishers’ latest StatShot Annual report, the U.S.
publishing industry generated an estimated $32.5 billion in revenue in 2024, up 4.1% from 2023, with trade/consumer books accounting for $21.2 billion of that total.
Book output has also continued to climb: Bowker figures reported by Publishers Weekly show that more than 4 million books with ISBNs were published in the U.S. in 2025, driven largely by self publishing, which accounted for more than 3.5 million print and ebook titles.
To help indie authors and publishers reach a wider audience, the top 80+ books in the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards will be reviewed by New York literary agent Marilyn Allen of Allen Literary Agency (formerly the Allen O’Shea Literary Agency), or one of Ms. Allen’s co-agents, for possible representation in areas such as: distribution, foreign rights, film rights, and other rights. A complete list of 2026 winners and finalists is available at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards website at indiebookawards.com
About the Literary Agent
Marilyn Allen has over 25 years of sales and marketing experience, including serving as Senior Vice President, Associate Publisher, and Director of Marketing for HarperCollins and directing sales and marketing teams for Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and many divisions of the Penguin Random House Publishing Group (formerly Penguin Books and Random House). Ms. Allen has worked with many best-selling authors including Stephen King, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, John Gray, Mary Higgins Clark, and many more.
About IBPPG
The aim of the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group is to promote professional
standards in independent book publishing (also known as “indie” book publishing) and provide
support and recognition for the independent book publishing profession.
2027 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Entries are now being accepted for the 2027 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The awards are open to books released in 2025, 2026, or 2027 from independent authors and publishers worldwide. Visit the Next Generation Indie Book Awards website at https://www.indiebookawards.com for more information.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards is pleased to introduce the Next Generation Short
Story Awards, a not-for-profit awards program for authors of short stories. To learn more
visit https://shortstoryawards.com/.