Submissions for 2025 Andy Awards for Ghostwriting Open Sept. 13

Submissions for the 2025 Andy Awards for excellence in nonfiction book collaborations open on Friday, Sept. 13.

Cosponsored by ASJA and Gotham Ghostwriters, the Andy Awards are the first-ever honors to recognize excellence in collaborations between authors and paid contributors–including ghostwriters.

The award is given in three categories: business and thought leadership; memoir and narrative nonfiction; and prescriptive nonfiction. To be eligible, both the author and paid collaborator must joint submit a book for consideration and agree to share the award.

Submissions run through Dec. 31, 2024. To be considered, books must be published between July 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024. Find out more about the 2025 Andy Awards and enter a submission here.

Bringing Ghostwriting Collaborations Out of the Shadows

ASJA and Gotham Ghostwriters, the New York ghostwriting agency, introduced the Andy Awards in 2024 and presented the inaugural winners at the Gathering of the Ghosts ghostwriting conference in New York City.

“Bringing collaboration out of the shadows and into a well-deserved spotlight, the Andy Awards reflect the growing appreciation that collaborative projects are outstanding nonfiction performers,” said ASJA President Emily Paulsen and Gotham CEO Dan Gerstein in a joint statement. “They are among the most popular and well-reviewed nonfiction books in circulation, often appearing on bestseller lists. The process of collaboration not only enhances the quality of a work, it enables narratives that might have gone untold and ideas that might have gone unexpressed to reach the marketplace.”

What Does it Mean to Be an Andy Awards Finalist?

Winners of last year’s inaugural Andy Award included:

• Business and thought leadership – “Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World,” by Ginni Rometty in collaboration with Joanne Gordon
• Memoir and narrative nonfiction – “Glimmer: A Story of Survival, Hope, and Healing,” by Kimberly Shannon Murphy in collaboration with Genevieve Field
• Prescriptive nonfiction – “Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community,” by Joy Harden Bradford, in collaboration with Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggets

ASJA member Holly Gleason was a 2024 Andy Awards finalist for the memoir-cookbook she collaborated on with country music singer Miranda Lambert, which celebrated recipes from three generations of women in Lambert’s family and some of their closest friends. For Gleason, a long-time music writer and artist development consultant, being recognized as an Andy Awards finalist was the icing on the cake of what was a fantastic writing collaboration.

“Being an Andy finalist meant not only did Miranda Lambert, my co-conspirator, get to tell her high school principal she was a short-listed New York Times best-selling author, in addition to being short-listed for this award, but I was able to celebrate the journey of three generations of fierce, fun awesome Texas women all over again!” Gleason said. “To be part of this community, it’s a startling place to meet others who live in service to the stories people deserve to read.”

Michelle Rafter is a Portland Oregon, business ghostwriter, and ASJA’s publications chair.