2025 Women in Publishing Awards Winners Announced
Winners revealed at the Awards Ceremony concluding the 9th Annual Virtual Women in Publishing Summit—Wednesday, March 11, 2026
The Women in Publishing Summit is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Women in Publishing Awards, recognizing women who are shaping, elevating, and transforming the publishing industry through leadership, innovation, and community.
Meet the 2025 Winners
WIP Indie Publishing Woman of the Year
Celebrating an industry leader who embodies empowerment, innovation and consistent impact in the publishing world.
Sherry Ward | Square Tree Publishing & Productions, CEO & Executive ProducerThere are publishers who help authors make books—and then there are publishers who help authors find their voice, step into their mission, and build something that outlasts the page. Sherry Ward is firmly in the second category.
As the CEO and Executive Producer of Square Tree Publishing & Productions, Sherry has spent more than a decade doing what few publishers do: treating every author’s vision as something worth protecting. Her authors have landed on CNN, Fox News, the Dr. Drew Show, Good Morning America, The Home & Family Show, and at the United Nations. She is also the founder of Christian Creators 360 and a published author herself—her book Launching You: Igniting Writers, Propelling Authors reflects the philosophy that drives everything she builds: your book is the beginning, not the destination.
In recent years, Sherry has expanded her reach into film production, serving as executive producer on Infinity System and Forsaken Mercenary—proof that she understands what it means to help a story find its largest possible audience.
Outside of her professional work, Sherry opens her home to young adults, offering mentorship and the simple but powerful reminder that every story matters.
The WIP Woman of the Year award recognizes an industry leader who embodies empowerment, innovation, and consistent impact—and Sherry Ward is exactly that.
Women in Publishing Lifetime Achievement Award
Honoring a woman whose long-term commitment to publishing has shaped and elevated the industry.
Elizabeth Ducie | Chudleigh Phoenix Publications, PublisherSome careers are measured in titles published. Elizabeth Ducie’s is measured in the writers she has changed.Elizabeth spent more than thirty years as an international manufacturing consultant and technical writer before turning to creative fiction in 2006—and what followed is a masterclass in what indie publishing, done with intention, can look like. Under her own imprint, Chudleigh Phoenix Publications, she has published more than twenty titles including the Jones Sisters international thriller series, the Coombesford Chronicles cozy mystery series, and six collections of short stories. Her debut novel, Gorgito’s Ice Rink, was runner-up in Writing Magazine‘s Self-Published Book of the Year Awards in 2015.
But the achievement that defines Elizabeth’s legacy is arguably her Business of Writing series—a practical, no-nonsense toolkit that gives indie authors the business systems they need to actually sustain a creative career. It is the work of someone who believes that writers deserve to understand their own industry, and who has spent decades making sure they can.
Elizabeth is a founder member of Chudleigh Writers’ Circle, a former Director of Exeter Literary Festival, and a long-standing member of ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors) and the Crime Writers Association. She has taught and lectured at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School and writing communities across the UK. She has been a member of the Women in Publishing community since 2020.
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors a woman whose long-term commitment to publishing has shaped and elevated the industry. Elizabeth Ducie has done that—quietly, consistently, and with the rigor of a scientist who never forgot she had stories to tell.
WIP Publishing Trailblazer of the Year
Honoring a woman forging new paths in publishing through bold ideas, platforms, or strategies.
This year, the committee made history with its first-ever tied award in the Trailblazer category. The decision reflects what the committee saw clearly: two women, working in parallel, who are fundamentally reshaping what publishing can look like—and for whom.
Renita Bryant | Mynd Matters Publishing, Founder & CEO; IBPA, Board ChairRenita Bryant founded Mynd Matters Publishing in 2012 with a conviction that has guided everything since: that diverse voices deserve a professional, supportive, and sustainable home in publishing. More than a decade later, Mynd Matters has published over 200 titles across 150+ authors, spanning business, adult fiction, children’s books, and self-help.
In 2025, Renita was elected Board Chair of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)—an organization representing 3,000+ publishers—after serving as vice chair, membership committee chair, and IBPA Executive Committee member. She holds an MBA from Florida A&M University and executive education certifications in Entrepreneurship from Dartmouth College, and she brings that rigor to her vision for an indie publishing industry that is equitable, data-informed, and built to last.
As Board Chair, Renita has been direct about her priorities: structural equity, inclusive BISAC codes, and giving independent publishers the tools and clarity to run profitable, sustainable businesses. She is not interested in incremental change. She is interested in shifting the architecture of the industry itself.
Tamira Chapman | Storehouse In A Box, Founder & CEO; Storehouse Voices (Crown/Penguin Random House), PublisherTamira Chapman’s path to publishing ran through entrepreneurship, intellectual property law, and a conviction that Black voices deserve more than a seat at the table—they deserve to own the table.
As founder and CEO of Storehouse In A Box (SIAB), Tamira built a global e-commerce company recognized as the 8th fastest-growing woman-owned business worldwide by J.P. Morgan Chase and the Women President’s Organization, and honored as E-commerce Firm of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency. Under her leadership, SIAB has generated hundreds of millions in revenue with a 97% customer retention rate.
In 2024, Tamira launched Storehouse Voices—a publishing imprint in partnership with Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House—built on the foundation of the Women & Words program, which connected over 10,000 Black women authors with agents and publishing professionals. Storehouse Voices exists to bridge the representation gap for authors of color with the full infrastructure of a major publishing partner behind it.
Tamira holds a JD and has represented Fortune 50 companies and entertainers in intellectual property matters. She is, in every sense of the word, building something that didn’t exist before.
Together, Renita Bryant and Tamira Chapman represent the kind of trailblazing WIP has always sought to celebrate: not just doing the work but changing what the work makes possible for everyone who comes after them.
Publishing Professional WIP Partner of the Year
Recognizing a publishing professional (publisher, strategist, coach, consultant, etc.) for outstanding work supporting author success.
Jynafer Yanez | Archimedes Books and Wolfpack Entertainment, Co-founder & CEOThe publishing industry talks a lot about building author brands. Jynafer Yanez actually does it—and then she takes those brands somewhere most publishers never think to go.
As co-founder and CEO of both Archimedes Books and Wolfpack Entertainment, Jynafer has helped build an independent publishing operation that has sold over one million copies, expanded into foreign markets, launched graphic novel adaptations, and crossed into film production. She serves as producer on Forsaken Mercenary (2025) and Infinity System (2022)—titles that began as books and became something far larger.
Her background in advertising and marketing gave her a foundational understanding of what it takes to build not just books, but audiences. Over the years, that expertise has expanded to serve authors beyond her own publishing house, positioning her as a strategist who understands the full lifecycle of intellectual property—from manuscript to multimedia franchise.
Jynafer is a bestselling author in her own right, and she brings that dual perspective of creator and publisher to everything she builds. She is proof that indie publishing, at its most ambitious, is not a fallback. It is a platform.
The WIP Publishing Professional of the Year recognizes outstanding work supporting author success. Jynafer Yanez does that—and then she builds the stage they perform on.
WIP Editor Partner of the Year
Recognizing an outstanding editor who uplifts authors through exceptional skill, insight, and collaboration.
Judy L Mohr | Black Wolf Editorial Services, Developmental Editor & Writing CoachGreat editors are not hard to find. Editors who combine deep craft knowledge, technical fluency, genuine investment in their clients’ success, and the rare ability to see a manuscript exactly as it needs to be seen—those are harder to come by. Judy L Mohr is one of them.
A New Zealand-based developmental editor, writing coach, and author, Judy holds a Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury and brings a scientist’s precision to story structure. Through Black Wolf Editorial Services and her platform at judylmohr.com, she works with writers around the world across genres including thriller, crime fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. She is also a co-founder of Canterbury Writers, an online network for writers in her region and beyond.
What sets Judy apart is her whole-person approach to editing. Her clients describe someone who sees not just the manuscript in front of her, but the story underneath it—the one the writer is actually trying to tell. She is a three-time mentor through the New Zealand Society of Authors Mentor Programme. Her own writing includes Hidden Traps of the Internet, a guide to building an author platform safely in a complex digital landscape—because she believes that getting your work into the world requires understanding the world you’re publishing into.
The WIP Editor Partner of the Year recognizes an outstanding editor who uplifts authors through exceptional skill, insight, and collaboration. Judy Mohr does all three.
WIP Community Champion of the Year
Celebrating a standout author who exemplifies generosity, support, and active participation in the Women in Publishing community.
CC Robinson (Cristy Robinson) | Award-winning, Bestselling AuthorSome writers write because they have something to say. CC Robinson writes because she believes the right story, in the right hands, at the right moment, can actually change how people see each other.
CC is the award-winning, Amazon bestselling author of the Divided series—a young adult dystopian series set in a racially divided future America that she wrote, as she has said openly, out of genuine concern for the divisiveness and racial hatred she was witnessing in the world around her. The series has earned a Silver Medal from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and First Place in the Firebird Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction, and readers consistently compare it to The Hunger Games and Divergent—not for style, but for the way it makes you feel the stakes.
What makes CC’s story remarkable is what she brought to the page before she ever sat down to write it. She is a medical doctor with more than two decades of experience working in cross-cultural settings—bringing healthcare to post-civil war nations around the world—and an Associate Pastor at a multi-ethnic congregation in Cincinnati, the city that became the setting for Divided. She has lived, professionally and personally, in the spaces where division is most visible and where community is most necessary.
That’s what the WIP Community Champion of the Year award is about: a standout author who exemplifies generosity, support, and active participation in the Women in Publishing community. CC doesn’t just write about people choosing collaboration over division—she lives it.
The Women in Publishing Awards exist to shine a light on the women doing the work—the publishers, editors, authors, and advocates who lift others as they rise. To read about all 11 finalists, view this release. Visit the Women in Publishing Awards Page for more information.
The 2025 Women in Publishing Awards were determined through an open nominations process, blind review, and final selection by an independent committee of four women representing diverse backgrounds and publishing expertise. Winners were announced live at the close of the 2026 Virtual Women in Publishing Summit on March 11, 2026.
The virtual Women in Publishing Summit runs annually in early March. More information is available at womeninpublishingsummit.com.
About the Women in Publishing Summit Now in its ninth year, the Women in Publishing Summit is a global virtual event and year-round community dedicated to helping authors and publishing professionals build visibility, revenue, and lasting impact. Founded by Alexa Bigwarfe, WIP is home to thousands of women across the publishing ecosystem—united by the belief that we are Better Together.
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