2026 San Francisco Book Festival Awards Announced!

HEADLINE TITLES WIN NINE AWARDS!

SAN FRANCISCO_ The 2026 San Francisco Book Festival announces awards naming the top books of 2026. JM Northern Media LLC is a company focused on media and the people who make it. Founded in 1999, they produce annual events and report on the people who are making things happen in the world of digital media and beyond.

The San Francisco Book Festival considers non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children’s books, compilations/anthologies, young adult, how-to, cookbooks, science fiction, business, history, wild card, gay, photography/art, poetry, unpublished, technology, self-help, memoir, and spiritual/religious works.

General excellence, the author’s passion for telling a good story, and the potential of the work to reach a wider audience are the criteria the panel of industry experts uses to judge the submitted works.

Winning Headline Books titles are:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Ridiculous Party – Julie Rogers Pomilia

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• It’s Okay to Have Feelings – Patricia L. Miller
• The Heart of a Leader – Dr. Josh McConkey
• Gracie’s Guide: Helping Hungry Friends – Angie Wilson

MEMOIR:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Gunfighters Rule! – Colonel William “Burner” Dunn

GENERAL FICTION:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Breathe Easy – Tammy Donahue
• Railroad Man: Legacies Son – Dan. E. Hendrickson
• Saving Marietta: Journey to Freedom (Book 1) – Joy E. Held

YOUNG ADULT:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Can Skinwalkers Swim? – Michael Wescott Loder

A study of California’s role in the Cold War is the top book of the 2026 San Francisco Book Festival, which honors the best books of the spring.

Authors Gary Francis Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, and Franky Ortega’s Cold War California (The History Press) details the state’s role as the focal point of Western defense against Soviet aggression during the Cold War.

See the complete Winners list here https://sanfranciscobookfestival.com/