If you want to skip the preamble and go straight to the voting, you can find the form here.
Welcome to the second year of the TFR Reader’s Choice Awards! This is our moment to look back on a fantastic year and celebrate all of the amazing transfeminine books published this year and the authors who wrote them, from the most important perspective of all, the readers.
2025 has been the best year on record for transfeminine authors in the publishing industry. We’ve seen an explosion of genres, styles, ideas, and talent; the emergence of new indie presses and literary organizations; and an incredible spirit of community resilience in the face of ongoing threats of fascism and censorship.
Transfeminine fiction has been historically excluded from consideration from most major awards, and even when they make the list, practically none of the nominations recognize or celebrate the indie and selfpub transfeminine publishing communities. By leaving every category open-ended for readers, our aim is to democratize the “formal award” process and the prestige that comes with it. In doing so, we hope to recognize not just the books with traditional industry legitimation, but the books which had the greatest impact across the board, no matter who wrote them or how they were published.
The TFR Awards were created as a way to give trans readers an outspoken voice in the awards process, and to help shine a light on amazing books who might never receive recognition anywhere else. Last year, TFR recognized 23 unique books for excellence in transfeminine publishing, including five novels from debut authors and seven self-published titles. The majority of those winners received no recognition from any other organization, giving the TFR Awards one of the most distinctive slates in the industry.
Our team at TFR knows how difficult it is to choose just one favorite book. That’s why for every category, we’re asking you to choose up to three favorites for consideration! We want there to be space for you not just to nominate the books you feel like you should nominate because of their name recognition, but the books you actually want to nominate.
We want there to be plenty of space to celebrate authors across the industry, not just the literary darlings of the crop. That’s why in addition to our marquee categories, we’ve also included over two dozen smaller categories to recognize books and authors across a wide range of genres and roles. It’s a lot of categories, but that’s only because there’s a lot of great books to celebrate!
Without further ado, here’s a full list of the categories this year:
Marquee Awards
- Best Transfeminine Fiction 2025
- Best Transfeminine Nonfiction 2025
- Best Transfeminine Poetry 2025
- Best Transfeminine Debut 2025
- Author of the Year 2025
- Indie Press of the Year 2025
Book Awards
- Outstanding Contemporary Fiction 2025
- Outstanding Short Story 2025
- Outstanding Shortform Collection or Anthology 2025
- Outstanding Individual Poem 2025
- Outstanding TG/TF or Transition Fantasy 2025
- Outstanding Fantasy 2025
- Outstanding Science Fiction 2025
- Outstanding Romance 2025
- Outstanding Erotica 2025
- Outstanding Horror 2025
- Outstanding Historical Fiction 2025
- Outstanding Suspense/Mystery/Thriller 2025
- Outstanding Young Adult 2025
- Outstanding Children’s 2025
- Outstanding Graphic/Comic 2025
- Outstanding Web Serial or Fanfiction 2025
- Outstanding Memoir 2025
- Outstanding Trans Theory 2025
- Outstanding General Nonfiction 2025
- Outstanding Foreign Language 2025
- Outstanding Translated Work 2025
- Outstanding Audiobook 2025
Author Awards
- Breakout/Debut Author 2025
- Pillar of the Community 2025
- Underground/Up-and-Coming Author 2025
- Best Technical Prose or Craft 2025
Miscellaneous Awards
- Funniest Book 2025
- Best Character 2025
- Best Transfeminine Representation by a Non-Transfeminine Author 2025
- Outstanding Editor or Agent 2025
- Outstanding Publication 2025
- Outstanding Critic or Reviewer 2025
- Outstanding Academic 2025
While the vast majority of our categories are open-ended and nominated by our readers, there is one exception: Indie Press of the Year. Every year, TFR nominates two or more trans-forward indie presses for excellence and innovation in transfeminine publishing. Here are those nominees now.
LittlePuss Press
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Most Notable 2025 Releases: Worthy of the Event by Vivian Blaxwell; Gendertrash From Hell: The First Print Collection of the Zine That Changed Everything ed. Mirha-Soleil Ross and Cat Fitzpatrick; Realistic Fiction by Anton Solomonik
Website: https://www.littlepuss.net/
Why We Nominated Them: After years of hard work spent navigating the aftermath of Topside Press, 2025 was the year that LittlePuss Press came triumphantly into its own. Casey Plett and Cat Fitzpatrick’s press put out three books this year, two by transfeminine authors and all three of them received excellently by the industry at large.
In March, Worthy of the Event and Realistic Fiction were released on the same day in a double-header phenomenon, kicking off a major book tour for Blaxwell across the United States and Canada. Worthy of the Event is among the most significant pieces of Australian transfeminine literature ever published, and likely represents the biggest publishing success by an Australian trans author to date. Not to be outdone, LittlePuss would publish a paperback edition of the revolutionary underground zine Gendertrash from Hell in November, bringing an essential piece of 90s trans counterculture to a literary mainstream for the first time; an invaluable addition to the trans nonfiction canon and our literary historical record. The amount of editorial and archival labor that Cat Fitzpatrick did is pretty mindblowing; I would urge you to read this article about it if you’re curious.
In addition to their publishing output, LittlePuss also ran a successful mutual aid holiday giveaway last December to connect their work with fans who couldn’t afford it otherwise. On top of publishing three titles, their team was also engaged in editing several more, including an impressively robust marketing campaign for Aoife Josie Clements’ forthcoming debut novel Persona. It’s rare for any author to receive this much marketing help from their publisher in 2025, so for the LittlePuss team to take such an active marketing role with this many projects on their plate is insanely impressive for a four-person outlet.
For all of these reasons, LittlePuss Press has earned a nomination for the 2025 Indie Press of the Year award.
Lilac Peril Press
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Most Notable 2025 Release: TABOO ed. Luke Sutherland and Andrea Morgan
Website: https://lilacperil.com
Why We Nominated Them: In a year where grassroots organizing has become more important than ever, Lilac Peril is the absolute gold standard for local trans publishing in 2025. Their second short fiction anthology TABOO draws deeply from community talent, platforming well over a dozen underground authors with few to no prior bylines in any publication – and the result is nothing short of spectacular. TABOO pushes the envelope not just with its provocative subject matter, but through the organization and cultivation of its authors. Some of the best work in the volume comes from local authors who had never published before in their life.
Lilac Peril’s commitment to the local trans writing community in Washington, DC extends far deeper than just their publishing output. It’s hard to get an exact count because they’ve done so many, but Lilac Peril has organized and run at least ten writing workshops this year, with a running cast of guest authors: Matilda Bernstein Sycamore, Nic Anstett, TT Madden, Max Dehlson, Connie Jin, L.S. Low, and more. This September, they ran a five week writing workshop for local authors aimed at prose and professional development. Lilac Peril runs a weekly writers group, with one session a month in person. They have hosted book tour events, author Q&As, launch parties, and general social gathering for local trans writers to come together and socialize.
Oh, and the kicker? All of this is done 100% for free.
TABOO may be one of the best shortform anthologies of 2025, but it’s not so much a standalone volume as a testament to the incredible amount of organizing, skill-building, and community support that Lilac Peril has helped to facilitate this year. For all of these reasons, Lilac Peril Press has earned a nomination for the 2025 Indie Press of the Year award.
Some general guidelines:
– All books must have been published between December 1st, 2024 and November 30th, 2025.
– Tradpub or indie printings of previously self-published fiction are eligible. New editions or rereleases of tradpub or indie fiction are not eligible.
– All books must have been written by a self-identifying transfeminine author. They do NOT need to be about explicitly trans characters or themes.
– For author categories, authors with publications during the eligibility period are preferred.
– For each question, you may submit THREE answers. I will count each unique answer once, up to three total.
– Please use the following format to nominate a book: Book Title, Author(s). Do not assume that we will be able to decipher the eligibility of a book if you only include the title, or a vague description of the book. The more obscure the nomination is, the more important this rule becomes.
– NO SELF-PROMOTION. This is a moment to celebrate the work of your peers, not to market yourself. Please don’t nominate yourself or your own book, or mobilize your entire social media platform to go and vote for you.
– VOTE ONCE. What it says on the tin.
– Additional rules and clarifications will be provided when needed.
– Answer as many or as few as you want! We want to hear from you regardless, even if you only have thoughts about one or two categories. Last year, most people only voted in the marquee categories – if you have an opinion on one of the genre categories, please don’t hesitate to share it ❤
And that’s the jist! Voting will be open until December 26th, 2025 at 11:59pm, so don’t forget to make your voice heard!
AWARDS SCHEDULE
Monday, December 1st: Indie Press nominations announced, voting opens
Sunday, December 7th: Best Fiction Longlist released
Sunday, December 21st: Shortlists for the five marquee categories released (Best Fiction, Best Nonfiction, Best Poetry, Author of the Year, and Best Debut)
Friday, December 26th: Voting Closes
Wednesday, December 31st: Winners of the 2025 TFR Reader’s Choice Awards announced
The 2nd Annual December Trans Readathon!
But wait, there’s more!
Do you want a fun reading challenge this month? The December Trans Readathon is our community’s effort to read trans books every day during awards season! It doesn’t matter what books you choose or how many of them you finish – as long as you’re reading trans authors, we would love to read alongside you :)) Add a picture of the book you read to your calendar each day as you go! Post your progress on social media with #DecemberTransReadathon, and make sure to tag us on Bluesky and Tumblr.
(If you would prefer a vertical calendar, then the wonderful @sorrenbriarwood.com on Bluesky has made his own version! Here’s the link to the template. Make sure to make a copy if you want to use his.)
I hope you can read alongside us! I had a ton of fun doing this challenge last year, and I’m psyched that so many people are excited to join along.
Happy holiday season, and don’t forget to vote!
Beth
The Transfeminine Review 
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