The Waddle Forward Series has been named Best Independent Self-Help Book Series 2026 at the Small Business Awards 2026. That is the full name and I am going to keep using the full name, because the second I shorten it to “a big award” somebody’s aunty will ask which one and I will have to admit I rounded up.
The winners will be announced online in November 2026. When the official announcement goes up, I will link it here.
The award is for the series. I like that more than I expected to. These books were written to stand next to each other on a shelf and hold each other up, which is roughly how most of us get through a week.
What it changes
On the inside, very little. The ice cube tray is still empty and nobody in this house will admit to it. There is a reply I started on Tuesday that will go out on Friday. The duck on every cover has not asked for a pay rise, although it has started sitting up a bit straighter.
On the outside, it means a stranger scrolling for a self-help book might trust us for long enough to open one. That matters, because the first few pages are where these books do their work. Hold My Ducks opens with you being the friend everybody calls. What The Duck Am I Doing With My Life? opens in a Coles car park at 3pm on a Tuesday. You only find those pages if something gets you to open the book.
What it does not change
These books still will not fix you. They were never going to. They are short and honest, and they sit in the mess with you while the kettle boils. An award does not turn them into a five-step programme, and if I ever try to sell you one, the duck has my full permission to bite.
Thank you to everyone who read one, left a review, bought a copy for the tired friend, or forwarded a Monday email to someone having a week. You built this series one reader at a time, mostly at 11pm.
Where to start
If you are carrying everyone else’s emergencies, start with Hold My Ducks. If you cannot remember which way is up, start with What The Duck Am I Doing With My Life? If the worst part is past and the long part is starting, Duck Yeah is the one. If you are the one everybody calls, read The Strong One Is Tired. If you have no idea, the quiz takes 90 seconds and picks one for you.
The duck will be over here, pretending this is not a big deal.
