The fourth quarter started with the hotly-anticipated announcement of 3 additional trim sizes for self-publishing full-color paperback books : 5.5″ x 8.5″, 7″ x 10″, and 8″ x 10″. These sizes joined the already available full-color paperback sizes of 8.5″ x 8.5″ and 8.25″ x 11″.
Right on the heels of Outskirts Press landing nearly smack-dab in the middle of the Inc. 500 list at #268, venture capital firm Foundation Capital and Inc. Magazine honored Outskirts Press again in the 4th quarter with “best of the best” honors from among all 500 companies.
The 4th quarter marked the introduction of two exciting new marketing options for self-publishing writers, namely the custom t-shirt featuring the author’s cover; and the first iTunes option, namely the Enhanced Audio Excerpt, which includes a professional recording of the author’s excerpt and the creation of an iTunes graphic, plus “podcast level” distribution.
The Enhanced Audio Excerpt was the reward for the author of the most popular Halloween Book Video, as determined by readers of this blog in the 4th quarter. José Cepeda García’s book video trailer for his book, 21 Bizarre Short Stories, was voted the most popular, taking home 50% of the votes. Press play to watch the winning video:
José Cepeda García’s winning streak continued when 21 Bizarre Short Stories became an official Outskirts Press nominee for an EVVY Award, and was a finalist in the USA Book News Awards, joining 13 other Outskirts Press authors, including category winners Elise Cooke (for The Grocery Garden), J. Laurence Stillwell (for The Soldiers of the Cross), and Leon Newton (for Titus). Congratulations to them all!
Ex-New York Yankee Fritz Peterson hit a home run in the 4th quarter when his book Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven, debuted on the Outskirts Press Top 10 Bestsellers List for September and stayed in the top 10 for October. Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven is also an official Outskirts Press EVVY Award nominee.
Meanwhile (and speaking of New York), the following 12 Outskirts Press books were featured in a full-page ad in the December 13th issue of the New York Times Book Review:
Following Joe
Hanging on a Twisted Line
Hooked
How do Religious Figures Induce the Establishment of Sects?
The ‘I Love My Bible’ Commentary
Immaculate Deception
The Immigrants
Life Under the Corporate Microscope
Schrodinger’s Universe
Through the Triangle
Unstoppable Confidence
Wrongsized
Awards season got in full-swing in the 4th quarter with talented and hopeful self-publishing writers keeping the Author Support department busy with hundreds of submissions to major book awards like the Benjamin Franklin Awards and ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.
And, of course, the 4th quarter marks the time of year when the official Outskirts Press EVVY nomination invitations are sent to select authors. Less than 5% of the books published by Outskirts Press are nominated for this prestigious annual award, currently in its 16th year.
Below are the official Outskirts Press EVVY nominees for the 2010 EVVY Awards. Please join us in congratulating them all!
| The Young Guardians and the Genesis Spell |
| The Channel |
| The Ghost Tree |
| Let Your Innate Sing |
| Barnyard Babies To The Rescue |
| Dear Sebastian |
| Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains |
| Pieces ‘N Bits |
| The Messy Buddha |
| How I Lost Twenty Pounds N Kept It Off |
| The Reluctant Survivor |
| Heroes of Googley Woogley |
| Dose of Revenge |
| Eddie’s Wake |
| The Sara Chronicles |
| In the Land of Cotton |
| The Mystery of the Moaning Banshee |
| Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven |
| Compulsion |
| Dream Chaser |
| The Expedition |
| The Gate of Beautiful |
| Privileged Information 101 |
| Christmas Treena |
| Murdock Mystery #1 |
| As Long As He Needs Me |
| Life Against All Odds |
| The Paradise Puzzle |
| Mysterious Magical Circus Family Kids |
| A Bridge of Doom |
| Khan in Rasputin’s Shadow |
| Empire of Peace |
| Virginia’s Travel Basket |
| To Rhyme Is Not A Crime |
| The Smile of a Man Lost |
| Unlocking the Poet’s Realm |
| Charlie – A Boy With Reading Difficulties and His Dream |
| Both Ends Burning |
| 21 Bizarre Short Stories |
| The Student Prophet: Initiation Rites |
| Burnarounds: Unlocking The Double Digit Profit Code |
| The Wedding Palace |
| The Transition |
| Bobby and Troubador’s Great Adventure |
| Robbobell |
| Through The Triangle |
| Ribbons and Roses |
| Aurora of the Northern Lights |
| Rainbow Bed |
| Mr. Emotions & Friends |
| From an Otherwise Comfortable Room |
| Life and Times of a Ragamuffin |
| Looking Glass |
| Holly Hill |
| The Adventures of Magellan |
| Emerge |
| It’s in the Eyes |
| The Breakout Year |
| The Bethlehem Scroll |
| Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan! |
| Ribbon Falls |
| Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor |
| Exploring the Sixth Sense |