Category: Book Awards

Book Awards

Outskirts Press Proudly Sponsors Colorado Humanities

Outskirts Press Proudly Sponsors the 2021 Colorado Book Awards

Attention, all Colorado-based authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers

OUTSKIRTS PRESS is once again sponsoring Colorado Humanities who hosts the annual Colorado Book Awards. We encourage YOUR submissions for the 2021 Awards!

The annual event is run by the Colorado Center for the Book, the program department of the Colorado Humanities, which is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Colorado’s outstanding authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers.

The Colorado Book Awards—presented annually by Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book—were launched in 1991 with four categories of awards to recognize authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers and have since expanded to ten literary categories. Many of Colorado’s most prominent authors have been recognized with awards, including David Milofsky, John Fielder, Tom Noel, Stephanie Kane, and Linda Hogan, among others.

Applications for the 2021 Colorado Book Awards are due January 7, 2022, and should be submitted directly to the Colorado Book Awards. Judging generally occurs in April, and the awards will be presented at a ceremony in June.

Visit http://www.coloradohumanities.org for more information about the Colorado Book Awards.

Are you a non-Coloradan but interested in other book competition opportunities? If so, visit Outskirts Press to learn more about how book awards can help move your book to new levels of success.

Get Published

Book Awards

Congratulations to Our Readers Favorite Award-Winning Self-Publishing Authors!

It’s that time of the year again — the 2020 Readers Favorite Award Winners have been announced. Below is a list of winners whose books are published with Outskirts Press:

CATEGORY: FICTION – MYSTERY – GENERAL


And Come Day’s End — Bronze

CATEGORY: CHILDREN – ANIMALS


Here Comes Ingo — Silver

CATEGORY: CHRISTIAN – DEVOTION/STUDY


Esoteric Christianity Made Simple — Honorable Mention

CATEGORY: NON-FICTION – MOTIVATIONAL


Conquering Life’s Course — Honorable Mention

Again, congratulations to all of our winners! If you want to purchase any of these titles, you can save between 10%-50% by ordering directly from the Outskirts Press Bookstore.

Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book? Let’s get started…

 

Author Inspiration, Author Spotlight, Book Awards, Publishing Options

Congratulations to Andrew Ceroni’s Book-Cover-of-the-Month Award!

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Can a custom cover make your self-published book an award-winning book? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Just ask Andrew Ceroni who’s book, Special Means, just won June’s Book-Cover-of-the-Month Award!

As a three-time Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year winner, Andy knew expectations were high for his latest novel so he elected to once again include the Professional Custom Cover Design option for his book with Outskirts Press.

And we’re happy to say, the results speak for themselves!

Summary

CIA agents must play catch-up in order to stop powerful men in Homeland Security and the Defense Department from overthrowing the President and his administration.

Escalating gang violence in Denver, Colorado, and in other large U.S. cities captures the attention of the first term President. He wants a solution, and he wants it NOW—but legislation takes years. The Director of Homeland Security suggests that the remedy to the deteriorating situation may be a highly classified program deep within the special charter of FEMA known as Annex K. This deep-black program, nicknamed STARDUST, would be executed beneath the heaviest cloak of secrecy and without the informed consent of Congress.

When the CIA sends Agent Dave McClure to Denver to investigate inexplicable lethal violence being waged with advanced weaponry against organized street gangs, McClure discovers that what has been unleashed is a sinister solution far worse than the problem. He unearths a nightmarish plot to do much more than eliminate gangs in America—rather, it’s an attempt to seize the military district of Washington and overthrow the federal government. McClure’s own life is now at especially high risk, and the CIA must act quickly and with overwhelming force.

But time is short…and the clock is ticking!

About the Author

About the Author: ANDREW CERONI served a distinguished career as a Senior Supervisory Special Agent in the conduct of global counterespionage and antiterrorism operations. He received his BS degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy; MA from Case Western Reserve University; and studied several foreign languages at the University of Maryland, MD. He is a member of the Authors Guild and lives in Colorado with his family.

Congratulations from all of us at Outskirts Press, Andrew!

Order the book for up to a 50% discount at Outskirts Press here.

Interested in publishing your own award-winning book with professional services like custom cover design? Visit Outskirts Press today.

Book Awards

Announcing the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalists from Outskirts Press

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards remain the largest nonprofit book awards program for independent or self-published authors and publishers. Now almost fifteen years old, the NGIBA was founded in order to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 74 different content and 4 additional design categories. And, once again Outskirts Press is well-represented, with a number of brilliant self-published authors taking home honors in several categories.

The awards are presented by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen O’Shea Literary Agency. Congratulations to the following Outskirts Press authors for your amazing work and boundless talent! As a side note, now might be the perfect time to reach out to the Allen O’Shea Literary Agency with a carefully crafted query for representation if you’re on this list…

Have you written a potentially award-winning book that needs high-quality publishing & marketing services to help you on your way toward possible agency representation? If so, join award-winning authors like these by publishing with the A+ rated and #1-rated self-publishing company according to the Better Business Bureau and Top Consumer Reviews, respectively.

 

Book Awards

2020 Reader Views Literary Awards Includes Prophetic First Place Award-Winner

During these chaotic times, is there a more appropriate Award Winner in the 2020 Reader Views Literary Book Awards than that of Richard V. Battle’s timely Conquering Life’s Course: Common Sense in Chaotic Times, which just received the First Place Award in Reader Views’ Self-Help category?

Richard V. Battle is an award-winning author of five previous books and a public speaker and trainer for 30 years on topics including volunteerism, leadership, sales, and faith. He has 40-plus years of experience in executive management and leadership in various businesses. Conquering Life’s Course is a collection of time-proven principles communicated with bite-sized stories and humorous anecdotes that will make you think, laugh and realize a more fulfilling life.

Conquering Life’s Course is one of six Outskirts Press books honored with seven different awards in the 2020 Reader Views Literary Book Awards, the most among all participating publishers.

Please join Outskirts Press in congratulating our most recent award-winning authors:

SELF-HELP – First Place – Conquering Life’s Course by Richard V. Battle.
 Save up to 50% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

HORROR – Second Place – Reaper’s Lament by Steven Lane Smith.

SHORT STORIES/GRAPHIC NOVELS – Second Place – Reaper’s Lament by Steven Lane Smith.
 Save up to 25% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

LGBTQIA+ – Second Place – Collision Course by Frank Lowe.
 Save up to 40% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

HEALTH AND FITNESS – Honorable Mention – Surviving the “Business” of Healthcare by Barbara Galutia Regis.
 Save up to 40% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

TEENS (ages 12-16) – Honorable Mention – Bulldog by Matt McCracken.
 Save up to 50% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

FANTASY – Honorable Mention – Primeval Origins: Rise of Serpents by B.A. Vonsik (published under the imprint of Celestial Fury Publishing). Save up to 50% when ordering directly from Outskirts Press by clicking here.

Congratulations, one and all!

Have you written a book that needs high-quality publishing and marketing services? If so, join award-winning authors like Richard, Steven, Frank, Barbara, Matt, and B.A., by visiting Outskirts Press today.

 

Awards, Book Awards

Another Award-Winning Self-Publishing Author From Outskirts Press

Outstanding-Fiction-2019-sCongratulations to George Yuhasz for his extraordinary wins at the Independent Author Book of the Year Awards, where his Outskirts Press book Imagine That was a finalist in the Children’s Juvenile Fiction Category and a winner in the Outstanding Children’s Fiction Illustrated Category.  (Just take a look at his book to see why!)

George Yuhasz is a passionate advocate for the preservation and protection of our natural world. A proud father and grandfather, lifelong learner, and world traveler, he especially delights in sharing with children his knowledge and enthusiasm for appreciating the joy and wonder of connecting with nature. George lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and is currently working on another children’s book and a suspense novel.

 Book Details for Imagine That: The Magic of the Mysterious Lights

On a night when the sky is full of stars, sometimes there appears light that cannot be explained, even by the smartest astronomers…

Evelyn is a little girl who lives with her parents and brother in a house with a big backyard. On nights when the sky is filled with brightly shining stars, she loves to go outside before bed to see the Milky Way and the Big Dipper and dream about the planets.

But Evelyn has a secret: She is able to see flashes of light streaking across the night sky that no one else can see. And she’ll soon learn that her secret is actually a wonderful gift!

What an accomplishment, George!

Visit the Outskirts Press bookstore to save up to 50% when you order this award-winning full-color children’s book today.

Ready to publish your own award-winning full-color book? Browse our packages here to choose the right publishing package for you.

Author Inspiration, Author Spotlight, Book Awards, Publishing Options

Congratulations to Becky Kueker’s Award-Winning Cover Design

Book_Cover_AwardsCan a custom cover make your self-published book an award-winning book? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Just ask Becky Kueker, who’s book, A Classic in Clown Shoes, was determined by TopShelf Magazine to feature the winning cover in the self-published non-fiction category.

After ordering the Professional Custom Cover Design option for her book with Outskirts Press, Becky went one step further and engaged the services of our Marketing Research Option. The 37,000+ readers and followers of this very blog were presented with all the details of the book and the author and presented with two different cover designs. A public poll allowed everyone to choose their favorite and, if they wished, provide personal feedback to Becky and the cover designer.  See that posting here.

76% of the voters chose the winning cover. Becky thanks you for your help and feedback.  Let’s learn a little more about her…

Becky is a Tucson-based, nationally known speaker and author traveling around the U.S. providing presentations that relate to her personal journey about retirement and long term financial planning. She retired from a 20-year career as a partner in a woman-owned, commercial architectural and interior design firm. Leading business development and forming strategic relationships with Fortune 500 companies around the world, she also chaired the firm’s Corporate Advisory Board. Becky was named a top Woman of Achievement, received the “Star Catchers” Award from St. Louis County Library, and is a recipient of the YWCA President’s Award honor. Becky is the author of the highly popular book Hiding in My Pajamas.

Let’s take a look at that winning cover, shall we?

Love, Life and Money: a hilarious journey of coming to terms with a brand new you.

Becky Kueker thought she had it all, publishing a new book, Hiding in My Pajamas, three years ago, and launching a national speaking career traveling the country at 75. What more could you ask coming off a two year low after she retired struggling with the emotional stereotypes that deal with retirement and aging. It was not until a complicated surgery requiring six months in a wheelchair and endless rehab, turned her life in a new direction she could never have expected. Fighting fear, depression and the realization that she would once again have to start over, Becky shares her journey facing a new beginning discovering that it’s laughter that changes everything. Meeting passionate people who inspired her, chapters are filled with poignant stories from women and men who have proven that aging does not have to define you and new beginnings are possible. Their stories are powerful and highlight the determination it takes to live your best life and what the passage of time means to how capable we are of embracing change. Not being financially prepared for retirement has become a national epidemic. Her chapter, Learning to Live After Retirement, features stories from those who were unaware that not planning was just speculating and rolling the dice on what might be. The shock that their savings will not be sufficient to retain the lifestyle they lived before offers a glimpse of a generation not prepared. Interviewing her husband and other men about retirement and aging highlights the unexpected marital turbulence that finds its way into very personal struggles that no one saw coming.

Congratulations from all of us at Outskirts Press, Becky!

See all the details at TopShelf Magazine here.
Order the book for up to a 50% discount at Outskirts Press here.

Interested in publishing your own award-winning book with professional services like custom cover design and market research available? Visit Outskirts Press today.

Author Spotlight, Awards, Best Book of the Year, Book Awards, contests, EVVY Book Awards

Andrew Ceroni is the 2019 Best Book of the Year Author

The votes are in and for the third time in nine years the winner of the 2019 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year is Andrew Ceroni, author of the CIA thriller, The Red Shore!

The three finalists in our annual Best Book of the Year contest all won First Place EVVY Awards during the Colorado Independent Book Awards Gala in their respective categories, so they’re all winners in our book; but only one can claim our highest honor: The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year!

awarddsmall

As all the finalists will no doubt attest, winning the Best Book of the Year is no small feat, so to accomplish it three times with three different books (Snow Men, Meridian, and The Red Shore) is truly a remarkable achievement. Andrew earned 70% of the votes in the public poll last week at SelfPublishingNews.com.

Congratulations, Andrew! Please enjoy the kudos and the $1,500 Grand Prize that accompanies it.

About the Author:

Andrew Ceroni served a distinguished career as a Senior Supervisory Special Agent in the conduct of global counterespionage and antiterrorism operations. He received his BS degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy; MA from Case Western Reserve University; and studied several foreign languages at the University of Maryland. He lives in Colorado with his family.

About the Book:

Dave McClure arrives in Bar Harbor, Maine, for some rest and relaxation before returning to the CIA-a world he left behind years ago. But he is unaware of the danger he’ll face in the days ahead as he discovers the secrets that lie in the deep ocean trenches of the Atlantic. Deadly secrets.

McClure is unexpectedly thrust into the middle of a vicious Russian plot and a harbor town’s lethal intrigue, each as perilous as they are startling, and struggles to make sense of all the jumbled pieces in this deadly puzzle. Is there a connection between Russian drone submarines probing the U.S. coastline, a Top-Secret, advanced technology Navy torpedo program, and the sinister secret behind Tamarack Harbor’s missing boys? Another brutal murder is the catalyst that finally leads McClure to the juncture of high-stakes espionage and an impending attack on American soil. As the CIA and the U.S. Navy race against time and the Russian threat, the powerful pull of emotion will test the limits of Dave McClure’s skill, strength, and courage.

Watch the book video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/tBJERz2_QRc

Buy from Outskirts Press for up to a 55% discount at: https://outskirtspress.com/bookstore/details/9781977207005

Buy the Paperback or Kindle Edition at Amazon at: https://amzn.com/B07MF3R68V

 

Author Inspiration, Awards, Book Awards

Two More Outskirts Press Authors Have Just Won Awards

Congratulations to Katie Patterson and Debra Parker Oliver, two more self-publishing authors who have just won Next Generation Indie Book Awards for their Outskirts Press publications.

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Everything Happens for a Reason in RIDE.

Seventeen-year-old Alyson Butler is living a dream life in Los Angeles, California, and she’s hoping for the perfect summer before her senior year. The daughter of two successful Hollywood professionals, she enjoys a life of privilege, wealth, parties, and independence—as she rarely sees her parents. But when an unfortunate decision lands Alyson in rural Minnesota as punishment to spend the summer with her grandparents at Davis Lake, she quickly realizes that living in this small town will be a far cry from the glitz and glam she is accustomed to. A slow start at the lake has Alyson believing she won’t survive beyond the first week, but things begin to change when the seemingly perfect Marc Maylore and his friends arrive a few doors down. As Alyson tries hard to keep her own secrets from those she meets, she soon realizes there may be more to this little town than she initially thought—and that anyone can be hiding something. Ride is a story of love, loss, friendship, lies, and self-discovery. As Alyson soon learns, moments in life define us, but it is our choice as to who we become.

Ever since she was born, Colorado native Katie Patterson has spent summers at her grandparents’ lake house in Minnesota. She completed Ride, her debut novel, years ago at the age of fifteen and now attends the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying Biology and Secondary Science Education. Katie hopes to complete her second novel soon.

legacieslivingroom Legacies From the Living Room is an emotionally powerful love story about family, commitment, and living in the midst of dying. It is a unique memoir written not by an individual who is dying, but by a spouse faced with caregiving and loss. It is targeted for family members facing the terminal illness of their loved one as well as the professionals who are responsible to care for them.

Debra Parker Oliver is the Paul Revare Family Professor of Family Medicine, in the School of Medicine, at the University of Missouri. She has a Masters of Social Work and a PhD in Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri. She was a hospice social worker and administrator in three hospice programs for a total of more than 20 years. After getting her doctorate she continued her commitment to the improvement of hospice care through research with more than 170 peer-reviewed articles related to palliative and hospice care. In an effort to teach and advocate for those facing cancer and terminal illness Debbie and her husband David created a blog to share their journey with others. The received the Project Death in America Community Education Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine two weeks before David passed away. Debbie now continues the journey through grief and bereavement, continuing her commitment to share her journey.

Please join us in congratulating them both!

Book Awards

Congratulations and Good Luck to the 2019 Outskirts Press EVVY Award Nominees!

This year, Outskirts Press has an impressive 79 EVVY Award nominees to thank for their dedication and high-quality work as self-published authors. The EVVYs are an acclaimed annual book award program sponsored by the Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association (CIPA), which recognizes superior independently published books. The EVVYs are judged by a panel of professionals on a qualitative scale of merit in dozens of distinct book categories.

Each year, Outskirts Press nominates a small percentage of the books published during the year for submission to the EVVY Awards. Since a nomination is the first step toward the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award, the standards are high and these nominations represent the very best of our publications as determined by our executives and members of our production teams.

Outskirts Press official nominees and winners receive additional exposure for their books in featured Outskirts Press marketing channels, including our blog, social media networks, nationally distributed press releases and in our email newsletters. The finalists will be announced July 31, 2019, and award winners will be announced during a ceremony hosted by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association in August, 2019.

Congratulations to this year’s Official Outskirts Press EVVY Award nominees, presented here in no particular order:

 

Congratulations to the authors of these 79 amazing works!

What’s next?

As a result of being nominated for the EVVY Awards, these Outskirts Press authors have taken the first step toward the coveted Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award. Three of the nominees above who subsequently win an EVVY Award during the CIPA banquet will be selected as semi-finalists for our annual Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Visit the blog often for updates.

All of these books, along with other Outskirts Press titles, are available from the major online book retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Books-A-Million and others, and from the Outskirts Press bookstore. To learn more about our products and services, as well as upcoming and current promotions, visit our website or call us at 1-888-672-6657 to speak with a Publishing Consultant.