September 9, 2014 – Denver, CO— Outskirts Press has released the winners of the 2014 EVVY Awards. The EVVY Awards recognize excellence in independently published books as determined by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA). Denver-based Outskirts Press is a full-service self-publishing and book-marketing company that helps people write, publish and market the book of their dreams.
Winning an EVVY Award is a prerequisite to being named the Outskirts Press 2013 Best Book of the Year Award-winner and walking away with a Grand Prize of $1,500. The Outskirts Press 2013 Best Book of the Year award recognizes the best book published by Outskirts Press in 2013 as decided by a social community of self-publishing authors.
Congratulations to all of the 2014 EVVY Award winners below!
1st Place Winners
Lynda Stephenson, author of “The Southern Chapter of the Big Girl Panties Club”
Richard Pires, author of “Monster Monroe”
Lesha Acker, author of “No Fear”
T.C. Newman, author of “Follow the Light, The Shroud’s Revelations”
2nd Place Winners
Jennifer Fales, author of “Sleight of Hand”
Richard Todd Devens, author of “Rational Polemics”
3rd Place Winners
Alexander Flint, author of “Tales From the Sea”
Christina Steiner, author of “The Sad Tree and Pronuba”
Merit Winners
Jonathan P. Rosman, M.D., author of “The Art of Joyful Living”
Herman H. White, author of “Burial on Water Box Mountain”
Marion Pember, author of “God In A Box:”
John Lopas, author of “Great Falls”
Keith Swainson, author of Heresy”
Taylor Baptist, author of “The Honey Do List”
William Pfirrman, author of “Nightmare in Aurora”
Todd Bulgarelli, author of “A Rage In Winter”
John Douglas, author of “Shock and Awww in the Cul-De-Sac”
Linda K. Reed, author of “Winter of 1950”
Congratulations to these EVVY Finalists
D. Andrew McChesney, author of “Sailing Dangerous Waters”
Christopher Hall, author of “Tall, Dark, and Handsome and other Devotionals”
Ed Kienzle, author of “The Last Buffalo”
Glenda Lee Vollmecke, author of “Intermission: A Place In Time”
Susie Newman, author of “Diaries”
Latifa Hazim-Rogers, author of “Six Months or LESS”
J. M. Erickson, author of “Eagle, Birds of Flight”
Sheila Jaxland, author of “Mylo”
Belinda Tors, author of “Letting Go”
Richard P. Flynn, author of “Irishmen Don’t Cry”
About Outskirts Press, Inc.: Outskirts Press offers high-quality, full-service self-publishing and book marketing services for writers and professionals who are seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining 100% of their rights, 100% of their profits, and 100% of the creative control. http://www.outskirtspress.com.
Now’s your chance to give us your vote for which book you would like to see receive the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2013 and the $1,500 Grand Prize that goes along with it. Voting is open to everyone. The poll ends on Friday, September 12th at 12pm Mountain Time.
The 2013 Best Book of the Year Finalists are:
Lynda Stephenson’s first novel, Dancing with Elvis, introduces the irreverent teenager, Frankilee Baxter, who is both charming and sharp-tongued. Published in 2005, fifty years after Brown vs. Board of Education, Dancing with Elvis was chosen by Book Sense for Teen Readers and was a finalist for the Oklahoma Center for the Book Award. It was named an International Reading Association Book Award Notable. In addition to other accolades, the book received the Delta Kappa Gamma Young Adult/Adult Award in 2007. Born and reared in the West Texas Panhandle, Stephenson attended Trinity University in San Antonio and then received her Master’s Degree and doctoral work in English from the University of Oklahoma. A former English professor at East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma, she is a prolific writer of poetry, essays, and short stories. She currently lives with her husband, Gene, in Edmond, Oklahoma.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
The year is 1958, and schools in the South are rebelling against the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. In the beginning, Frankilee Baxter, a freshman at Athena College, is not concerned with racial issues. Instead, she is determined to improve her looks, pledge a sorority, find a steady boyfriend and make her name as a journalist at the college newspaper. Her plans are changed, however, when she befriends Eleanor Wilson, the only Negro student on campus. Eleanor is the daughter of a northern minister who is a prominent leader in the NAACP. When life becomes almost more painful and confusing than they can bear, Frankilee and her friends in the dormitory form The Southern Chapter of the Big Girl Panties Club, and they invite Eleanor to join. The BGPC members stand together to protect Eleanor from acts of discrimination. The story also deals with the blossoming love of Frankilee for Trace Godwin, a popular star basketball player and the pledge trainer of his fraternity. When a boy in Trace’s fraternity is seriously injured during a campout, the narrative takes a dark turn of mystery and deceit. More complications arise when Frankilee spends Easter weekend with Trace’s wealthy, dysfunctional family. A quirky story of love, discrimination, forgiveness, and redemption, The Southern Chapter of the Big Girl Panties Club follows Frankilee and her friends during their freshman year.
Richard Pires was born and raised in a small town in Northern California where there was little to do but use one’s imagination. He has been writing for ten years professionally, and The Monster Monroe is his first novel.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
Steven Fisher is about to be sent off to fight in World War II, but his patriotic zeal is tempered by a series of nightmares. He realizes that his psyche is trying to remind him of something-a promise he made to a deformed World War I veteran who saved his life years earlier. Steven looks back on his past, rediscovering his childhood and reflecting on the horrifying events that brought him face-to-face with pure evil in the summer of 1928 in his small town. As a 13-year-old, Steven is enamored by the local legend, The Monster Monroe, who lives alone in a big house and wears a mask to cover his hideously mangled face. Monroe works as a freak at a carnival in the city and drinks to escape the pain his life has become. He also documents his life in his memoirs-the mistakes he made and the love he lost-in an attempt to reconnect with his daughter, long absent from his life. And when a sadistic murderer begins to kill young boys, Monroe is the perfect scapegoat. THE MONSTER MONROE, a period drama, centers around one fateful summer of a young man’s life. It’s a powerful debut novel-a page-turner that packs a powerful emotional punch.
Lesha Acker published her first book, Powdered Donuts on Monday, in 2010. She graduated from Texas Tech University, Magna Cum Laude, with a degree in Early Childhood Education.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
One thing I know for sure, Daniel is my Greek god … How can one person create deep love, passion, and complete exhilaration from the pit of my soul but also resuscitate my existing darkness … At the peak of my desperation, which do I choose … succumb to my fears or conquer them?
As a self-taught artist, T.C. Newman splits her passions between art and family. Her mother was an artist and her father a physicist, so she developed a strong knowledge of art as well as all things mysterious.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
The mysteries of the Shroud of Turin are not so difficult to understand; sometimes the hardest things to see are right there in plain sight. This shocking and enthralling project catapults the reader to a greater understanding of the image formation process of the Shroud of Turin, the most misunderstood artifact known to mankind, yet one of the most rigorously investigated. This Journal is unlike any other publication written about the Shroud. The project details direct, personal, and original research that reveals a fresh new approach. This entertaining chronicle unravels the mysteries of the Shroud’s image, revealing riveting new evidence, which combines science and faith with new information never before realized. Follow the Light, The Shroud’s Revelations, is based on more than 30 years of artistic study, and perseverance, and reveals more scientific truth, than all the other theories and analyses up to date. This is a book that is good for all ages, believers, and non believers, Christian and Scientific alike. It details the project as the author, along with her eight-year old daughter, explore a fascinating journey, while developing a process of decoding the three-dimensional information within the image, resulting in sculptures demonstrating some startling conclusions.
Now it’s time to vote for the winner of the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2013.
The winner receives a $1,500 grand prize, an exclusive Best Book of the Year award added to the book’s cover for all future printings, exclusive placement in our Best Book of the Year Pinterest Board, and much more!
Are you the next award-winning author from Outskirts Press? Start publishing today…
The four finalists are being introduced throughout the week on this blog. Public voting will determine which of the four finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2013 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Saturday, September 6.
As a self-taught artist, T.C. Newman splits her passions between art and family. Her mother was an artist and her father a physicist, so she developed a strong knowledge of art as well as all things mysterious.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
The mysteries of the Shroud of Turin are not so difficult to understand; sometimes the hardest things to see are right there in plain sight.
This shocking and enthralling project catapults the reader to a greater understanding of the image formation process of the Shroud of Turin, the most misunderstood artifact known to mankind, yet one of the most rigorously investigated. This Journal is unlike any other publication written about the Shroud. The project details direct, personal, and original research that reveals a fresh new approach. This entertaining chronicle unravels the mysteries of the Shroud’s image, revealing riveting new evidence, which combines science and faith with new information never before realized. Follow the Light, is based on more than 30 years of artistic study, and perseverance, and reveals more scientific truth, than all the other theories and analyses up to date. This is a book that is good for all ages, believers, and non believers, Christian and Scientific alike. It details the project as the author, along with her eight-year old daughter, explore a fascinating journey, while developing a process of decoding the three-dimensional information within the image, resulting in sculptures demonstrating some startling conclusions.
Every year, Outskirts Press recognizes the best book they publish with their annual Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award, which must not only win an EVVY Award from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association but must also be recognized as the best book among four finalists.
As one of four finalists, T.C. Newman and her book Follow the Light will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other three finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Saturday. T.C. has already demonstrated she has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by her EVVY Award win. Does she have the marketing prowess to make it as the Best Book of the Year author in this digital age? Stay tuned for information on the remaining finalists being announced this week, and then come back on Saturday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the four.
The author of the winning book will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2013 Best Book of the Year award seal to apply to the cover of the book.
Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book and perhaps find yourself in the running for next year’s Best Book of the Year award? Get started today.
Book marketing is often revered as the most challenging part of self-publishing a book. There are so many things to do – how can an author decide which options will work best for them? What are other successful self-published authors doing? Wouldn’t it be helpful to get a sneak peek into what others feel works best for their book? What if you had the opportunity to get a “sneak peek” into a list of statistically proven strategies that you put into your book marketing plan right away? Now you can…
These were the most popular book marketing tactics during the month of February 2013, listed below in alphabetical order:
Amazon Kindle EditionThe Amazon Kindle is a revolutionary wireless reading device that allows its owners to instantly download books and newspapers. Only books that have been submitted to the Amazon Kindle via the required process and in the required format are available for Kindle readers to purchase and enjoy.
Barnes & Noble NOOK Submission Service There are OVER 2 MILLION books available on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK. If your book isn’t one of them, you are missing out on tapping a very important, and growing, market of readers.
Barnes & Noble See Inside Barnes & Noble’s answer to Amazon’s “Search Inside the Book” program. Books that participate in this program receive a “See Inside” icon next to their Barnes & Noble cover image, which invites potential customers to electronically “flip” through a small section of the book.
Book Review Submission Service Securing positive book reviews is the first step toward building word-of-mouth buzz for your book. Don’t have the time to send your own? Take advantage of the convenience of our Book Review Submission service. In addition to receiving a complimentary copy of your book, the reviewers will also receive a professional cover letter, a copy of your press release, and your sales sheet. We take care of all of that for you, including sending the review copy!
Book Video Trailer Be among the first authors anywhere to use online video marketing. The Book Video Trailer is like a movie trailer for your book. It’s cool, it’s hip, it’s NOW!
Custom Press Release Have our professional press release writer compose an original, unique press release for your book, submitted to you for your review/approval, and then distributed to our news wire service on your behalf.
EVVY Award Submission Winning a book award helps separate your book from the rest, especially when it is the coveted “EVVY Awards” and “Book of the Year” award, held annually by Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA).
Marketing Personal AssistantDo you need help developing a book marketing plan? Arranging book signings? Establishing/developing your author platform?
Hire your own Personal Marketing Assistant today!
London Book Fair The London Book Fair is regarded by many as the most important spring publishing event and welcomes tens of thousands of attendees from all over the globe. Capitalize by exposing your book to key industry contacts like acquisitions agents, editors, and translation rights agents.
Outskirts Press published authors who are interested in any of these options can find further details and ordering information by clicking on the name (or image) of the option above. Information about additional marketing options can be found on the Marketing Options page of your Author’s Center.
Is it time to get published and start receiving marketing services like this?
On this St. Patrick’s Day, celebrate the Irish with a self-published book that explores the culture and history of the Emerald Isle. Outskirts Press authors have you covered with scads of self-published gems from Irish history and fiction novels to books with large doses of fairy tales and folklore.
In alphabetical order, the Top 10 Irish-themed self-published books for St. Patrick’s Day are:
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to make your dream of self-publishing a reality?
It was a productive and lucrative fall season for Outskirts Press self-published authors!
Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, is pleased to announce its top ten best-selling titles for November 2012, according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Direct via http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore. These authors have likely created a solid book marketing strategy and put it into motion either by themselves or with the help of a Personal Marketing Assistant.
In alphabetical order, the top ten best-selling books in self publishing during the month of November 2012 were:
Congratulations to our best-selling authors for the month of November 2012!
How can you get your book on the bestseller list? While we can’t make any guarantees on sales success, many of our most successful authors invest time and money in marketing themselves and their book. Authors who are needing a bit of a marketing boost often turn to a Personal Marketing Assistant for help.
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to put a book marketing strategy in place for your self-published book?
We kicked off the Fall of 2012 with a great month of self-published book sales. Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, is pleased to announce its top ten best-selling titles for September 2012, according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Direct via http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore. These authors have likely created a solid book marketing strategy and put it into motion either by themselves or with the help of a Personal Marketing Assistant.
In alphabetical order, the top ten best-selling books in self publishing during the month of September 2012 were:
Congratulations to our best-selling authors for the month of September 2012!
How can you get your book on the bestseller list? While we can’t make any guarantees on sales success, many of our most successful authors invest time and money in marketing themselves and their book. Authors who are needing a bit of a marketing boost often turn to a Personal Marketing Assistant for help.
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to put a book marketing strategy in place for your self-published book?
The long, hot summer was especially hot in terms of book sales for these self-published authors. Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, is pleased to announce its top ten best-selling titles for August 2012, according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Direct via http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore. These authors have likely created a solid book marketing strategy and put it into motion either by themselves or with the help of a Personal Marketing Assistant.
In alphabetical order, the top ten best-selling books in self publishing during the month of August 2012 were:
Congratulations to our best-selling authors for the month of August 2012!
How can you get your book on the bestseller list? While we can’t make any guarantees on sales success, many of our most successful authors invest time and money in marketing themselves and their book. Authors who are needing a bit of a marketing boost often turn to a Personal Marketing Assistant for help.
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to put a book marketing strategy in place for your self-published book?
What do “The Bridges of Madison County,” “The Joy of Cooking,” and “The Christmas Box” have in common? You guessed it! They were all self-published.
Today, the authors of these and many other self-published books can wax nostalgic about the old days of self-publishing: selling out of car trunks, hawking stacks at every bookstore within a hundred miles of home, and staring at more than a few slammed doors.
In those days – right up until recent years, really – many writers viewed self-publishing as a last resort. It was the only avenue left once all the big (and small) publishing houses rejected their work. These days, independent publishing is a viable first option, offering authors complete freedom and autonomy over their work at relatively little risk.
Today, authors can rely on a number of convenient online services and tools to help them polish their work and package it for mass consumption. And, with a whole world of online publishing opportunities available to them, good, creative writers who play their cards right can reach more people than early self-publishers could ever have imagined.
Times have changed, and we have innovative authors such as Robert James Waller, Irma Rombauer and Richard Paul Evans to thank for blazing a trail and changing perceptions.
Are you ready to experience true creative freedom in publishing your book? Let’s talk…
Outskirts Press is an industry leader in providing post-publication support, products, and services to its growing family of published authors. Because we know how confusing it can be to pick the right marketing solution for your book, we publish our list of Top 10 Book Marketing Options each month to help you prioritize your book marketing efforts.
The top-ranking options are determined by how many self-published authors sign up for them. Many of these products and services are even available to authors who did not publish with Outskirts Press. Visit our Marketing Solutions page to view the growing list of available book marketing options.
These are the marketing products and services determined to be most popular by our authors for the month of January 2011, listed below in alphabetical order:
Outskirts Press authors who are interested in any of these options can find further details and ordering information by clicking on the name (or image) of the option above. Information about either of these solutions can be found on the Marketing Options page of your Publishing Center. Authors who published elsewhere can visit our Marketing Solutions page to get more information about any of the marketing options available to order.
Is it time to get published and start receiving marketing services like this?
Amazon Cover Enhancement This is an option that helps you either get your cover on Amazon faster or enhance the way it looks to increase exposure.
Amazon Extreme Package This is a package deal that lets you save 25% on 3 amazing marketing tactics centered around Amazon: The Amazon Kindle Edition, Search Inside the Book, and the Keyword Search Submission Service. Plus a free copy of the Amazon best selling book, Sell Your Book on Amazon.
Amazon Kindle Edition The Amazon Kindle is a revolutionary wireless reading device that allows its owners to instantly download books and newspapers. This is the new way that people are buying books. However, only books that have been submitted to the Amazon Kindle via the required process and in the required format are available for Kindle readers to purchase and enjoy.
Amazon Search Inside the Book This service allows your potential buyer to browse your book online just as they would in a “traditional” bookstore. This alleviates a lot of the the anxiety associated with purchasing books online.
Barnes & Noble See Inside This is Barnes & Noble’s answer to Amazon’s “Search Inside the Book” program. Books that participate in this program receive a “See Inside” icon next to their Barnes & Noble cover image, which invites potential customers to electronically “flip” through a small section of the book.
Book Review Submission This solution offers you the convenience of having someone else do some of the book review “grunt work” for you. The fee includes submission to ten different reviewers. Included in the submission is a professionally-written cover letter/press release and your sales sheet, along with a complimentary copy of your book for the reviewer to consider and keep.
Custom Press Release Have our professional press release writer compose an original, unique press release for your book, submitted to you for your review/approval, and then distributed to our news wire service on your behalf.
PR Publicist Have you ever dreamed of having your own publicist? You can get pretty close with this service. Once purchased, one of our publicists distributes your press release for you. The best part is – after the release is sent, you will receive all the resulting leads for more personal follow-up, plus an electronic clipping service.
Virtual Book Tour Harness the power of social networking and the “blogosphere” to take your book on a virtual book tour. A virtual book tour is similar to an actual book tour, although instead of physically traveling, you and your book are making “appearances” in the blogosphere and on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Winning an EVVY Award is a prerequisite to being named the Outskirts Press 2013 Best Book of the Year Award-winner and walking away with a Grand Prize of $1,500. The Outskirts Press 2013 Best Book of the Year award recognizes the best book published by Outskirts Press in 2013 as decided by a social community of self-publishing authors.
