Who are the Best Book of the Year Finalists?

On August 31st, thirteen Outskirts Press authors became Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Award-Winning authors! Now it is time to determine the winner of the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year from among their award-winning books.

Over the next three days this Self-Publishing News blog will announce three finalists, one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday. And then on Friday, the voting begins. You see, while each of these books has achieved great heights, the Best Book of the Year winner is determined by YOU in a public online vote starting Friday, September 15th and ending Friday, September 22nd. So, over the next few days, study your choices, order their books, visit their webpages and social media sites, and cast your vote.

The winner of the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year wins a $1,500 prize.

Three of these 2023 EVVY Award winners are Finalists and one will be the next Best Book of the Year!

Click on the book cover for more details or to order:


Children’s Nonfiction

Gold


Children’s Story Books

Gold


Academic/Educational

Silver


Academic/Educational

Bronze


Multicultural Fiction

Silver


Animals/Pets/Nature

Gold

Poetry

Silver

Self Help—General/Relationships

Gold

Self Help—General/Relationships

Silver

Literary & Contemporary Fiction

Gold

Science Fiction

Silver

Women’s Fiction

Silver

Cultural Studies/Social Issues

Gold

Are you interested in publishing an award-winning book like one of these?

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:  

Congratulations to our EVVY Winners!

The Annual Colorado Independent Book Publishers Association EVVY Awards took place on August 31st, 2023.

Once again, Outskirts Press demonstrated that award-winning writers publish an unparalleled number of award-winning books at Outskirts Press! This year, Outskirts Press authors took home a total of 13 EVVY Awards, which is one of the longest-running and most prestigious awards in the independent publishing space.

Here are the 2023 EVVY Award winners.

Click on the book cover for more details or to order:


Children’s Nonfiction

Gold


Children’s Story Books

Gold


Academic/Educational

Silver


Academic/Educational

Bronze


Multicultural Fiction

Silver


Animals/Pets/Nature

Gold

Poetry

Silver

Self Help—General/Relationships

Gold

Self Help—General/Relationships

Silver

Literary & Contemporary Fiction

Gold

Science Fiction

Silver

Women’s Fiction

Silver

Cultural Studies/Social Issues

Gold

Congratulations to you all! We are so proud of your impressive achievements in this awards cycle.

Looking for additional book promotion for your book? Check out the book marketing services that can help YOU.

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:  

Congratulations to our EVVY Award Winners!

The 28th Annual Colorado Independent Book Publishers Association EVVY Awards Banquet took place on August 29th, 2022.

As often happens, Outskirts Press demonstrated that award-winning writers publish an unparalleled number of award-winning books at Outskirts Press! We proudly announce that Outskirts Press authors took home a total of 15.

Winning an EVVY Award is a prerequisite to winning the coveted Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. So stay tuned to find out which three authors from the winners below will be the finalists for that prestigious prize! The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award will be determined by the readers of our blog, Self-Publishing News, in an open, public vote.

Here are our 2022 EVVY Award winners, in no particular order. Congratulations to them all!

Gold
Literary & Contemporary Fiction
Eating Yellow Paint by Susie Newman

Bronze
Romance
Chasing Santa Barbara by Melissa Roberts

Bronze
Fantasy
Moravian Falls by Michael RODRIGUEZ

Bronze
Children’s Nonfiction
Demi and Brooklyn Covid 19 by Playdate Willie Ray

Silver
Children’s Picture Books (Ages 0 – 5)
Max Goes to Town by Cynthia Clark

Bronze
Children’s Story Books (Ages 5 – 9)
What I’d Miss… by Charles DeLong

Silver
Children’s Story Books (Ages 5 – 9)
Kitty S. Hawk by Sarah Binder

Bronze
Juvenile Fiction—Middle Grade (Ages 10 – 14)
Spirral by David Bernstein

Silver
Young Adult (Ages 14 – 18)
Picketing the President by Mary Brown

Silver
Narrative Nonfiction
Life’s a Journey by Colten Skinner

Gold
Self Help—General/Relationships
Start Late, Finish Happy by Paul Kotz

Gold
Biography/Autobiography/Memoir
Survived By No One? by Karen Spicer-Wolven

Bronze
History—General/Military/United States
The Twenty-five Years that Changed the World by Kent Augustson

Gold
Health/Fitness/Medicine/Sports
The Un-Diet by Stacey Stedman

Bronze
Poetry
Voices of the Heart by David Bernstein

We are so proud of your impressive achievements in this awards cycle.

Looking for additional book promotion for your book? Check out the book marketing services that can help YOU.

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:  

Outskirts Press Self-Publishing Authors Impress EVVY Awards Judges—Here Are the 2022 Finalists

Outskirts Press self-publishing authors continually impress the judges at the annual CIPA EVVY Awards and this year is no different. In fact, our authors garnered 15 spots as finalists for the 2022 awards and we couldn’t be prouder!

Now in its 28th year, the EVVY Awards, sponsored by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) and the CIPA Education and Literacy Foundation (ELF), recognize the works of independent authors in dozens of book categories.

First-, second- and third-place winners will be revealed and recognized at an awards banquet on Monday, Aug. 29, in Denver, Colorado. Details about the broadcast will be announced soon on our blog, Self-Publishing News, and on the CIPA website.

Winning an EVVY Award is a prerequisite to being an Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year finalist, and we announce those three finalists from among all the EVVY winners on our blog shortly after the EVVY Awards.

At last, here are the Outskirts Press books that have been selected as finalists in the 2022 EVVY Awards in no particular order:

Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

Survived By No One? by Karen Spicer-Wolven

Survived By No One? by Karen Spicer-Wolven

Children’s Nonfiction

Demi and Brooklyn Covid 19 by  Playdate Willie Ray

Demi and Brooklyn Covid 19 by Playdate Willie Ray

Children’s Picture Books (Ages 0 – 5)

Max Goes to Town by Cynthia Clark

Max Goes to Town by Cynthia Clark

Children’s Story Books (Ages 5 – 9)

Kitty S. Hawk by Sarah Binder

Kitty S. Hawk by Sarah Binder

WHAT I'D MISS...
by Charles DeLong; Illustrated by Vinh Li


What I’d Miss… by Charles DeLong

Fantasy

Moravian Falls
The Fantastic Adventures of Dr. Domo
by M.R. Rodriguez

Moravian Falls by Michael RODRIGUEZ

Health/Fitness/Medicine/Sports

The Un-Diet
The Ultimate Mindset Journal to Living Beyond Diets
by Stacey Stedman

The Un-Diet by Stacey Stedman

History—General/Military/United States

The Twenty-five Years that Changed the World
Our Place in Time Volume II
by Kent Augustson

The Twenty-five Years that Changed the World by Kent Augustson

Juvenile Fiction—Middle Grade (Ages 10 – 14)

Spirral
The CORT Chronicles Book 2
by David D. Bernstein

Spirral by David Bernstein

Literary & Contemporary Fiction

Eating Yellow Paint
by Susie Newman

Eating Yellow Paint by Susie Newman

Narrative Nonfiction

Life's a Journey
Hardships to Blessin

Life’s a Journey by Colten Skinner

Poetry

Voices of the Heart by David Bernstein

Romance

Chasing Santa Barbara
by Melissa Roberts

Chasing Santa Barbara by Melissa Roberts

Self Help—General/Relationships

Start Late, Finish Happy by Paul Kotz

Young Adult (Ages 14 – 18)

Picketing the President by Mary Brown

Congratulations to all our EVVY Award finalists! We are so proud of your impressive achievements in this awards cycle.

If you have a book that you’d like to see on next year’s list, reach out! We are ready to help.

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:  

Book Awards Build Buzz

One of the best ways to create a buzz about your book is by winning an award! Winning a book award is a great feeling, and sometimes it even comes with prize money — best of all, it can be a powerful marketing tool.

There are hundreds of thousands of self-published books released each year, and competition is fierce. Authors who are serious about getting their book noticed will need to put extra effort into the promotional department. By entering legitimate writing contests, authors can up their chances of winning recognition…and so much more.

When you win a book award…

  • You receive third-party validation that your book is worthy.
  • You may win prize money…
  • The awards website will feature a list of all the winners and send out a press release announcing the winners — resulting in more publicity for you!
  • You can send out your own press release to announce your award — again, more publicity.
  • You can add an award sticker to your book cover that consumers, librarians, and booksellers will see immediately, and this can influence their buying decisions.
  • You gain credibility as a writer and an edge in the market.
  • You can call yourself an award-winning author, not only with friends and family but in promotional materials and interviews as well!

New writers publishing with the New & Improved Outskirts Press starting in August will receive the Book Marketing RoadMap at publication, and one article is devoted to helping our authors identify reputable book contests to enter.  So, in recognition of our amazing 16 award finalists in the Colorado Independent Publisher Association EVVY Awards, we are going to give you an excerpt from the free Book Marketing RoadMap right now by listing a few of the upcoming book award contests to consider entering after your book is published. The contests listed below have approaching deadlines, so act fast!

And if you didn’t see our 16 EVVY Award finalists, you can see them here.

Top National Contests and Book Awards

USA Best Book Awards

  • Deadline: Fall
  • Website: USABookNews.com
  • Details: This contest is another option to spread your marketing dollars, as they accept manuscripts up to two years after publication. All winners receive industry and media exposure.

Benjamin Franklin Awards

  • Deadline: Fall/Winter
  • Website: IBPABenjaminFranklinAwards.com
  • Details: Held by the Independent Book Publishers Association, the annual Benjamin Franklin Awards is one of the premiere contests in independent publishing today, where Gold Medal winners in each category receive an engraved crystal trophy acknowledging their accomplishment.

Reader Views Literary Awards

  • Deadline: December of your copyright year
  • Website: ReaderViews.com/literaryawards
  • Details: With numerous categories and various awards per category (including cash prizes and publicity packages), the Reader Views Literary Awards should not be missed. And it’s easy to miss them! They have the earliest deadline among all these contests, so plan early.

INDIEFAB Awards

Deadline: Dec/Jan
Website: IndieFab.ForewordReviews.com
Details: Held by the prestigious review journal Foreword Reviews, the INDIEFAB Awards are a cornerstone of the independent publishers marketing foundation. Not only are winners featured in the print and digital editions of Foreword Reviews, but they play a role in a national publicity campaign.

Eric Hoffer Book Awards

  • Deadline: January
  • Website: HofferAward.com
  • Details: One submission automatically makes you eligible for numerous category considerations, including most-thought provoking work, best cover, best first-time author, and best over-all book, which comes with a $2,000 Grand Prize.


The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Awards

  • Deadline: By invitation only
  • Website: OutskirtsPress.com
  • Details: Every year Outskirts Press recognizes one book as our official Best Book of the Year with this prestigious award that comes with a $1,500 Grand Prize for the winning author. The prerequisite for becoming one of the three special Semi-Finalists in this contest is winning a Colorado Independent Book Publishers Association EVVY Award.

This year’s EVVY Awards take place in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, August 20th. Outskirts Press executives will be on-hand to accept awards on behalf of authors unable to attend.  Once our EVVY Winners are announced, three of them will be hand-selected as our Semi-Finalists for the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award. Stay tuned!


Submitting your book to contests can be rewarding. It can also be time-consuming and frustrating. Let Outskirts Press help you!

Outskirts Press authors can automatically enter six reputable, vetted book contests with one click of a button!

The Book Awards Submission package, exclusively from Outskirts Press, takes care of everything by automatically entering your book into the following book award contents for you: Benjamin Franklin Awards, INDIEFAB Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Reader Views Literary Awards , Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, and the USA Best Book Awards. If you’re already published with Outskirts Press, look for this Marketing Service in your Publishing Center under “Marketing Options.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finalist #3 for the 2012 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year

Congratulations to Basil Pallis, author of 46 Days In Ukraine, one of three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2012 Best Book of the Year Award.

The first two finalists were introduced over the last two days on this blog (finalist 1 and finalist 2). Public voting will determine which of the three finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2012 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Friday, May 31.

Basil Pallis, born 1961 in West Milford, N.J., currently resides with his wife, Rita and their three children in nearby Vernon N.J. A graduate of Columbia University, he is in private practice as a general dentist since 1987.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK

A real life story of an American couple returning to Ukraine in an attempt to finalize the adoption of three orphaned children. To do so, they must traverse a bizarre labyrinth of government bureaucracy, confront obstacles man made and otherwise and contend with the all peculiarities of living in a strange land. Served up as a travelogue, tragedy meets comedy in a head-on collision. A heartwarming tale, best enjoyed from the comfort and safety or your own couch.

Buy the paperback from Amazon for $9.86
Buy the paperback from Outskirts Press for $9.86
Buy the paperback from Barnes & Noble for $10.95
Download the e-book from Outskirts Press for $5.00
Download the Amazon Kindle edition for $5.99

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 three finalists.

As one of three finalists, Basil Pallis and his book 46 Days In Ukraine will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other two finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Friday. Basil has already demonstrated he has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by his EVVY Award win. Does he 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 two finalists, being announced tomorrow and the day after, and then come back on Friday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the three.

The author of the winner will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2012 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.

Start Publishing Today

Finalist #2 for the 2012 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year

Congratulations to Whitney LeBlanc, author of Blues In the Wind-ReVisited, one of three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2012 Best Book of the Year Award.

The first finalist was announced yesterday in this post and the last finalist will be introduced tomorrow on this blog. Public voting will determine which of the three finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2012 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Friday, May 31.

Louisiana native Whitney J. LeBlanc has been a teacher, writer, producer, set designer and award winning theatre director. He holds a Master’s Degree in Theatre Arts Production from the University of Iowa. He has spent more than half of his fifty-year professional career in Hollywood as a television director of “Sitcoms”, and daytime dramas like, “The Young and the Restless” and “Generations.” LeBlanc has four children and now lives in the Napa Valley with his physician wife. He writes novels and creates stained glass windows for churches.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK

Whitney J. LeBlanc has written the saga of a Creole family from Estilette Louisiana, against the backdrop of the birth of the blues. In the 1930’s Phillip Fergerson’s marriage to Martha, the beautiful Creole woman of his dreams turns into nightmares. Instead of becoming the doctor he promised to be, he becomes a high school teacher, and events of murder, lynching, voodoo and sexual abuse by a priest, set in motion the disintegration of the family. Martha’s brother, Lightfoot, performs blues music in the juke-joints as he witnesses the beginning of the blues as an art form. We follow the early blues legends from Robert Johnson, to Bessie Smith to Leadbelly to Lightinn’ Hopkins and BB King as they sing their way through the Delta. Martha, a proud and devoted Catholic, looks on in horror as one by one of her family falls under the influence of the devil’s gut-bucket music. With his marriage falling apart, Phillip finds himself in the arms of a woman from his past. Each of the four children go their separate ways and Martha blames it all of the influence of the sinful music. She takes her revenge. It is a story filled with love, lust, murder, voodoo and adventure.

Buy the paperback from Amazon for $17.54
Buy the paperback from Outskirts Press for $17.06
Buy the paperback from Barnes & Noble for $18.95
Download the e-book from Outskirts Press for $10.00
Download the Amazon Kindle edition for $7.15

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 three finalists.

As one of three finalists, Whitney LeBlanc and his book Blues In the Wind-ReVisited will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other two finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Friday. Whitney has already demonstrated he has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by his EVVY Award win. Does he 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 finalist, being announced tomorrow, and then come back on Friday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the three.

The author of the winner will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2012 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.

Start Publishing Today

Is Your Manuscript “Book of the Year” Material?

Every year, Outskirts Press officially nominates a selection of books for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards. The EVVY Awards recognize excellence in independently published books. This year’s finalists have been announced and, once again, Outskirts Press leads the way with the most finalists among participating publishers. The Outskirts Press finalists are below.

Winning an EVVY Award is a prerequisite to winning the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. The 2012 Best Book of the Year finalists will be announced on the Outskirts Press blog on May 20th, with public voting to take place to determine the winner on May 31st.

Could your unpublished manuscript be next year’s Best Book of the Year winner? There’s only one way to find out. Start publishing today.

RECEIVE A FREE BOOK VIDEO TRAILER WHEN YOU START PUBLISHING TODAY

Jump-start your marketing efforts into today’s media world with a Book Video Trailer! Start today with the promotion code below!

Book Videos feature Hollywood-style production values and a cutting edge look and feel. Outskirts Press distributes copies of the video through social networking and video sites like YouTube, Metacafe, Twitter, Facebook and many other contemporary social networking venues. Authors are given their own video file to use in their personal marketing efforts, as well. The book video trailer is like a movie trailer for your book. It’s cool. It’s hip. It’s now.

This valuable, popular option is now FREE for authors who start publishing in May. Start today with the promotion code below when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service to receive the FREE Book Video Trailer.

Enter the promotion code FreeBV13 when checking out of your shopping cart while purchasing the popular Diamond package or the full color Pearl publishing package by May 31, 2013.

In addition to receiving the free book video trailer, you’ll also get the following savings with your Diamond package:

  • Standard Press Release  . $99 value included free when you order your Diamond publishing service today.
  • Audio Excerpt . $99 value included free with your Diamond order today and a great way to share your voice with your readers, literally!
  • E-Book Edition (pdf). $99 value included free with your Diamond publishing service.
  • Cover Image. $99 value included free and a great way to enhance your cover.
  • Spring Arbor additional distribution. $99 value to complement the Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram availability already included with your Diamond publishing service.

All in all, you’re looking at $1,200 of free stuff in May!

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT & SUCCESS STORY


“Outskirts Press made it easy for me to make my dream of publishing my story a reality. They broke the publishing process down into simple steps and had experts to help as I progressed through each one. I am currently writing another story and will definitely use Outskirts Press as my publisher once again.”

John Douglas was a teamster for 10 years in a grocery warehouse. He graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and taught for 11 years. He and his students won the Scholastic “Kids Are Authors, Too” contest with a book titled One Day in the Life of Bubble Gum in his first year as a teacher. Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, John now resides in Lake Ozark, Missouri.

John and Jessica had it all: a seemingly perfect balance of careers, family and love. But after 23 years of marriage-and on the day after their youngest child’s graduation from high school-Jessica lets John know that she no longer wants to be married, leaving John, the kids, their family and friends floored by this stunning revelation. Shock and Awww in the Cul-de-Sac is the story of John’s journey through the uncharted territory of life as a single father: therapy sessions, the pain of repeatedly telling family and friends the sad news, reentering the dating scene, and ultimately finding a new life for himself. All the while, John tries to appear strong on the outside for the kids as he goes through the many ups and downs of divorce. Emotional memories pop up, new life experiences are formed, and the pitfalls of the divorce process are revealed in a realistic yet upbeat and humorous way. The story takes many twists and turns, as a man who is emotionally devastated tries to find the strength and will to reshape his future-a future that will undoubtedly be very different from the future that he had pictured. This is a heartfelt, honest book that will resonate with anyone whose life path has taken a sudden and unexpected twist.

– John Douglas, author of Shock and Awww in the Cul-De-Sac

2012 Outskirts Press EVVY Award Finalists Announced

Last December,  Outskirts Press officially nominated 2% of its published books for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards. We listed those Official Outskirts Press Evvy Award Nominees on our blog.

The CIPA Evvy Award judges have since reviewed all the submissions received from all eligible authors and publishers to arrive upon the EVVY Award Finalists.  Those finalists will all be honored with either a 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, or Merit Award within each applicable category at the annual EVVY Awards on May 17th in Denver, Colorado. Outskirts Press executives will be on hand to accept the awards on behalf of authors not able to appear in person.

Outskirts Press is proud to announce that it has thirteen talented finalists being honored, the most among all participating publishers. We’re sure the CIPA judges had to make tough choices to narrow our amazing list of nominees to these thirteen finalists, presented below in alphabetical order.

Winning a first, second, or third place EVVY Award is a prerequisite to being named the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award-winner and walking away with the $1,500 Grand Prize. More details and announcements regarding our own annual Book Contest will appear on this blog in a few weeks.

In the meantime, here are the 2012 Outskirts Press EVVY Finalists. Congratulations to them all!

It is now easier than ever to promote your award-winning book with the Award Recognition Cover Enhancement or Award Recognition Webpage Enhancement, which puts a permanent award-winning seal on every new printed copy of your book or your author webpage, respectively. Published, award-winning Outskirts Press authors can order this option conveniently from their Marketing Solutions screen by clicking here.

Are you the next award-winning author from Outskirts Press. Start publishing today…

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