Tag: Whispers-of-Love

Year in Review

2020 Self-Publishing Retrospective: A Very Unusual Year in Review

2020 is sure to go down in history as one of the most difficult years ever as the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic continues spreading around the globe, threatening the physical and mental health of Earth’s inhabitants while simultaneously causing economic hardship for billions. And although the world continues to struggle, we are witnessing the good inherent in all people as neighbors help neighbors, friends help friends and loved ones help and cherish those they love. For many writers, the early days of quarantining allowed them to find their creative energy to write and perhaps even (finally) finish that book they’ve been working on.

It’s apparent in the numbers. 2020 book sales boomed! While final numbers for 2020 aren’t available at the time of this writing, NPD Bookscan reported an overall 6.4% increase for the first three quarters over the comparable quarters in 2019, led by a whopping 36% jump in young adult nonfiction, a 29% increase in juvenile nonfiction and a 19% bump in young adult fiction.

Homeschooling certainly contributed to this increase, and savvy writers were quick to capitalize, as the self-publishing industry is on track to publish more books in 2020 than ever before. For Outskirts Press, the only A+ rated and #1-rated self-publishing company according to the Better Business Bureau and Top Consumer Reviews, respectively, 2020 saw its authors thrive and prosper even in the shadow of the novel coronavirus.

At the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards Banquet, which, for the first time ever, took place “virtually” and streamed live from YouTube, Outskirts Press authors took home a total of 14 impressive 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-place awards. The recorded virtual ceremony will be available on the CIPA YouTube Channel indefinitely.

Winning a CIPA EVVY Award is a prerequisite to winning the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award and claiming its $1500 Grand Prize. In 2020, the following three First Place EVVY Award winners were in contention for the Best Book of the Year:

Lance Anderson won a First Place Award in Fiction for his novel Life in the Morgue. Lance Anderson spent most of his life as an ironworker until he decided it was time for a change. He took a job at the medical examiner’s office, where he worked for six years and assisted in more than two thousand cases until he was forced to retire due to vision problems. Life in the Morgue is his debut novel, but he has also written two movie scripts that are in the process of being produced.

George Rhoades won a First Place Award for Poetry with Musings from Cowboy Country. George Rhoades is the author of Along the Chisholm Trail and Other Poems and After the Chisholm. He is the winner of numerous poetry awards, including the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Will Rogers Gold and Bronze Medallions, Readers View First Place Award, Indie Excellence Book Award Finalist and Western Music Assoc. Poetry Book Finalist, and other accolades. Born on a farm in Cotton County, Oklahoma, Rhoades has been a rancher, a reporter/editor for UPI and Oklahoma newspapers and a college journalism professor. He retired from UT-Arlington and moved to Duncan, Oklahoma, where he owned a hay farm.

And Gina Simone won a First Place Award in the Spiritual/Religion category with Whispers of Love, which went on to win the coveted Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2020 (by securing a whopping 80% of the votes!). Gina Simone is a Spirit Medium certified through the Forever Family Foundation. At the age of 11, she began to notice and feel Spirit and energy around her. Not knowing what these gifts were, she always felt different and isolated. A traumatic pool accident with her toddler son catapulted her into finding the meaning behind life, Spirit, lessons, and karma. She left a comfortable corporate finance career to answer her calling to connect you with your loved ones and with your own innate intuition and higher consciousness. She has been a featured medium on Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP.com, has been voted Long Island Best Medium several years in a row, and is also a featured medium on the WBLI 106.1 morning show.

Congratulations, Gina! And congratulations to all our EVVY-Award winners and, in fact, to all our award-winning authors, who celebrated their accomplishments in 2020 by receiving book awards.

How would it feel to publish in 2021 with the A+ Rated and #1-Rated self-publishing company according to the Better Business Bureau and Top Consumer Reviews, respectively? Find out more about publishing, marketing, promoting and submitting your book for publication, reviews, and awards by visiting us at OutskirtsPress.com. We would love to help you publish the book of your dreams in 2021.

 

Best Book of the Year

Your Third Finalist for the 2020 Best Book of the Year Award is … Gina Simone, Author of Whispers of Love!

Congratulations to our three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2020 Best Book of the Year award: Life in the Morgue by Lance Anderson, Musings from Cowboy Country by George Rhoades and Whispers of Love by Gina Simone. These works are impressive and it’s going to be an interesting sprint to the finish!

All three books took home first place awards from this year’s EVVY Awards, qualifying the authors for Outskirts Press highest honor! Remember, only one book can win — so look into your choices, order their books and cast your vote. Voting will begin Monday, September 21st on Self-Publishing News and will close promptly on Thursday, September 24th at 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

So, come back on Monday, Sept. 21st, to cast your vote for the book you believe to be the best of the three.

Meet Your Third Finalist

Whispers of Love

Death is never final — and you are never alone …From a young age, Gina knew she was different. She could never safely share her reality with her family — the reality that she could see and communicate with Spirit. But as she matured, she realized her life’s calling as a Spirit Medium was to help people connect with deceased loved ones. With warm, witty honesty, Gina shares landmark moments in her own life — from embracing the gift that was so misunderstood in her early life, to the devastating death of her 27-year-old son. Whispers of Love will introduce you to the messages, signs, and specific ways that Spirit and loved ones share their language of love. Are you struggling with storms in your life that you can’t overcome or has the weight of unbearable grief brought your life to a halt? With understanding messages from Spirit and your loved ones always around, finally hope can arise from heartbreak. Truly inspired, Whispers of Love compassionately introduces you to a deep exploration of why we are here, how to connect with Spirit, and how we can find meaning in life’s hardest challenges. Gina teaches us the impressive lesson that remaining frozen in pain is not the path to freedom. We must embrace our lives with Spirit on board so that every step can unfold in Divine order, with less drama and perhaps even a new found perspective on grief.

About Author Gina Simone

Gina Simone is a Spirit Medium certified through the Forever Family Foundation. At the age of 11, she began to notice and feel Spirit and energy around her. Not knowing what these gifts were, she always felt different and isolated. A traumatic pool accident with her toddler son catapulted her into finding the meaning behind life, Spirit, lessons, and karma. She left a comfortable corporate finance career to answer her calling to connect you with your loved ones and with your own innate intuition and higher consciousness. She has been a featured medium on Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP.com, has been voted Long Island Best Medium several years in a row, and is also a featured medium on WBLI 106.1 morning show.

Buy from Outskirts Press: https://outskirtspress.com/WhispersOfLoveSpiritMessages
Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1977216250

The Best Book of the Year winner will receive a Grand Prize of $1,500 as a direct result of your choice at the polls. So, come back on Monday, September 21st, to cast your vote!

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? Connect with Outskirts Press now in whatever manner is easiest for you: