May 25, 2005

Three Authors Receive First Place in Writer's Digest Awards

Lincoln, NE (May 5, 2005) - iUniverse is pleased to announce that three authors won first place and six authors received honorable mention in Writer's Digest 12th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. This competition recognizes outstanding English-language books for which the authors have paid the full cost of publication, or the cost of printing has been paid for by a grant or as part of a prize.
Art Lester received first place for his religious nonfiction book, Seeing With Your Ears. Lester chose the self-publishing route after failing to "crack the code of commercial publishers," he said. "I am now very glad that I did it this way. What this has shown me is that making the effort is never really a waste of time. Hard as it may be to find markets for our ideas, it is not impossible. It has sent me back to the keyboard with renewed enthusiasm."
Digging to Indochina, Connie Biewald's novel about family relationships, won first place in the mainstream/literary category. "One of the reasons editors gave for not publishing my book was that they couldn't decide if it was mainstream or literary," Biewald said. "So I went ahead and published it myself. I think it's funny that I won in the mainstream/literary category."
Hannah Goodman's first place award for her engaging novel My Sister's Wedding, changed her career. "I now have an agent who is pitching my book to mainstream publishers. While I did feel self-publishing was a vehicle to my ultimate goal of finding a "regular publisher," I never thought the possibility could be so close, so quickly," Goodman said. "My advice to every writer is to go for it. Get your work our there in any way you can-including self-publishing and contests. It worked for me, and I'm just a regular person, out there, trying to make it in this very difficult industry!"
"iUniverse provides an easy and affordable way for authors to 'test market' their works", said Susan Driscoll, President and CEO of iUniverse. "These authors have shown that recognition and success can be achieved outside the boundaries of traditional publishing and that self-publishing is a viable first step for new authors. We congratulate these authors for their outstanding achievement."
iUniverse winners in the Writers Digest Awards include (alphabetically by author's last name):

First Place Winners
  • Connie Biewald, Digging to Indochina, Mainstream Fiction
  • Hannah R. Goodman, My Sister's Wedding, Children's Books
  • Art Lester, Seeing With Your Ears, Inspirational
Honorable Mentions
  • Bill Abler, The Copper Trader, Genre Fiction
  • Bazhe, Damages, Life Stories
  • Damien Hunter, Secrets of State, Genre Fiction
  • Norval Rindfleisch, Standing Lessons, Mainstream Fiction
  • Elizabeth Terrell, Too Close to Evil, Genre Fiction
  • Robert Woutat, Dakota Boy, Life Stories
The winning authors will be included in the Writer's Digest Self-Publishing Supplement in the August issue of Writer's Digest. For more information on the Writer's Digest Annual International Self-Publishing Book Awards, or for instructions on how to qualify for next year's awards, visit Writers Digest.

About iUniverse, Inc.
iUniverse offers a variety of book publishing services to help individuals publish, market, and sell fiction, poetry, and nonfiction books. The company is one of the largest book publishers in the United States, publishing more than 5,000 new titles each year. iUniverse partners with industry leading author organizations, including the Authors Guild, the Harlem Writers Guild, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) to bring innovative programs to their members. The company's major investors include Warburg Pincus and Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit iUniverse, Inc.

Contact Information:
iUniverse Marketing Department
t: 1-800-AUTHORS (288-4677)
f: 402-323-7824
w. http://www.iuniverse.com/

1 comments:

bonzoi said...

Congratulation to all the writers,

Glad to here that they all get first place in writer's digest award.

book simultaneous collaboration