2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards Medalist and Press Page


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Independent Publisher Book Award Medalists Announced for 2015
"An Extensive and Diverse List of Award-Winning Books"

(May 6, 2015 – Traverse City, MI) – The world of book publishing keeps changing, as technological progress brings instant access to news, knowledge and entertainment. All of this information overload can make us yearn for the old-school technology of the book -- but how to find the best new reads? The 19th annual "IPPY" Awards will spotlight the year's best independently published books at a gala celebration on May 27th during the annual BookExpo America publishing convention in New York. 

Gold, silver and bronze IPPY medals will be awarded in 78 national, 24 regional, and ten e-book categories, chosen from nearly 6,000 entries from authors and publishers in all 50 U.S. states, eight Canadian provinces, and 34 countries overseas. The winners make up a reading list that is extensive and diverse, featuring new voices and viewpoints passionately expressed through soulful memoirs, insightful self-help books, and penetrating critiques of our social and political systems.

National category winners include breath-taking photographs from around the world, such as those of gold medalist Earth Is My Witness: The Photography of Art Wolfe (Earth Aware Editions); delicious recipes from cherished neighborhood restaurants like the ones in cookbook gold medalist Backstreet Kitchen, by Tracy Vaught and Hugo Ortega (Inwood Publishing); and charming drawings used to tell an intimate life story in Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir (Zest Books), by Liz Prince.

The Regional categories highlight books from all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, and for the first time this year, Europe. The inaugural non-fiction gold medalist is The Glow of Paris: The Bridges of Paris at Night (Marcorp Editions), a dreamy new take on the 35 bridges that span the Seine, all photographed at night. Gary Zuercher, an American businessman, pilot and commercial photographer whose wife is French, spent five years on the project.

E-books are the new frontier of publishing, and the gold medal-winner in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror category is Beowulf: A Bloody Calculus (East India Press), a refreshing take on cyberpunk that calls to mind sci-fi greats with a thoughtful allegorical streak. In another pioneering effort, one of this year's Outstanding Books of the Year, Super Power Baby Project (Evie's Book Club) portrays toddlers suffering from genetic disabilities and malformations -- in exquisitely photographed settings and poses that bring forth all their beauty and joy of life.

Congratulations to all the medalists for their independent spirit and dedication to excellence in an always-changing world of publishing and bookselling. See the complete results listing at http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1936

The Independent Publisher Awards are presented by IndependentPublisher.com, “THE Voice of Independent Publishing,” operated by publishing services firm, Jenkins Group of Traverse City, Michigan.

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For more details about the Awards, to attend the event, or to interview recipients, please contact:

Jim Barnes, Managing Editor & Awards Director
IndependentPublisher.com / Jenkins Group
Ph: 1.800.644.0133 x1011

 

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Important IPPY Awards medalist links:

IPPY Awards merchandise site:
http://www.jenkinsgroupinc.com/store/index.php?p=catalog&parent=4&pg=1

Download a mail or fax-in merchandise order form:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/2015_Ippy_Paraph_Order_Form.pdf

IPPY Awards "IP" logo artwork:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/includes/IPPY/IPPY_Logo_master(1).pdf

IPPY Awards Gold Medal artwork:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/images/ippy_goldmedal_LR.jpg

IPPY Awards Silver Medal artwork:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/images/ippy_silvermedal_LR.jpg

IPPY Awards Bronze Medal artwork:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/images/ippy_bronzemedal_LR.jpg

White paper entitled "Using Book Awards to Boost Your Book Sales": http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/SellMoreBooks_2014.pdf

IPPY Ceremony Information:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1946

Medalist Bookstore:
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1948

Ceremony Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132949138@N02/sets/72157653855845165

Spokesmodels are Kaitlin Pollock and Trey Gerrald. All photography by Andrew Lipovsky. Emcee was IPPY Awards Director, Jim "the IPPY Hippy" Barnes.


IPPY Awards blurb:

The Independent Publisher Book Awards were conceived in 1996 as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing.