The New Day Dawns is a contest finalist!
Grace Anne Schaefer received an e-mail today telling her that her book “
The New Day Dawns: People of the Frozen Earth Book 1 … has been chosen as a finalist for the
2007 North Texas Book Festival Award in the general trade book category.”
I’m excited and thrilled for Grace Anne - she and I have been friends since we met at freshman orientation at
Southwestern University more than 40 years ago. And I was one of several editors chosen by
GASLight Publishing to edit the book.
Congratulations, Grace Anne! Your fans will be glad to know that
Book 2: As Shadows Fall will be available in a few weeks.
Labels: As Shadows Fall, Grace Anne Schaefer, North Texas Book Festival, People of the Frozen Earth, The New Day Dawns
The Last Boat Out is an EPPIE winner!
The Last Boat Out: Memoirs of a Triumphant Vietnamese-American Family won the EPPIE for General Nonfiction!
The
EPPIE award, the e-publishing version of the Oscar, is presented by EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection, for e-books (Last Boat Out is available in both print and e-book). Awards in a number of categories were presented at a gala ceremony at the EPIC conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia March 10th.
The authors are a husband and wife - he was a South Vietnamese military officer and she was a housewife injured in the Tet Offensive. Their daughter-in-law, who grew up in Vietnam and only came to the States a few years ago, translated their diaries from Vietnamese to English. Her husband, the couple’s son who was also injured in the Tet Offensive, helped her. Since the English is a second language for the translator, the book required extensive editing.
GASLight Publishing, owned by my friends Grace Anne and Ken Schaefer, published the book.
I took the two translated diaries, combined them so the text flowed in logical order, and edited the manuscript to retain the individual Vietnamese voices while making it readable for an American audience.
We got a great
quote from the head of the Vietnamese-American project at the Smithsonian and a lot of wonderful reviews. But this award caps it for me because the EPPIE is recognized as the premier award in e-publishing and the judges are all my peers.
Labels: EPPIE, GASLight Publishing, Last Boat Out
Read an E-Book Week
Read an E-book Week is March 4 - 10, 2007.
The week is designed to celebrate e-books and to educate the public about them.
If you’ve read
my blog for any time at all, you probably know I’m a big advocate of e-books. My novel
Stroke of Luck is published as an e-book, and I’ve been excited about e-books ever since an e-publisher wanted my story of a disabled heroine. Traditional publishers told me no one wanted to read a romance with a handicapped heroine.
That’s when I learned that e-publishers are open to story lines and characters that don’t fit the marketing plan of major publishers. Not only do I enjoy great stories in e-books, but I also find them easier to read because I can adjust the font for my poor eyesight. And they generally cost less than print books, so I can read more books for the same amount of money.
Some publishers are offering a free e-book with every e-book ordered during Read an E-book Week. Visit the
Supporters page to find out where to find these deals.
And on the
e-books page of my Web site, you’ll find links to e-book directories and publishers, free e-books, and more information about e-books and e-publishing. If you’re already a fan of e-books, share with other during this week. And if you’ve never read an e-book, maybe Read an E-book Week is the perfect time to try one.
Labels: e-books, Read an E-Book Week, Stroke of Luck
