The Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones

 

Last month, Dr. Michael E. Platt received a bronze medal in the Most Progressive Health Book category of the 2008 IPPYs.  His book, titled The Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones—How I Lost my: Fatigue, Hot Flashes, ADHD, ADD, Fibromyalgia, PMS, Osteoporosis, Weight, Sexual Dysfunction, Anger, Migraines…, is a revolutionary book that explains how balancing one’s hormones results in better health.  Interesting yet easy-to-follow, this book has received widespread praise.  Mort Farina, R.Ph., a longtime colleague, says of Dr. Platt, “He is a brilliant diagnostician.  His book is an example of the way medicine should be practiced.” 

 

View the author’s website 

12th Annual IPPY Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles

view from the 54^th floor of the Wells Fargo Building

This year’s IPPY Awards ceremony was as exciting as ever, held on May 30th on the 54th floor of the Wells Fargo Building in Los Angeles.  IPPY winners came from all corners of the United States–as well as one from London–for the big event, which was held on the first day of the annual BookExpo America.  Please view our “2008 Awards Wrap-up” page (top bar).  Also, check out our photo slideshow from the event.  The 2008 IPPY contest was a huge success, and we are truly grateful for all of the entrants.  We look forward to the outstanding books that independent authors will bring for ‘09!

2008 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

As this year’s IPPY contest has come to a close, Jenkins Group, Inc. is now accepting entries for our second annual Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.  This awards contest is run similarly to the IPPYs.  Our team of judges presents gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top books in each of 30 categories, which range from toddler picture books to young adult fiction.  The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards’ mission is to “bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading”.  Last year’s inaugural Moonbeam Awards were quite successful, drawing 862 entries from 45 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and 7 countries overseas.  This year, we will accept books until August 16, 2008.  Learn how to enter!     

2008 IPPY Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, May 30

 

Los Angeles, California.  Home to Hollywood, the Lakers, and sunny beaches, this popular west-coast city is also the site of the 2008 IPPY Awards ceremony.  The event will take place on May 30, the first evening of this year’s four-day BookExpo America, an annual nationwide convention hosting book-lovers, authors, and members of the publishing industry at the beautiful Los Angeles Convention Center.  IPPY finalists will receive their medals and many congratulations during this exciting evening.     

 

 Los Angeles Convention Center

 

This year’s ceremony will wrap up the 12^th annual IPPY contest.  Established in 1996, the Independent Publisher Book Awards continues to thrive.  Consistently receiving over 3,000 entries a year, the IPPY Awards is now the largest independent book awards contest in the world.   

2008 IPPY AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Yes, it’s here!  The moment you have all been waiting for: the winners of the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards have been decided.  The gold, silver, and bronze medalists were announced yesterday on our Independent Publisher online magazine.  We received 3,175 entries this year — 2,500 in the national categories and over 600 in the regional categories — from across the United States and Canada, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and 16 countries around the world.  This year’s books were wonderfully written, and the quality and diversity of independent authors always proves to make judging difficult.  We are grateful to all participants in the 2008 IPPYs.  Your hard work as independent authors is much appreciated, and we hope to hear from you again next year! 

Check out the complete list of results!

 

 

2008 IPPY Semi-Finalists Announced!

The list of 2008 IPPY semi-finalists is OUT!  After hours and hours of reading and deliberation, the judges have narrowed down the search for this year’s gold, silver, and bronze medalists. Check out the official list of books by category, and see if yours has made it.  The winners will be announced on May 23, so keep your fingers crossed!

A Breath of Fresh Air

                It began with a simple cartoon in a financial magazine.  The cartoon is a sketch of a little boy watching the news on television with his dad.  The boy asks, “Has there ever been good news?” 

            Father and son Scott and Pat Price of Nashville decided to find out.  They toured all 50 states in search of Americans who exemplified the spirit of goodwill, and compiled their interviews into an IPPY-winning book, Looking for Goodwill.   Interviewees were old and young, and from a variety of races, economic statuses, and backgrounds, but they all were willing to share a reflection on the blessings in their lives.  Questions were aimed to elicit positive responses; they included “What is the best thing about your town?”, “What is the best decision you have ever made?”, and “Do you have a goal which you still wish to achieve?”  Scott and Pat found that people were surprisingly honest and gracious. Looking for Goodwill is a reminder that, even in the state of the world today, there is still joy to be found in America.  This book earned the Prices a silver medal at the 2007 IPPYs in the Most Original Concept category.        http://www.lookingforgoodwill.com             

April is National Poetry Month!

.

A Book

by Emily Dickinson

 

 

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toil;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears the human soul!

“Better Days Ahead” Achieves Gold

.

                                                                                    .

Better Days Ahead, written by Charlie Valentine, is the story of four separate American families, each dreaming of a better life: Sarah Robbins, a pregnant Cleveland nightclub singer who battles alcoholism, Neil Dvorak, a woodworker from Detroit with bad luck concerning women, Dolores Drake, a hardworking mother from Alabama with a dangerous husband, and David and Karen Stratton, a wealthy Californian couple whose marriage takes a severe blow when David gets involved with another woman.  California in the 1950’s appears to be the answer to starting over, and the families pack up and move west.  Their lives fatefully intertwine, resulting in a string of dramatic events they could have never anticipated.  Better Days Ahead earned Charlie a gold medal at the 2007 IPPY Awards in the West-Pacific—Best Regional Fiction category.   

 

Visit the author’s site at http://www.charlievalentinebooks.com/charlievalentinehome.html  

Powerful Poetry

.                                                        .                                                      .

it is amazing, says          

the woman beside me in the white

waiting room, just what the hell

you find yourself getting used to.

 

                                    –Pat Clifford

 

Pat Clifford, author of Embracing Brings You Back, has rediscovered her love for poetry since her diagnosis of a stubborn form of ovarian cancer.  She has written Embracing Brings You Back, an inspirational and relatable collection of poetry.  These poems will not fill you with pity and grief, instead, they promulgate Pat’s courage and zest for life.  Many people whose lives have been affected by cancer find hope in these reassuring verses.  Embracing Brings You Back impressed the IPPY judges as well, earning Pat a 2007 IPPY bronze medal in the Poetry category. 

 

Learn more!    http://www.coteaubooks.com/bookpages/Embracing.html