The books are winners of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a non-profit awards program judged by leaders in the indie book publishing industry to identify indie books that deserve to reach a wider audience.
"We like to think of our awards program as the 'Sundance' of the book publishing world," says Catherine Goulet, chair of the 2010 Indie Book Awards program.
In an article at CNN.com titled "If it's cool, creative, and different, it's indie," journalist Catherine Andrews wrote: "The term 'indie' traditionally refers to independent art -- music, film, literature or anything that fits under the broad banner of culture -- created outside of the mainstream and without corporate financing."
Independent book publishing companies are independent of the major conglomerates that dominate the book publishing industry. The indies include small presses, larger independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.
According to Goulet, "Like other independent artists, many indie book publishers face challenges that the industry giants don't experience. They typically have to work a lot harder to get their best books into retail stores (or onto Oprah) and ultimately into the hands of readers."
"Authors and publishers who compete in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards are serious about promoting their books," adds Goulet. "They aim to stand out from the crowd of hundreds of thousands of new titles, and millions of other books currently in print."
According to Bowker, publisher of the Books in Print database, preliminary data for 2009 shows more than one million new titles were published last year alone. Of these, 764,448 were "non-traditionally" published books, including print-on-demand and self-published titles -- an increase of 181% over 2008.
To help Indie authors and publishers reach a wider audience, the top 60 books in the 2010 Indie Book Awards will be reviewed by New York literary agent Marilyn Allen of Allen O'Shea Literary Agency or one of Ms. Allen's co-agents for possible representation in areas such as distribution, foreign rights, film rights, and other rights.
The top prize winning books in the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards are:
Top Non-Fiction Books
First Place Winner ($1,500 Prize)
American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture, by Mary Collins (Capital Books)
Second Place Winner ($750 Prize)
Phlogs: Journey into the Heart of the Human Predicament, by George Stranahan and Nicole Beinstein Strait (People's Press)
Third Place Winner ($500 Prize)
Ophelia's Oracle: Discovering the Healthy, Happy, Self-Aware, and Confident Girl in the Mirror, by Donna DeNomme and Tina Proctor (Inlightened Source Publishing)
Top Fiction Books
First Place Winner ($1,500 Prize)
The Hiding Place of Thunder, by Keith Remer (Enlighten Press)
Second Place Winner ($750 Prize)
Shaken Allegiances, by Michel Bruneau (CePages Press)
Third Place Winner ($500 Prize)
The Bum Magnet, by K.L. Brady (LadyLit Press)
Other Winners
A prize of $250 was awarded for Best Design to Utherworlds, by Philip Straub (Ballistic Publishing).
In addition to the grand prize winners, top indie books were named as winners and finalists in 60 publishing categories ranging from Action/Adventure to Young Adult. A complete list of 2010 winners and finalists is available at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards website at www.indiebookawards.com.
About The Winning Books
American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture, by Mary Collins (Capital Books, Inc.) is a profound book that combines engaging stories with rigorous research about the social, cultural, physical, and spiritual consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, plus solutions for getting moving again.
Phlogs: Journey to the Heart of the Human Predicament, by George Stranahan & Nicole Beinstein Strait (People's Press). Words and pictures come together in this strikingly original and beautiful book about the life and photography of George Stranahan.
Ophelia's Oracle: Discovering the Healthy, Happy, Self-Aware, and Confident Girl in the Mirror, by Donna DeNomme and Tina Proctor (Inlightened Source Publishing) is a heartfelt and inspiring book that weaves ancient feminine stories with fun activities to encourage personal growth in girls.
The Hiding Place of Thunder, by Keith Remer (Enlighten Press) combines strong characters with an intricate, tightly woven plot involving murder and prejudice in a small Oklahoma town, and a reunion with an illegitimate son. This compelling book by a gifted storyteller is difficult to put down.
Shaken Allegiances, by Michel Bruneau (CePages Press), is a highly original "what if" story that explores the tangled mess created by government, the press, and the people affected, after a major earthquake in the dead of winter cuts off Montreal Island from the rest of the world.
The Bum Magnet, by K.L. Brady (Lady Lit Press), follows the hilarious adventures of Charisse Tyson as she tries to find "the one" - that perfect mate she thinks every woman dreams of finding. Unfortunately, she always seems to attract the wrong "one" and this time she's outdone herself.
About the Literary Agent
Marilyn Allen has over 25 years of sales and marketing experience, including serving as Senior Vice President, Associate Publisher, and Director of Marketing for Harper Collins and directing sales and marketing teams for Simon & Schuster, Penguin Books and Avon Books. Ms. Allen has worked with many best-selling authors including Stephen King, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, John Gray, Mary Higgins Clark, and many more.
About the IBPPG
The aim of the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group is to promote professional standards in independent book publishing (also known as "indie" book publishing), and provide support and recognition for the independent book publishing profession.
2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Entries are now being accepted for the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The awards program is open to fiction and nonfiction books from independent authors and publishers worldwide released in 2010 or 2011 or with a copyright date of 2010 or 2011. Visit the Next Generation Indie Book Awards website at www.indiebookawards.com for more information.
For more information contact: Catherine Goulet, info@indiebookawards.com