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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
As we approach mid-Summer, I find myself veering off my list of books in search of something new. Our editors have compiled a list of Summer Select Reads that will impress even the most bored reader. Turn to page 12 to find dozens of fiction, nonfiction, and young adult reads. GAB TALKS introduces us to Joseph Howse, a smashing debut author and interview. See page 6. Also, having a family member victim to cybercrime, you really should check out GAB TALKS with Todd Wade on this very important and timely topic posted on the www.theGABTALKS. com website as we couldn’t make the deadline for this publication. In the meantime, if you are looking to work on your own writing craft, be sure to save the date for the IPA Book Camp from June 23-25, 2024. No, it’s not a beer festival (although some might argue that), it’s the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD’s publishing conference where people connect, network and learn. Here you will find the business of writing, and all the products and services you will need for your next successful and professionally produced book. In addition, an Awards ceremony takes place Monday, June 24, 2024 to recognize top books of the past year. Open to all, you can find more details here: www.ipabookcamp.com To further our commitment to publishing education, I’m planning a special supplement on Master of Fine Arts Degrees next month. This will outline over 200 programs available nationwide; and highlight partial and fully funded programs of study that you can apply for. To get a copy, sign up for a subscription here: https://www.independentpressaward.com/subscribe Although many of you will be headed to the mountains or the beach, you just might find me in a nook at your local independent bookstore. Until next month,
Ted Olczak Publisher
The magazine Independent Press Award and NYC Big Book Award present is published six times per year and has been issued the following ISSNs by the U.S. ISSN Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Format: Online Format: ISSN 2836-9157; and the Print Format: ISSN 2836-9149. Any questions or comments, please contact the Publisher Ted Olczak at Ted@GabbyBookAwards.com. www.IndependentPressAward.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
2
Last call for NYC Big Book Award entries
4
Publisher’s Letter
4
Save the Date: 2024 Publishing Conference
5
Table of Contents
6-7
GAB TALKS with Joseph Howse
8
Book Listings by category
12
Summer Select Reads
15
Resource Directory
S1-16
Special issue: BOOK CAMP
No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without express permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper - without permission in writing from the publisher.
To submit your book, visit our websites: Fall 2023 https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/
(More consumer focused; different judging; allows for all authors and publishers to participate; announced in the fall of every year) or Spring 2024:
https://www.independentpressaward.com/
To advertise, please contact Ted@GabbyBookAwards.com, or visit our website, https://www.independentpressaward.com/advertise www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Joseph Howse
Author: The Girl in the Water
J
oseph Howse’s debut novel, The Girl in the Water, is the winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award in literary fiction.
The Girl in the Water is a COMING OF AGE STORY set in 1980s Estonia and Ukraine during the Soviet Afghan War and the Chernobyl Disaster. The novel focuses on the main protagonist Nadia, a 16 year old Soviet girl, her older sister and their multiethnic group of friends. “All around her, she sees people quietly gambling with life and soul, for little apparent gain, and she wonders whether she is at all capable of intervening in this; also, whether she or anyone else plays fair. She is a bookworm, an architect of reckless pranks, a day-and-night wanderer, a compulsive witness and note-taker.” We become witness to a young girl at a crossroads in her life amidst social and political turmoil.
https://nummist.com/stories/. Below are excerpts from the full interview, which can be found at https://www.independentpressaward.com/thegabtalks/the-girl-in-the-water Welcome to the GAB TALKS by the Independent Press Award. I’m your hostess, Gabby Olczak. And today we’ll be chatting with novelist Joseph House, author of The Girl in the Water, winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award in literary fiction.
Howse’s life motto is to “pay attention”. A lifelong lover of literature and writing, he has been inspired by the works of Flaubert and Dostoyevsky which is evident in his writing. A sequel to The Girl in the Water is imminent as well as several other fiction books. To find out more about novelist Joseph Howse and his work visit
GT: The Girl in the Water is Joseph’s debut novel. He joins us from a Nova Scotian fishing village where he lives with his four cats surrounded by an orchard of thriving fruity trees. Sounds so peaceful. Congratulations, Joseph, and welcome to the GAB TALKS. JH: Thank you, Gabby. I’m delighted to be here speaking with you today. GT: So. Wow, what a debut novel. Let’s take a look at the cover. Gorgeous. So The Girl in the Water is a coming of age story set in 1980s Estonia and Ukraine. Why don’t you give us a little synopsis and maybe fill us in on what you feel the theme of the story is? JH: Certainly. The novel centers on the perspective of a Soviet teenager named Nadia, a bookworm, an abstract thinker who one day on a remote beach, looks up from her book to see that her friend is drowning. From there, the story proceeds to explore what has gone wrong in the life of this character. The friend Ida, and what some of the surrounding problems in Nadia’s own family and her society are. A central question in the novel is what does it take to change one person’s life positively or negatively? And a related question: What makes life worth living? GT: Wow. That’s pretty deep. Your main protagonist is Nadia, a 16 year old Soviet girl, who’s growing up in an era of end games. Explain what that means. JH: Right. So in 1983, when the novel starts, the risk of nuclear war is still very much on the mind of people in the Soviet Union. It happens to be the year of the Able Archer exercises which were a series of nuclear simulations carried out by the U.S. that sparked a fear of nuclear war in the Soviet Union…And a little later in the novel, in 1986, when the main action of the novel takes place, we have the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which has an effect on Nadia’s family. GT: You focus on a multi-ethnic group of friends, which I find really interesting, particularly in the area where they’re living. Would they have been different, these friends as people, had they grown up in a less repressed environment?
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it’s something I hope readers will discover in there. JH: Perhaps. I think many things about the story are universal. It begins with a teenage girl, Nadia, and her friend Ida who makes this kind of cry for help. And that cry for help goes largely unanswered.
GT: So true. So, Joseph, do you have a life motto that you follow? JH: Pay attention.
And that’s the impetus for this story. And that’s something that could happen in any society. The story deals a lot with the problems facing institutionalized people and in many senses, people who have been labeled as mad and institutionalized, people who have been conscripted into the institutional hands of the military, people who have been imprisoned for one reason or another.
GT: That’s a good one. Yeah, I like that. JH:Yeah, I would say so, because often tragic mistakes, tragic misunderstandings between people, arise from just not really watching and listening. It could be a case of an error somebody makes in work that affects another person’s life. It could be a case of missing signs that somebody else is sick or unhappy. It could be a case of not paying attention when you’re driving. Not paying attention has big costs. And so often the important things are in the details, are in what’s small. And, you know, human scale or cat scale, as the case may be.
And every society has its institutions that leave their mark on the lives of individuals. The book explores how people can and do live their own lives in spite of that. GT: You portray very strong women throughout the book. They range from the young protagonist, Nadia, to her grandmother, who was actually a World War Two veteran. So Joseph, where did you derive your inspiration for these characters? JH: Well, I find female characters very interesting because so often women are asked and expected to play many roles in life, often stopping one abruptly, starting another.
Listen to the full interview:
I drew some inspiration for the characters from travel in Eastern Europe and by studying the culture there. As for the teenagers, when I was younger, I spent a few years volunteering in youth mental health programs here in Canada. And, I think that gave me some valuable insight into young people who were outsiders, young people who had been dealt a very difficult hand.
bit.ly/3ObaXyf
GT: You have a very strong theme of family, relationships and friendship in the book. What do you think is the most important relationship in the story? JH: Well, the book is really structured to focus on different relationships at different times. It’s split up into four sections, which you could read a bit like four novellas, though they do form a continuous story. Overall, the novel as a whole follows an arc of how Nadia is changed by her friendship with Ida. But her friendship with Nastia, her sister is also central Nastia really begins as as Nadia’s protector because Nastia as the older sister and later there is some role reversal in that as Nastia gets married, Nastia gets pregnant and Nadia attempts to help with some of the difficulties that arise. The grandmother is also a central character who brings a longer term historical perspective into the novel and her relationship with Nadia really helps Nadia grow in terms of trying to get outside herself, trying to put other people first. As Nannerl, the grandmother is, in a traditional sense, the most heroic of the characters, in the most self-sacrificing way. GT: What is the most important message that you want to evoke with the story? JH: The story certainly portrays that it is possible for one person to help another. You can make a difference in one life, and many of the good things in life that you can share with another person are simple – and have nothing to do with ideology, with grand projects of building empires, pyramids or space stations. The good things in life, as so often portrayed in Tolstoy’s stories, the good things in life are simple, and that’s a core message. Also, you know, the misfits, the people who are portrayed as mad, the people who run away from the duty that is assigned to them, are sort of the ones who are really sane. And, I won’t say much more about that because there are spoilers in it, but www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Art / Photography / Fashion / History
Beth Benatti Kennedy, MS, LMFT,
Best Foot Forward
past winner of the NYC Big Book Award Leadership Coach, Author and Speaker, author of Career ReCharge
by Eric La Price A fun play on the English idiom of always putting your “Best Foot Forward” by exploring the fascinating history of footwear, foot jewelry, foot tattoos, the art of pedicures, and the health benefits of going barefoot. It examines how history has shaped footwear and fashion and vice versa. It has earned two book awards - It was the winner at the Beach Book Festival and also earned an IRWIN Award.
I want readers to be able to refresh and reset this summer by focusing on specific resiliency boosters that work for them. They will be able to apply quick actionable resiliency strategies that will replenish their energy and give them greater confidence, happiness, engagement, and work engagement.
978-0615742489
Available on Amazon | https://facebook.com/BookerPress
Addiction & Recovery
Beating Drug Addiction in Tehran: a Women’s Clinic
Autobiography/ American social history
by Dr. Kate Dolan
Back On Track
Details the intimate lives of four Iranian women, their struggle with drugs and the daily grind they faced in their personal lives. Surprisingly, Iran responded well to its AIDS crisis but forgot to include female drug users. Working at the clinic, Dr. Dolan came away with insights that are rare even in the world of international development.
978-1922332325
Purchase Price: $17.95
by John Kennedy A story about an Irish Catholic family arriving in Youngstown Ohio from County Tipperary in 1845 who met both Triumph and Tragedy. Resuscitation arrived five decades later when third generation great grandson John Kennedy embarked upon self employment founding a Railroad Construction Co in the state Capitol in nearby Pennsylvania. But a second resuscitation arrived on October 10, 1988 when the author got and stayed sober, salvaged a company, and provided a roadmap for his family to follow that has made all the difference in getting where life can be lived with peace and purpose not squandered.
Purchase Price: $5.39
Available at Amazon https://ipoz.biz/portfolio-single/beating-drug-addiction-in-tehran/
978-1915692320
Purchase Price: $25.00 www.scimitaredge.com/back-on-track.html
Biography
Behind the Lines:
A Soldier, His Family, and the 10th Mountain Division
by Mary Donaldson-Evans Based on hundreds of letters exchanged by a couple separated by World War II, this book describes the author’s journey to discover her parents’ past. Winner of Independent Press Award’s “Distinguished Favorite” certificate, this book is described by Kirkus Reviews as “an immersive book […] that engagingly shines a light on the lives of a soldier and his loved ones.”
978-1528954563
Purchase Price: $11.95
Available from Amazon, BN.com, and on order from your independent bookstore.
Business / Marketing
Brain Glue by James I. Bond “Best Business Book of the Year” finalist, by Publishers Weekly. Here’s the secret to becoming rich in business, that’s blowing people’s minds. Jack Canfield, author of the blockbuster Chicken Soup for the Soul® Series, calls this book, “Mind-blowing - I’m giving copies of this book to my entire team, that’s how powerful this is!”
978-0998865751
Purchase Price: $14.99
Available on Ingram Spark and Amazon | www. BrainGluePage.com
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Dan Juday,
Career / Business Motivation
author of Waltzing a Two-Step
Career ReCharge:
Five Strategies to Boost Resilience and Beat Burnout
“We seem to have come to an impasse in our struggle for a better world, where inclusion becomes the new watchword, the only correct answer on a multiple-choice test. When I write about my struggle to understand the world - to understand myself - I succeed only to the degree that my story bears witness to universal truths. All this gets lost at the sorting gate when genres like LGBTQ+ pen me off from the rest of the herd. My memoir is meant to speak to everyone’s childhood.”
by Beth Benatti Kennedy Does going to work fire you up or drain the life out of you? Do you flourish or flounder when faced with change? Do you have the energy you need or are you running on empty? Five strategies to help you develop your resilience and give you the energy to recharge your career and your life, even if circumstances are discouraging or disruptive. This book includes exercises to help you get the most benefit from each chapter, Resiliency Boosters—actions you can take to implement each resilience strategy, and personal success stories from Beth’s coaching clients.
978-1945252532
I would like to think this could prompt some useful conversations about barriers in the publishing industry. At any rate, thanks for everything you’ve done.
Purchase Price: $15.95
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble| bethkennedy.com
Comedy Caregiving
Giant Banana Over Texas
Power Failure: A Nurse’s Story
by Mark Nutter
by Terri Arthur
Search for the People of the Temporary Tattoo. Examine the tortured mind of the Mad Stock Boy. Thrill to the exploits of the Hugging Detective. Cower in fear of the Grateful Man. These adventures and more await you in Giant Banana Over Texas: Darkly Humorous Tales, a collection of thirty-one short stories, perfect for fans of absurd comedy. Monty Python meets Douglas Adams meets Salvador Dali.
A provocative, inspiring and gripping true account of the survival of a Red Cross nurse and her patients during one of the most deadly winter storms to hit the east coast. It gives an account of good intentions, erratic bosses, mounting surprises and unforeseen circumstances that swirl out of control. “While reading this book, I felt as if I were there, experiencing the storm and tension in real time.” Joanne Cassell, RN.
979-8773217626
978-1667826660
Purchase Price: $19.95
Purchase Price: $15.99
Available at Amazon | www.marknutter.com
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, online and Independent booksellers www.terriarthur.com Childrens / Girls / Tweens Fantasy Adventure
Aqua and Uni Go To Camp by Lily-Isabella Logan A story about friendship that takes place in a magical summer camp. We meet Aqua, a half-human, half-mermaid orphan, and Uni, a half-human, half-unicorn princess. We follow Aqua and Uni as they attend Camp Fairy-Tale, meet the children of other fairy-tale characters, have new adventures, and solve the mystery behind a camp curse that threatens to uproot everyone’s summer fun.
978-1915692283
$5.95 paperback, $2.99 Kindle
http://www.dancingunicorn.co.uk/aqua-and-uni-go-to-camp.html
Childrens Picture Book
The Pickleman from Bickleton! By Peter B. Lewis | Illustrations by Casey Gerber Here comes The Pickleman from Bickleton! with poems packed with veggies everyone loves. A sourpuss named Bruce, and his goofy goose named Zeus turn a boy’s pickle-making loose. You’ll crack up and crunch ’em in bunches with Mr. Tickleman and the dancing pigs of Tiggity Rig—not to mention the Wiggleton Wrangler and OneEyed Jack from Nyack in his kayak—all on the road to Laffland in the perpetual state of Joy. Enjoy this sweetly illustrated book with cool ’cumbers galore. It’s a jar full of wiggles and giggles that will keep you coming back for more!
978-0998036526
Trade Paperback: $9.95, eBook: $5.99
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org | www.peterbstories.com
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Fantasy
Michelle Schuman,
Hamelin Stoop:
author of The Understory 2023 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite
The Eagle, the Cave, and the Footbridge
by Robert B. Sloan
What will I be reading this summer? As I write my next story, a pseudo-science factual fiction, I am reading, again, Congo, by one of my favorite authors, the expert of this genre, Michael Crichton.
Readers find themselves engrossed as they follow Hamelin, a boy from Texas who was left on the porch of a children’s home as a baby, in his quest to find his parents. His search leads him through a mysterious cave and into another world. Adventure awaits him there as he must find his courage to help new friends rescue their families and reclaim their kingdoms.
What did winning the Independent Press Award mean to me? Inspiration, hope, and confidence to write another book.
978-1495619731
What do I want readers to get out of The Understory: A Female Environmentalist in the Land of the Midnight Sun? Hope.
Purchase Price: $10.99
Available on Amazon.com or www.12gatespublishing.com
I cannot say it any better than Pamela Weiss, the screenplay writer and founder of Hold This While IP Productions: “Who will connect with this memoir? Free spirits, old souls, adventurers, nurturers, environmentalists, survivors, marginalized folks, animal rights protectors, mental health warriors, nature connoisseurs. Travelers to distant places and those who ache to do so. Frustrated fighters on the front lines of climate change, citizens who confront government bureaucracy, narcissistic men, real men, confident women with the wild inner child still solidly intact. Those who have ever hugged a tree or simply sat beneath one, those whose lips have felt the ocean dry to a salty kiss or just swam in it. Those who birdwatch, or those who have desperately wiped black ooze from between feathered wings. In other words, any of us. All of us will relate to this book and be haunted and heartened by Michelle’s story. Everyone except Dawn. Not your friend Dawn or the rising sun kind. The dishwashing liquid. Dawn will not like it. What do I possibly mean by that? Read the book. The Understory is our story. Order it. Enjoy it. Own up to it.”
Fantasy/Paranormal
The Angel Tea House by Melody R. Green Maggie McCready is a travelling tarot reader who offers spiritual advice over a cup of tea and a charmed biscuit or two. This is her first mission assisting Archangel Michael to protect the suburb from the encroaching dark forces. Armed for the fight with only her kind heart, tarot deck in hand and her entourage of mystic beings, she has a lot to learn about Spirit, the dark forces and herself before this adventure ends. Definitely something is brewing in Angel St, and it’s not just the tea!
978-0645761900
$19.99/paperback 0.99/ebook promotional price for July 2023
Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, full list availability: https://books2read.com/The-Angel-Tea-House
Environmentalism & Naturalist Biographies / Traveler & Explorer
The Understory
Fiction
by Michelle Schuman
Black Wing Sky
Michelle suffered an unbearable loss, and the dangers of working in remote areas of Alaska were real and tangible, the true threat to her survival was not from the natural world, but from the world of men who sought to tame her. Passion and peril are intertwined in this true tale of Michelle’s drive to make the natural world a better place; she found her greatest hindrance not in physical challenges but in human adversaries.
978-1737920603
by Kaylin McFarren There is no terror in death...only in the anticipation of it. Samara is tasked with finding a weapon strong enough to defeat the Black Dragon, a mission made more difficult when she is kidnapped by him and forced to abandon her only child.
Purchase Price: $18.15 | Ebook: $9.99
Amazon, IngramSpark, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Local Independent Bookstores https://meschumancom.wordpress.com/
Amazon.com, Powells.com, Barnes & Noble | www.kaylinmcfarren.com
Fantasy
Fiction
Young Again
The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper by Mary K. Savarese
by Don Trowden
Want fantasy, adventure, romance? Promised to another, her heart chose true love. Betrayed by an evil noble, she became The Girl in the Toile Wallpaper.
“Peppered with musical references, the authors take us on a joyous tour through jazz and blues history, introducing new musicians to explore and addressing occasional cultural and political issues. This multicultural tale would be enjoyed by many, especially those caring for an elderly loved one or who find themselves nearing Mabel’s age.” -- FYI50+ Magazine
Tyler must rescue the girl of his dreams or forever be imprisoned inside the wallpaper of time while running from an evil wizard. Will Lily be doomed forever more? Coming this summer! The StarWriters Club, 2nd book in the StarWriters Trilogy
ISBN: 978-1953278210 Paperback $19.95 ISBN: 978-1953278203 Hardcover $19.95 • ASIN: B09HXS9B3K ISBN: 978-1-953278-22-7 eBook, https://amzn.to/3QelZRD
978-1735027357
Dist. by Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Bookazine https://publerati.com/young-again-by-don-trowden/
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble | www.maryksavarese.com
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Purchase Price: $17.95
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Robin Rotenberg
Fiction
past Distinguished Favorite of both the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD and NYC Big Book Award
They Shot Kennedy by David Benjamin
What could be better than sitting poolside (or oceanside) relaxing in the sweet summer sun, reading the stack of books you’ve been collecting all winter? Every year, I don my straw sun hat, slather on the sunscreen, and dive into recent fiction, autobiographical tear-jerkers, and meaningful self-help books. Recent favorites are the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens; true tear-jerkers, any book by Jane Fonda (my Grace and Frankie hero), and others like my self-help book Pound On!! which reminds me of my journey so far and shares lessons learned. I am overjoyed with any recognition of this work, and shake my head in happy disbelief that it is helping others thrive. I hope Pound On!! serves as a pathfinder for women to find their way with humor and optimism, and to realize their dreams. Let’s all Pound On!! and break through that glass ceiling with a resounding crash!!
The historic month of November 1963 is fated to forever change the lives of the kids at TV High, but they barely notice because—Oh my God!— Casey broke up with Pam! “Benjamin revisits a timeless theme: the vicissitudes of early manhood... the results, reminiscent of Jean Shepherd, are both poignant and hilarious.” — George Leopold, author, Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life & Times of Gus Grissom
978-1732523586
Purchase Price: $20.00
Available at Last Kid Books and Pathway Book Service | www. lastkidbooks.com
Juvenile Fiction
Health / Parenting / Childcare
Choose Moose
Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies:
by David Benjamin
400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers
Henry Haddock wants his art teacher back. Like David facing Goliath, 11-year-old Henry takes on Scooter McDuff, tyrant of the school board. To do so, he learns the local political ropes, takes on the media, and assembles a motley army of teachers, students, moms, dads and a basketball star named Moose. “I loved this book … Henry shows us that anyone can make a difference, even someone as young as a sixth grader!” —Independent Book Publishers Association
by Neil Z. Miller The most significant vaccine research summarized. Many positive reviews. 80,000 copies sold! “Should be required reading for every doctor and parent.” —David Brownstein, MD
978-1881217404
979-8986312989
Purchase Price: $21.95
Purchase Price: $20.00
Available at Last Kid Books and Pathway Book Service | www. lastkidbooks.com
Available through IPG/Midpoint Trade Books, New Atlantean Press www.thinkchoice.com
Literary Fiction
Historical Fiction
The Unmoved Mover
Tsarina’s Crown
by Ronald Pies
by Jerena Tobiasen
After a school tragedy, Aaron and Rachel try to put their lives back together. In the process, they move from despair to hope, redemption, and maybe even love.
High seas adventures. Russian vistas. Royal intrigue. Political exposé. Tsarina’s Crown is a fast-paced, historical drama that leads the reader from World War I at sea to the desperation of the Russian revolution. Full of action and intrigue. And just a little romance.
eBook is currently discounted a $.99 Paperback at $14.79 978-1738881710
979-8396189362
Purchase Price: $9.00
Available through Amazon.com/KDP Publishing| https://amzn.to/3J5BrOI
Available from Amazon and Ingram Spark (reaches all major retailers) www.jerenatobiasen.ca
Memoir / Philosophy History of the 20th Century / Political Science
Becoming Nobody:
A Personal Account of One Man’s Search for Self-Knowledge
Leon Trotsky
and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
by Rick Branch This book is a candid reflection of my journey of self-discovery from 2008 to 2018. It is based on the correspondence I shared with a friend who was also interested in exploring the nature of identity and reality. Backing up my conclusions with philosophy, psychology, science, and life experiences, I found that acquiring self-knowledge is not a matter of addition, but subtraction; that finding out who we truly are is not about gain, but loss.
by David North Leon Trotsky remains the towering figure in the history of revolutionary socialism in the twentieth century. The essays in this book bring those rich historical lessons to a new generation in order to resolve what Trotsky called the “historical crisis of mankind”. North’s essays discuss the contemporary relevance of the theory of Permanent Revolution, the struggle of the Left Opposition and Stalin’s Great Terror, and the dialectical materialist method.
ISBN-13: 978-1-959124-01-6
Purchase Price: $24.95
979-8687307949
Distributor: Available through Mehring.com (call 248-967-2924) and Baker & Taylor. Website address: www.mehring.com
www.IndependentPressAward.com
eBook: $0.99 | Paperback: $12.95 Available on Amazon.com
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SUMMER SELECT READS FICTION Endeavor’s Run by Tobin Marks Em’s Awful Good Fortune by Marcie Maxfield Happy Place by Emily Henry
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Novel Women 2 by Between Friends Book Club Secrets In The Mirror by Leslie Kain That Month in Tuscany by Inglath Cooper The Girl in the Water by Joseph Howse The Silence in the Sound by Dianne C. Braley
Memoir LGBTQ+
Waltzing A Two-Step:
Power Failure: A Nurse’s Story by Terri Arthur, RN
Reckoning Family, Faith, And Self
by Dan Juday This is a cautionary tale, told late in life, bittersweet over things that should have been said earlier. It is a story that resonates today – in an equally unsettled time of social upheaval. Waltzing A Two-Step is at times poignant, at other times funny but always engrossing and never in need of a reality check. It will resonate with anyone who struggles to be who he or she truly is.
Rebel Correspondent by Steve Procko Schooling For Holistic Equity: How To Manage the Hidden Curriculum for K-12 by Don Berg
978-1735484532
The Unfakeable Code® by Tony Jeton Selimi
Purchase Price: $18.95
Available on Amazon. Distributed by Ingram.| https://callingcardbooks.com/DanJuday
Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success by Donald Thompson
Military / Vietnam / War
Vietnam Combat:
Firefights and Writing History
We Hardly Knew Them, How Homeless Mentally Ill People Became Collateral Damage by Pat Morgan
by Robin Bartlett More than fifty years after the Vietnam War, Bartlett’s vivid combat experiences are brought to light in a fast-moving, well-written, first-person narrative expressing the horror, fear, anguish, and sometimes illogical humor of that war. It was with extreme anxiety that Bartlett made his way to join his battalion and company.
Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions by Mattie Kahn
YOUNG ADULT
Delve into this first-hand account of Robin Bartlett’s extraordinary combat experience as a 22-year-old 1st Lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) deploying on helicopter assaults into hot landing zones at the height of the Vietnam War.
978-1636242422
Purchase Price: $37.95
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, independent bookstores www.robinbartlettauthor.com
Trine Revelation, The Kinderra Saga: Book 3 by C.K. Donnelly
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson
Trust by Hernan Diaz
A SONG OF SALVATION by Alechia Dow
One of Ours
Fighting Invisible Tigers: Stress Management for Teens by Earl Hipp
Death hits close to home in One of Ours when Chicago detective Joe Erickson is called to the scene of a fatal shooting. The victim, a police captain Joe knows well, had been working on his own time to solve a cold case before he retired. Determined he was silenced for getting too close to the truth, Joe picks up the trail and finds it teeming with corruption, executions, and a conspiracy involving a powerful city official. Can Joe crack the cold case and solve the murder while avoiding the wrath of the conspirators?
THE PUZZLE MASTER by Danielle Trussoni
NON FICTION The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms by David Bush On the Waterfront by Mike McCoy
by Lowell E. Baier
The Garden of Second Chances Mona Alvarado Frazie
I’m the One Who Got Away: A Memoir by Andrea Jarrell More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard My Alternate Universe: Anxiety, Autism, and Adventure in a Parallel Reality by Jennifer Rosado www.IndependentPressAward.com
by Lynn-Steven Johanson
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Federalism, Preemption, and the Nationalization of American Wildlife Management: The Dynamic Balance Between State and Federal Authority
Mystery
978-1685123055
Purchase Price: $16.95
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, online and Independent booksellers www.lsjohanson.com
Nonfiction / Self-help / Women’s Issues
Snowlands: A Blood Moon by Morr Meroz; Ill. Collin Fogel
Pound On!! From the Glass Slipper to the Glass Ceiling by Robin Rotenberg
Powerful Purples (The Zadok Series, Book 3) by Nikki Minty Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West
Positive stories of trailblazing Alpha Women, chronicling their careers as they trade the glass slipper for the glass ceiling to Pound On!! and grab for the brass ring. Written by Alpha Woman Robin Rotenberg, a powerhouse advocate who has reinvented herself multiple times during her career journey, these Alpha stories are shared with humor and wit, introspection and candor. Read on to be inspired, find your inner alpha, and never give up!
ISBN: 978-0-578-70326-8 (paperback) • ISBN: 978-0-578-71253-6 (hardback) eISBN: 978-0-578-70327-5 Hardcover: $34.99 | Paperback: $34.99 | Kindle/eBook: $9.99
Space Story by W. W. Marplot
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and www.alphawomenrock.com
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Mary Donaldson-Evans,
Poetry
2022 Independent Press Award, Distinguished Favorite Author of Behind the Lines: A Soldier, His Family, and the 10th Mountain Division
Walking Each Other Home by Gail Rudd Entrekin Dorianne Laux writes, “Poignant, moving, and true.” These poems sing the long and loving song shared by two people now facing a decline, and it is a song of love and devotion, a song of life. Ellen Bass says, “At times spare and lyrical, at times rich with sensory detail, Entrekin invites readers into the intimacy of “walking each other home.”
979-8218185688
Beach reading is a summertime favorite. However, as a multi-tasker, I love reading on the exercise bike year-round. My writer’s ego is satisfied by the perfect 5 rating that Behind the Lines has earned from Amazon reviewers, but what I most want readers to take away from this book is an awareness of the important role played by America’s first mountaineering unit in World War II Italy and an understanding of what life was like both for soldiers serving behind the lines and for the families they left at home. Based upon letters exchanged by my parents and found only after their death, this is history lite, with details that no history book would deign (or dare) to include. I would also hope that readers would share the joy of the “back-to-the-future” journey that led me to discover my parents as they were when I was a baby.
Purchase Price: $15.95
Available through the Publisher | www.longshippress.com
Political Fiction
What Would The Founding Fathers Tell Us Today?
Romance (time travel element)
Political Dialogs Between 1789 and 2040 by Werner Neff
The Ack Ack Girl
Neff reflects on history, politics, democratic theories, and principles in the form of fictional dialogs, allowing the Founding Fathers to express their theories on what truly makes America great, and what will provide the American people today with real freedom and prosperity. Neff believes that democratic principles, ethical and selfless leadership in service of the people are the pillars to justice, equality, and prosperity for all.
979-8887229188
by Chris Karlsen A story of love and war. Set in WW2 England is under attack by the powerful German war machine. The Ack Ack Girl is the story of one woman’s fight to protect her country and her heart. “Vividly written, I couldn’t let it go until the last page” review from The Avid Reader blog
Purchase Price: $9.97
Available at Amazon | www.wernerneff.com
979-870437043
Religion Nonfiction
Abrahamic Monotheism:
Judaism, Christianity & Islam Nearly 55% of the World’s Populations (as of 2022)
Self-Help / Retirement Planning / Aging
by Saul Silas Fathi
Next Stage: In Your Retirement, Create the Life You Want
The symbols of the 3 largest Abrahamic religions are: the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross, and Islamic star and crescent. The Abrahamic religions, also referred to collectively as Abrahamism, are a group of Semitic-originated religious communities of faith that claim descent from the practices of ancient Israelites and the worship of the God of Abraham.
by Thomas Wilson Everyday thousands of people are turning sixty-five – some feel excited, some feel scared, most feel both. They are facing 20 – 30 or more years of “to be determined” life ahead. What are you going to do? Will you have enough money and how do you stay healthy?
An estimated 3.6 billion people or almost 55% of the world’s population adheres to an Abrahamic religion. Christianity claims 33% of the world’s population, Islam has 21%, and Judaism has 0.2%. This is an incredible 750 page reference resource covering Abrahamism to Zionism in easy to understand pithy explanations.
978-1685368036
Purchase Price: $12.99 Paperback / $1.99 Kindle
Available at Amazon | www.chriskarlsen.com
This book brings real-life insights based on years of research, interviews and analysis into a thoughtful, comprehensive, and easy guide. Tom hopes this book becomes an important resource for you in planning and creating what you want in this truly unique next stage of life.
Purchase Price: $25.99
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble | www.saulsilasfathi.com
978-1982229320 Paperback: $15.00 | Hardcover: $33.95 | Kindle: $3.99 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Balboa Books: https://bit.ly/3CEvioW | https://mynextstage.org/
Religion-Fiction
The Attractiveness of Wisdom by Judy Kelly
Caleb Mason,
After a tumultuous marriage and struggling trying to keep it together, Hamilton, a university dean, sets out on a perilous emotional journey to change his life and seek the kind of love he’s always wanted. Hamilton meets Franny, a troubled dance teacher, and accepts her job offer of organizer in her studio. When Franny injures her foot, Hamilton must step out of his secure place to help.
publisher of Publerati on Don Trowden, author of Young Again What I hope people will get from Don’s novel?
Will Hamilton wise up and learn how a man truly loves a woman, the value of friendship and the need for prayer?
A better understanding of the historical obstacles facing women of color in the arts as portrayed in this fantasy novel about an elderly blue’s singer who uses her one week of restored youth to help other struggling artists make their way. Young Again is an inspirational novel with a wide array of unusual and appealing characters. Written during the early days of the pandemic, the novel was created as an escape for readers looking for a fast-paced and fun release from the pervasive fear of those trying times of Covid uncertainty. Unlike Trowden’s previous novels, which all have troubling surprise endings leaving the reader in a daze, Young Again wraps up in a tidy and satisfying bow.
The Attractiveness of Wisdom is a Christian, literary fiction, heart-warming, enthralling novel with endearing, and unforgettable characters.
978-1684338504
Purchase Price: $21.95
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble | www.judycar.com www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Suspense
Dr. Bernadette Anderson
The Bloodstone Murders
author of Fulfilled. 52 Prescriptions for Healing, Health, and Happiness
by Chris Karlsen Set in Victorian London, the books follow Detective Rudyard Bloodstone as he investigates murders while battling political interference, cases with little evidence, and unique weapons.
What I most want readers to get out of my book? Ready to make your dream life the one you actually live? Yes or absolutely yes! Fulfilled. 52 Prescriptions for Healing, Health, and Happiness is your seamless guide to a more fulfilling life. By immersing themselves in this transformative journey, readers are empowered to embrace forgiveness, eat healthier, experience greater fitness, find joy, restore inner harmony, and achieve better health while developing a deeper understanding of themselves, their needs, and their desires.
***This is a boxed set of 3 books and 1 novella bonus. Bonus novella is a holiday story involving the detective from the other Karlsen books***
www.chriskarlsen.com Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVBD42VL B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bloodstone-murders-chris-karlsen/1143047261;jsessionid=4F0F1AC0F2BAE7C79D5B750756646F63.prodny_store02-atgap07?ean=2940167040182 KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bloodstone-murders Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6445661078 Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1338916SCRIBD
ASIN: B0BVBD42VL
I didn’t just write “Fulfilled. 52 Prescriptions for Healing, Health, and Happiness,” I lived it. My life lessons are sprawled - with actionable intentions - over the pages of this book so the reader can heal shattered pieces of their heart, nurture a healthy mind and body, and wholeheartedly welcome happiness. What’s more, I have seen firsthand the remarkable transformations in the lives of those who have followed my guides.
Purchase Price: $4.99 Time Travel Science Fiction
Samurai Bluegrass by Craig Terlson
“Fulfilled. 52 Prescriptions for Healing, Health, and Happiness” isn’t your typical self-help book—it is the place where SCIENCE meets the SOUL, enabling the reader to wholly thrive.
In a magical tale of a samurai lost in time, Craig Terlson draws bold strokes of beauty and violence, music and myth, calm and chaos, in ancient Japan and modern-day Toronto. Gordo Clement arrives in Toronto in 1984, right after he was killed by archers in 12th C. feudal Japan. Or so he believes. When Gordo is invited to a bluegrass concert, he recognizes traits of the samurai in the players, and the music pulls him back to the moment he crossed over in time. Struggling to feel at home in a place he knows as the City, Gordo is contacted by a doctor. Gordo learns that the doctor is a fellow time-traveler who knows how to get back. Gordo is elated at the thought of returning home, until he understands that for the crossover to happen someone must die.
Self-Help / Mind-Body-Spirit / Motivational
Fulfilled. 52 Prescriptions for Healing, Health, and Happiness by Dr. Bernadette Anderson
978-1956615227
Organized into 52 weekly guides for the year, but set a pace that fits your life. You decide how to incorporate them into your schedule—daily, three times a week, or weekly. In every chapter, Dr. Bernadette asks questions, discusses symptoms and issues, then provides a “Prescription” to help you achieve healing, health, and happiness for your whole self—mind, body, and spirit. Through this interactive wellness guide, she is your doctor on call with life-changing tools and insights to make “living the life you were born to live” your natural default.
978-1954907232
Purchase Price: $16.99
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and online bookstores www.literarywanderlust.com
True Crime / Memoir
My Random Death-A Memoir by Myra Mossman, Esq.
Purchase Price: $29.95
In this riveting true crime story with a mystical twist, author Myra Mossman takes readers on a journey across North America and into their souls. My Random Death - A Memoir is about courage, triumph over evil and how our perceptions of the everyday, ordinary world can deepen. Ultimately it’s about trusting oneself and how the gift of intuition becomes revealed.
Available on B&N, Amazon, Bookshop.org | 52prescriptions.wixsite.com/fulfilledbook
Spiritual and Energy Healing Spiritual and Energy Healing Become a Medical Intuitive, Advanced Medical Intuition and Be Your Own Medical Intuitive.
978-1732927506
All three books by Tina Zion
Purchase Price: $17.95
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble | www.myrandomdeath.com
Become a Medical Intuitive immediately amplifies your intuition and directs you through the primary steps to do medical intuitive readings for others. Advanced Medical Intuition removes blockages, opens the healer within you, and expands your accuracy.
Young Adult
Be Your Own Medical Intuitive speaks to everyone, from all backgrounds, who realize it is time to bring healing into their own body and life now. This book teaches new skills, new techniques and new pathways for permanent, profound healing of your physical body, your energy body and yes, even your soul.
ASIN: B0BZND3JQC
Talent by B. Lynn Goodwin
Purchase Price: $20.99
Fifteen-and-half-year-old Sandee Mason wants to find her talent and stop living in the shadow of her big brother, Bri, who disappeared while serving in Afghanistan. Working as Assistant Stage Manager she discovers a world she never imagined and finds the strength to save the show and the boy she’s working with.
Availability: All Ebook Companies | www.tinazion.com
978-1646630165
Purchase Price: $17.95
Available on Amazon, B&N, and lots of resales. Distributed by Ingram Spark and Koehler Books https://www.amazon.com/Talent-B-Lynn-Goodwin/dp/1646630165/ref=monarch_sidesheet www.IndependentPressAward.com
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PUBLISHING SERVICES and PRODUCTS AUDIOBOOKS
DISTRIBUTORS Cardinal Publishers Group, Tom Dougherty, President A full service national book distributor. 2402 Shadeland Ave A, Indianapolis, IN 46219 | (317) 352-8200
Audion Media (Formerly Spectrum Audiobooks) Connecting brands with audiences across European radio, music and podcast content providers.
PRINTERS
BookBaby – DIY Media Group, Daniel Baker, VP of Marketing. Audiobooks, book printing and eBook publishing. 7905 N. Crescent Blvd. Pennsauken, NJ 08110 800-468-9353 x5194
Lightning Press Book Printing, Ron Balinski, President Bookstore Quality Book Printing - Quality and Attentive Service. Get a FREE quote! ron@lightning-press.com www.lightning-press.com 140 Furler Street, Totowa, NJ 07512 | Tel: (973) 890-4422
DeepZen, uses NLP and TTS systems specifically for long-form content to provide publishers with a tool to grow their audiobook catalog quickly, conveniently, and cost-efficiently. DeepZen’s technology replicates human voice and enables high-quality, life-like audiobook production using voices licensed from narrators. Register https://portal.deepzen.io/ and listen to the library of voices here https://portal.deepzen.io/voices. Email hello@deepzen.io or inquiry at https://deepzen.io/.
REVIEWS Get discovered with a BlueInk Review! Honest, credible book reviews written by professional critics and respected by booksellers, librarians and readers nationwide. www.blueinkreview.com
AUTHOR SERVICES
SALES & MARKETING
Amnet Author Services Ready to publish your book? A personalized package at an unbeatable price! High quality editing, proofreading, cover design, formatting, translation services. https://bit.ly/amnet_AS
YOUR AD COULD BE HERE reaching over 10,000 authors and publishers Or here: https://issuu.com/independentpressaward reaching over 10,000 librarians and booksellers, 20,000 additional book lovers and consumers. Contact the Publisher Ted Olczak Ted@GabbyBookAwards.com
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INDEPENDENT PR ES
D AR AW
BUSINESS BROKERS & SERVICES
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SPARK Publications-custom publishing Professionally custom publish your non-fiction business book, cookbook, or coffee-table book. High-level editing, design, publishing, consulting, and hand-holding services for business owners & leaders. No Royalties. In business 25 years. SPARKpublications.com/books
WHO CAN ENTER?
Print and audiobooks can be submitted by: • Independent publishers • University presses • Hybrid publishers • Association presses • Self-published authors If you are a big five publishing house, you must submit your books to our fall competition, NYCBigBookAward.com, which has a separate committee and entry fee. Outside of the big five publishing houses, any publisher or author may submit to both competitions, IndependentPressAward.com (every spring); and NYCBigBookAward.com (every fall). See webpages for complete details.
WHEN CAN I ENTER the Independent Press Award? We are on a rolling submission, approximately every two and a half months, with two hard deadlines: (1) March 2023 to August 30, 2023; (2) September 1, 2023 to December 30, 2023 All entries must be postmarked no later than December 30, 2023. This final deadline will not be extended.
DESIGN
What if I miss the deadline? Enter our fall program NYCBigBookAward.com as we take books until August 30th.
1106 Design, Michele DeFilippo, owner Do you want to learn more about working with 1106 Design? Great! We want to know all about you and your book too! https://1106design.com/contact-us/ Phone: (602) 866-3226
ENTRY FEE $125 per title/per category, plus $75 for any additional category
Toelke Associates has over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of custom book & publication design. We provide complete design & production services that are tailored to your unique project with specialization in illustrated non-fiction, exhibition catalogs, and historical / cultural subjects. www.toelkeassociates.com Voice/text: Ron 518-392-3040 | Amelia 518-755-3215 www.IndependentPressAward.com
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS Decide which books (copyright date within the past three years is recommended but not required) to enter into this year’s competition. 2 Calculate the total entry fee. Choose which categories, https://www.independentpressaward.com/categories, to enter each book into. You may enter a book into as many categories as you’d like. The fee for the first category is $125. Any additional book categories for that same book is $75 per category. • SINGLE BOOK, MULTIPLE CATEGORIES: One who enters “Book One” in Children’s Educational and Book Cover Design Childrens category, the entry fee is $125 + $75 = $200. • MULTIPLE BOOKS: One who enters “Book One” in Children’s Educational and Book Cover Design Childrens category, the entry fee is $125 + $75 = $200, and “Book Two” in Mystery and New Fiction (first-time published), the entry fee is $125 + $75 = $200, so $200 + 200 = $400 in total book entry fees. 3 Download a form from this page, https://www.independentpressaward.com/submit-offline-1 OR submit the entry form online on this page, https://www.independentpressaward.com/online-entry-form-1 Complete form 4 Duplicate each Entry Label if you are entering multiple categories. For print books, a copy of the completed Entry Label must be placed inside the front cover of every book submitted. Up to four physical copies for entry into four or more categories. Audiobooks, a single copy of the completed Entry Label must be submitted along with either an Audible gift code or Authors’ Direct code. IF SUBMITTING ONLINE and sending a book directly from Amazon.com or other retailer/printer, NO PAPERWORK IS REQUIRED to accompany the book(s). 5 Pay via PayPal button on the website or mail a check, along with your books and printed entry form, and ship to: 1
INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD 63 Clinton Road Glen Ridge, NJ 07028 USA
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