A total of 21 Xlibris authors have bested others in over 140 categories covering print, audio books & courses, e-books, and interactive CD-ROMs, garnering recognition for their self-published books in the recently-concluded USABookNews.com National Best Books 2007 Awards.
Taking the only award in the General History Category was Frank Durr with his book, In the Shadow of the Sphinx: A New Look at the Bay of Pigs and JFK Assassination. Meanwhile, bagging the first finalist slots in their respective categories were the members of First Baptist Church of Melbourne and their Anthology of Praise (Poetry: Anthologies)
Earning the second finalist slots in their respective categories were the following: P.J. Finer’s The Applica-Phobia of College Admissions: Why "Getting In" Starts With Your Resume (College Guides); Gina E. Jones’ Flying Between Heaven and Earth (Fiction and Literature: New Age Fiction); Debra Coleman Jeter’s "Pshaw, It's Me Grandson": Tales of a Young Actor (History: Media/Entertainment);
Other Xlibris finalists include Blaka Y. Abee’s My Dad, The Folk Potter: A Picture Book of Pottery Making From Beginning to End (Children’s Picture Book: Paperback Non-fiction)
The strong showing of Xlibris authors in the Best Books Awards underscores the rising credibility as well as the undeniable quality of books released by the said self-publishing company. This recent windfall of Best Books winners with Xlibris titles has placed the company alongside publishing giants like Simon & Schuster, Penguin-Putnam, HarperCollins, Random House, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Co., and John Wiley & Sons who also have winning entries under their names.
Jeffrey Keen, president and CEO of JPX Media -- parent company of USABookNews.com – notes that results of the 2007 Best Books Awards “represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States.” He also emphasizes: “BBA’s success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise.”
The National Best Books Awards is already on its fourth year of giving recognition to quality books published and distributed in the US within the year. For this year, the Awards were presented for titles published between 2007 and late 2006. Honoring books made within the year instead of months after their original launch will benefit winning authors in their marketing strategies by a hundredfold. Keen further explains: “With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of BBA, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”
