New Annual Book of Writing Advice Wins Gold in National Competition

June 13, 2008 - PRLog -- Milwaukee, Wisc. — Great Lakes Literary, LLC (www.greatlakeslit.com), a Milwaukee-based editorial service, is pleased to announce that The New Writer’s Handbook 2007, edited by Great Lakes Lit director Philip Martin, has won Gold in the Book of the Year Awards competition (Careers category). The prize was recently announced at Book Expo America in Los Angeles.

The competition is sponsored by ForeWord magazine, the nation’s leading magazine for the indie-press segment of the publishing industry, and “represents the best work from independent publishers in 2007.”

The winning book is the inaugural edition in an annual series, an anthology of recent professional-development advice for writers. Each year offers more than 60 articles by diverse contributors: New York Times–bestselling writers, winners of major literary prizes, and a host of writing instructors, literary bloggers, agents, editors, and working journalists.

The 2007 edition also got a Starred Review from Library Journal, saying “From the preface by Erica Jong to the closing piece by Mary Pipher, it surprises and satisfies.”

The pieces are selected from the best articles published recently, mostly in the previous year, in writer magazines and books, on blogs and websites, and elsewhere. The goal is to provide an annual collection for professional development and to encourage writers to read more broadly cross-genre and in related fields useful to their careers.

The Handbook is for all levels of writers, from emerging to accomplished. Sections address Creativity, Craft, Pitching Work, Internet Skills, Business Savvy, and other literary advice and perspectives on being a writer today.

Specific topics include finding a literary agent, writing better fiction and nonfiction, blogging tips, and much more.

The series is unaffiliated with any organization or magazine, and is published by an independent press from Minneapolis, Scarletta Press (www.scarlettapress.com), with national distribution.

The 2008 edition is in progress, to be released August 2008 with a preface by U.S. Poet Laureate (2004–06) Ted Kooser, and other pieces by Lois Lowry, Tess Gerritsen, and many other notable and successful writers.

Series editor Philip Martin has written and edited books on a variety of cultural and literary topics. He lives in Milwaukee and runs Great Lakes Literary (www.greatlakeslit.com), a consulting service for writers and publishers.

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About Great Lakes Literary: Great Lakes Literary is a versatile and award-winning book-development service, working with writers, independent presses, and small businesses to create works of lasting quality and meaningful impact.