“The fiction category this year was the toughest we've ever seen in any competition.”

July 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Amesbury author Jane Ward returned from New York City on Saturday, June 11 with an award from the 2011 New York Book Festival for her recently published second novel, THE MOSAIC ARTIST.

The festival, held Friday night in midtown Manhattan’s famed Algonquin Hotel, exists to recognize and honor “books worthy of further attention from the world’s publishing capital.”  This recognition thrilled Ward, who chose to publish THE MOSAIC ARTIST independently in order to ensure the novel would be read.  (Ward’s first novel, HUNGER, was published by Forge in 2001.)

“Tonight’s honor tells me I made the right decision to self-publish,” Ward said during her acceptance speech to a crowded room of her peers.  “To have THE MOSAIC ARTIST read so carefully and then selected for an Honorable Mention by the committee delights me and rewards everything I do.”

Festival organizer Bruce Haring stressed to the gathered audience of honorees, supporters, and industry professionals that all winners in all categories represent the best of what current book publishing has to offer.

In an earlier statement he declared that “the fiction category this year was the toughest we've ever seen in any competition.”

For more information about the 2011 New York Book Festival and for a complete list of winners, please visit newyorkbookfest.brinkster.net/portal/content.asp?ContentID=661

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Jane Ward, author of HUNGER and THE MOSAIC ARTIST, graduated from Simmons College with a bachelor of arts in English literature. She currently hosts her own blog titled Food and Fiction and is a contributing writer for Local In Season.