Victoria Strauss Wins for Writer Beware in First Annual Independent Book Blogger Award

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

I’m thrilled and honored to announce that Goodreads and the Association of American Publishers have chosen me as the winner of the Publishing News category of the first annual Independent Book Blogger Awards. I’ll be attending the awards ceremony at BookExpo America on June 4th.

The official press release is below.

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Washington, DC, May 16, 2012 – After hundreds of submissions…nearly 10,000 voters… and 60 finalists…the four winners of the first Independent Book Blogger Awards are being announced today by Goodreads and the Association of American Publishers. All winners were previously contacted and confirmed.

Victoria Strauss, author of eight novels who lives in Amherst, won in the “Publishing Industry News” category for Writer Beware Blogs! Other blog winners were The Nerdy Book Club in the “Children’s/Young Adult” category; Sophisticated Dorkiness in the “Adult Non-Fiction” category; and Insatiable Booksluts in the “Adult Fiction” category.

Each winner receives free airfare, hotel accommodations and full admission to next month’s BookExpo America in New York City, the US publishing industry’s most important annual gathering, as well as entry to the annual BEA Bloggers Conference to be held the previous day. Winners will also be acknowledged on Monday, June 4, 10AM prior to the Bloggers Conference keynote featuring author Jennifer Weiner.

“On behalf of the AAP Trade Division member publishers, who conceived and supported this competition, we were simply delighted with the outpouring of interest for this debut effort and the originality and diversity of the submissions,” said Tina Jordan, Vice President, AAP. “We are so appreciative of everyone who entered and hope that the voters take time to sample some of the great voices they can discover as listed on our blogroll.”

“The interest and voting show you just how influential book bloggers are in the world of books,” said Patrick Brown, Community Manager, Goodreads and one of the judges. “The attention and accolades are richly deserved and I congratulate all the nominees for the great work they are doing. You made the job of judging that much harder but it’s to every reader’s benefit to have such a wealth of amazing book blogs from which to choose.”

Entries were judged on writing, analysis, design and presentation and reader impact. The viewpoints expressed in blogs are those of the independent authors and do not represent AAP or Goodreads.

Insatiable Booksluts consists of book reviews, advice to authors, industry news and humorous tales of reading woes (and lots of swearing). With the tagline, “Voracious readers tell you if that book is going to suck,” the blog gives an honest opinion about books and reading. The blogger behind Insatiable Booksluts is Susan Rodarme, a writer who lives in Columbus, Ohio.

At Sophisticated Dorkiness, Kim Ukura is a bookworm journalist who writes primarily about non-fiction and literary fiction but also loves to read memoirs, comics and young adult fiction. The blog features reviews, opinions and musings about reading and writing. Ukura is the editor of a community newspaper, the Morris Sun Tribune, and lives in Morris, Minnesota.

The Nerdy Book Club is a community of readers from all over the world who particularly enjoy books for children and young adults; it’s organized and run by Colby Sharp, Donalyn Miller and Cindy Minnich. In 2011, they held the first annual “Nerdies Book Awards” for Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Poetry, Nonfiction, Young Adult Fiction and Middle Grade Fiction. The IBBA winner on behalf of The Nerdy Book Club is Minnich of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, who is a high school English teacher and National Writing Project fellow.

Writer Beware Blogs! shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes and pitfalls along with industry news and writing advice. The blog is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America with additional support from the Mystery Writers of America. Winner of the IBBA competition is Victoria Strauss, the author of eight novels for adults and young adults who lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Finalists in the Independent Book Blogger Awards are:

Adult Fiction: TNBBC’s The Next Best Book Blog; Parajunkee’s View; Vampire Book Club; LITERAL ADDICTION; Paranormal Reads; Fantasy-Faction; trevorkidd.com; AuthorJess; Words With Writers; How Novelistic; Not Another Romance Blog; Books . . . Looks and Takes by Eleanor Anders; The True Book Addict; Jen’s Book Thoughts

Adult Non-Fiction:  The Girl from the Ghetto; Jeannie Walker – Award Winning True Crime Author; The Parchment Girl; Reading, Writing, Working, Playing; Misfit Salon; At Home With Books; A Novel Affair; Scandalous Women; The Feminist Texican [Reads]; The Dunce Academy; World War ll London Blitz Diaries 1939-1945; The Well-read Naturalist; Janet Boyer Reviews; Notes From The Parsonage

Children’s/Young Adult: : I Am A Reader, Not A Writer; Once Upon a Twilight; Bookies; Children’s Book-A-Day Almanac; The Midnight Garden; KindleObsessed; books4yourkids.com; Tumbling Books; Me, My Shelf and I; Paranormal Book Club; YA  Bibliophile; Murphy’s Library; Aileen’s Thoughts; The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh!

Publishing Industry News: Author Michael J. Sullivan; Kris Wampler’s Blog: A resource for indie writers; Writer. Publicist. Superhero.; EvilReads; Ink Drop Interviews Presents…; Indies Unlimited; The Great Gray Bridge;  Vouched Books; Yours in Books; Life as a Publisher; Market My Words; Bookworm; Anne R. Allen’s Blog; Leslie Lee Sanders

According to AAP and Goodreads, all submissions are worth reading. These can be found at http://www.goodreads.com/book_blogger_award/

About Goodreads:

Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Founded in 2007, Goodreads is where readers discover and share books they love. The site has eight million members who have added more than 300 million books to their shelves and written more than 14 million reviews. Loved by avid and casual readers alike, Goodreads members can discover new books by seeing what their friends are reading or by using the Goodreads Book Recommendation Engine; share ratings and recommendations; track what they have read and list what they want to read. Goodreads is also a place where more than 35,000 authors and their publishers connect with readers. It is a privately owned company.

About AAP:

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association representing the country’s premier book publishers. Its 300 members develop and publish the highest-quality entertainment, education, scientific and professional content in all print and digital formats. The AAP Trade Division member organizations are active in promoting the joy of reading, literacy, the value of publishers in an information society and First Amendment rights. They are committed to raising awareness through a variety of initiatives produced independently and in collaboration with libraries and other groups.

Contacts:

For AAP: Amanda Straub, Manager, Communications, AAP – astraub@publishers.org
For Goodreads: Suzanne Skyvara, suzanne@skyvaracommunications.com