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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 2024 to August 30, 2024; (2) September 1, 2024 to December 30, 2024 All entries must be postmarked no later than December 30, 2024. This final deadline will not be extended. What if I miss the deadline? Enter our fall program NYCBigBookAward.com as we take books until August 30th. ENTRY FEE $125 per title/per category, plus $75 for any additional category
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. 1
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, 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:
INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD 63 Clinton Road Glen Ridge, NJ 07028 USA
www.IndependentPressAward.com www.IndependentPressAward.com
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PUBLISHER’S LETTER Forget gatekeepers and slush piles – the literary stage is now open to all. Democratization has taken hold of the publishing industry. Aspiring authors no longer need to navigate byzantine publishing pathways – today, anyone with a story can unleash their voice. Indie books have shaken up the literary world, igniting a reader revolution fueled by self-published gems. Their boldness and ingenuity are redefining storytelling itself. Supplied with more education, skilled help, and expert advice, the independently published book is a far cry from its predecessor in feel, look, design, and quality, yet with the same wit, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit at its core. Take for example, Dow Creative Enterprises who has turned the medical field upside down. Never in my days during the early 1990s at Publishers Weekly would those books ever be accepted, and here, two years ago, Michael Dow submitted his Nurse Florence® Series to the Independent Press Award. Upon winning the Independent Press Award and gaining recognition for his work, it has amplified and heartened his publishing mission. Today, I am happy to report that the Harvard University Online Bookstore now carries his titles. Like a rogue wave breaching the shoreline, indie books are flooding the literary scene, their self-published brilliance washing away old paradigms and refreshing the way we experience stories. Indie authors are carving their own path in the literary jungle. Their self-published treasures are enchanting readers and rewriting the rules of storytelling. No gatekeepers, no limitations – indie authors, fueled by creative freedom, are breaking into the hearts of readers with self-published masterpieces. They’re the new faces of storytelling, changing the game one captivating page at a time, leaving readers breathless with their boldness. We have a selection of these indie books in the following pages. I strongly encourage you to buy and fill your shelves with these treasures. Be inspired, be active, and join us on your own publishing adventure at this year’s BookCAMP 2024, https://www.ipabookcamp.com/. I hope to see you there. Read and be great,
Ted Olczak Publisher
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Call for Nominations: “40 Under 40 in Publishing” Entry Details for the 2025 Independent Press Award Publisher’s Letter NYC Big Book Award: GAB TALKS with Irv Arenberg, author of Love and Murder: The Last Days of Vincent van Gogh NYC Big Book Award: GAB TALKS with Arwinder Kaur, author of Living While Human Harvard Embraces Award-Winning Nurse Florence® Series to Boost Kids’ Health Literacy NYC Big Book Award: GAB TALKS with Tony Jeton Selimi, author of A Path to Excellence Subscribe to BookCAMP magazine Publishing Services Directory Call for 2024 NYC Big Book Award Entries
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 for review, send to: Printed Word Reviews, 63 Clinton Rd, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. Allow 8 -12 weeks. Unpaid reviews are not guaranteed. More details available on our website at https://printedwordreviews.com/
To submit your book, visit our websites: Fall 2024:
https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/
(More consumer focused; different judging; allows for all authors and publishers to participate; announced in the fall of every year) Spring 2025:
https://www.independentpressaward.com/ To advertise, please contact Ted@GabbyBookAwards.com or Ted@PrintedWordReviews.com, or visit our website, https://www.independentpressaward.com/ advertise The magazine Independent Press Award and NYC Big Book Award Present is published eight 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 or Ted@PrintedWordReviews.com. www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Irv Kaufman Dr.
Love and Murder: The Final Days of Vincent van Gogh AUTHOR OF:
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r. Irvin Kaufman is the author of Love and Murder: The Final Days of Vincent van Gogh, winner of the 2023 NYC Big Book Award in Arts and Entertainment. In Love and Murder we get a glimpse into the mysterious life and death of Vincent van Gogh. A retired ear surgeon, Irv has unveiled many misconceptions about van Gogh beginning with his cover story in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, during the 100th anniversary of van Gogh’s death. Irv has studied van Gogh’s life and death for more than thirty years with the goal to debunk the myth that his death was a suicide. The critically acclaimed Love and Murder: is Book Two of the Trilogy. Book One is KILLING VINCENT: THE MAN, THE MYTH, AND THE MURDER. Book Three is THE DAY VINCENT VAN GOGH WAS MURDERED. Irv joins us live from Arizona.
so passionate about investigating this cold case? IRV: Everybody finds something about Vincent to really connect with. I use my medical background to try to unravel some of the mysteries. When I wrote that article for JAMA (July 1990, 100th anniversary of van Gogh’s death), I never believed that Vincent committed suicide. I was still very busy as a surgeon and I never really followed up. I kept reading, but I wasn’t proactively trying to do what I had done in the last five years. The movie Loving Vincent came out. It was pretty obvious that Vincent couldn’t possibly have shot himself at the angle that was recorded. I knew I had to pursue that and correct another misunderstanding. GABBY: In book one of your trilogy: Killing Vincent The Man, The Myth and the Murder you say that suicide is untenable. What’s the most profound piece of forensic evidence that you uncovered that disproves this theory of suicide?
GABBY: A widely accepted myth is that van Gogh suffered from epilepsy. How did your career as an ear surgeon play an instrumental role in altering the artist’s diagnosis?
IRV: Vincent didn’t have a gun. The myth was perpetuated as a cover up for a murder. If you go back to the actual evidence that was available, which is very limited, by the way, there’s no police report, there is no crime scene. It’s all hearsay. There’s no hard evidence anywhere that Vincent actually committed suicide. A colleague of mine did a study going through all his letters to look at the suicidal ideation to see if they could profile him as a candidate for suicide.
IRV: When I was a student, I read about Vincent’s letters and his attacks that were thought to be epilepsy. However, he wrote in his own handwriting that his attacks were fatigue and vertigo. When I became an ear doctor my special area of interest and expertise was Meniere’s disease. So the medical world has accepted that he had an inner ear problem which adversely affected him quite a bit. If you read his letters, one very pronounced, said he was so afraid of another attack that was going to forever eliminate his ability to paint.
By 21st century criteria, using the last 70 days of his life, we had no suicidal evidence, no proclivity to commit suicide. We did the forensic testing. I bought the same model gun that was alleged to be used to kill Vincent. They found a gun in a field some 56 years later, coincidentally, and very questionably right at the time when MGM was in Paris shooting a movie in 1953. Very suspicious. There’s no proof that this was the gun that was used to kill Vincent or Vincent killed himself. I can dispute that part of it, too, to the nth degree.
That might have been one of the things that drove him to paint a canvas a day in fear of losing that ability to paint. GABBY: You referred to his death, a presumed suicide or the myth of the presumed suicide as the biggest cold case in the annals of the art world. You’ve made it your mission to depart from this narrative. Why are you www.IndependentPressAward.com
GABBY:
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In your award winning book, Love and Murder: The Last Deeds of Vincent van Gogh you refer to Vincent’s death as a dastardly murder, a nefarious cover up. Why do you believe it was a murder?
Listen to the entire interview on https://www.thegabtalks.com/. To learn more about Dr. Irv Kaufman Arenberg and van Gogh Trilogy visit the Killing Vincent Project at https://killingvincent.com/.
IRV: Forensically. In the evidence of the wound that was described, there is no description of a black powder bullet ring around the entry wound. This was the day of black powder. Smokeless bullets didn’t really come in for a few years. That was the key piece of forensic evidence any police officer would have back in that day to determine whether someone shot himself, was shot close, or shot from far away.
To listen to the full interview or to learn more, please visit
Once you eliminate the possibility that there wasn’t a powder burn, then someone shot him from a greater distance and several feet away. GABBY: The dark and romantic legend of van Gogh is that he was a tortured artist who contemplated suicide. A great story. You believe he was misunderstood. Give us a real glimpse into who van Gogh really was.
www.TheGABTALKS.com
IRV: In my first book I characterized him as having Asperger’s syndrome. He wasn’t crazy, just brilliant. He was somewhat tortured because people didn’t understand him and he couldn’t really relate to people. That’s a characteristic of Asperger’s. It’s interesting because now Elon Musk has Asperger’s and he’s a poster boy for the syndrome. GABBY: What questions about his death do you believe still remain unanswered? IRV: I tried to try to go after a lot of things like the mental illness, the suicide probe. Without an autopsy, without a bullet, the kind of wound that was described, could just as easily have been a knife wound or an ice pick. That certainly changes the dynamic of van Gogh’s death. GABBY: Why do you contend that Vincent was murdered? IRV: Vincent was in love with Marguerite (Dr. Gachet’s daughter), who he met on the first day when he got out of the asylum. It was not promoted by the people who actually wrote about Vincent’s life and his brother’s after his death. It was an honor killing to preserve Marguerite’s honor. GABBY: So tell us about the Killing Vincent Project. IRV: The Killing Vincent Project is what you’ve seen me do over 30, 40 years. It is trying to get rid of all the untruths and bring together the truth about Vincent’s life. www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Childrens Fiction Bliss and Her Friends
Astrology
Bernadette Wells and Carl Baker
Sun Signs, Houses & Healing: Build Resilience & Transform Your Life Through Astrology
Bliss and her Friends is about a girl named Bliss who is learning the value of old and new friendships. This book also helps parents talk and ask questions to their children about their feelings, and when they encounter new and old friends.
Carmen Turner-Schott Once you have your birth chart-which you can easily acquire online using your time and place of birth-Carmen Turner-Schott helps you fully understand your sun sign, providing everything from self-care affirmations to optimal strategies for healing and transformation. This well-organized book lets you quickly jump between specific signs and houses, making it easy to look up information for yourself and your loved ones.
Softcover: 978-1665532259 E-Book: 987-1665532266 Softcover-$20.99. E-Book-$5.99 Retail/Distributor Availability: Amazon, Barnes & Noble; IngramSpark www.blissandherfriends.com
ISBN: 978-0738771304 • $16.99 Available on all online stores and from Llewellyn Worldwide. www.carmenturnerschott.com
Cookbooks: General AND Book Interior Design-Nonfiction Dinner is Done: Simple Weeknight Recipes from Smart in the Kitchen
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Negotiation Simplified
Dinner is Done: Simple Weeknight Meals from Smart in the Kitchen is a gorgeous 240-page hardcover cookbook with weeknight dinner recipes, tested and written for the busy home cook.The recipes are pared down and simple, without hard-to-find ingredients, such as Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Vegetable Bolognese Rigatoni and Blackened Redfish Tacos.
Jim Reiman Negotiations may be complex; negotiating is not! Creating options and choosing which to pursue (and how to pursue them) is what distinguishes the skilled and effective negotiator from the less successful one. Written by a practitioner for the practitioner, Negotiation Simplified sets out a framework and a thought process which, if followed, will yield better results.
ISBN: 979-8986802008 •$39.95
ISBN: 978-1645439578•$24.95
Available on Amazon, https://amzn.to/3RkHsKm www.smartinthekitchenschool.com/dinner-is-done www.smartinthekitchenschool.com www.smartinthekitchen.com
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers www.NegotiationSimplifiedBook.com
Business - General Crime Fiction
The Answer is a Question: The Missing Superpower that Changes Everything and Will Transform Your Impact as a Manager and Leader
Prison Shadows Kathryn Den Houter Clifford Ratz, a small-town drug dealer, carries the burdens of others and the weight of his own dysfunction. It is a psychological suspense novel that takes the reader to prison with a final endgame of family betrayal and ultimate sacrifice.
Laura Ashley-Timms & Dominic Ashley-Timms For Managers and Leaders everywhere! Read this Amazon bestseller and discover the missing superpower that changes everything and will transform your impact as a manager and leader.
ISBN: 978-1954786950 • $14.95
ISBN: 978-0117093911 •$25.95 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble www.TheAnswerIsaQuestion.com
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954786956 www.kathryndenhouter.com
Submit your book to: https://www.independentpressaward.com/ www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Cross Genre Life Interrupted, Dr. Dua’s Survival Guide Dr Manu Dua, Foreword and Epilogue by Dr. Parul Dua Makkar This is a book that my brother wrote in his last days. A reflection on life as he faced mortality at age 34. He believed that the human mind, body and soul have a remarkable capacity to heal. We are more powerful than we can imagine.
ISBN: 978-1736058718 • $8.99 Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and any bookstore worldwide. parulduamakkar.com/book/
Cross Genre Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846 Laurel Anne Hill In 1846 Alta California, Catalina Delgado daydreams about her future: roping cattle, marrying Angelo Ortega and raising children. But now, invaders from the United States—the Bear Flaggers—have declared war against Mexico, her country. Bear Flaggers have imprisoned one close friend of her family and murdered others. What fate might befall her parents, grandfather and younger brothers? And what about her best friend, a Costanoan servant girl? How can Catalina, only sixteen, help protect all those she loves? The spirits provide Catalina with answers, but not ones she wants. Plus she fears the strange spirit man who rides a black Andalusian stallion through the sky. For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina must risk her reputation as a chaste young woman, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.
ISBN:978-1949534207 • $18.95 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and online bookstores www.laurelannehill.com/plague-of-flies/
Death & Dying / Grief / Inspirational A Sky of Infinite Blue: A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self Kyomi O’Connor
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Multi-award winning. A Sky of Infinite Blue is a heartwrenching, powerful, compelling memoir. Kyomi’s story with deep reflection, introspection, love and compassion would take readers into their own journeys.
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ISBN: 978-1647422271 • $17.95 Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org kyomioconnor.com
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