Quote of the Month:

If you haven't already read Steve Wasserman's extensive article about newspaper book review pages and American literacy in the Columbia Journalism Review, here's a link and an excerpt:

"That book coverage is disappearing is not news. What is news is the current pace of the erosion in coverage, as well as the fear that an unbearable cultural threshold has been crossed: whether the book beat should exist at all is now, apparently, a legitimate question. Jobs, book sections, and pages are vanishing at a rate rivaled only by the degree to which entire species are being rendered extinct in the Amazonian rain forest. Last spring, Teresa Weaver, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s longtime and well-regarded book editor, was shunted aside, her original book reviews largely replaced with wire copy. The paper’s editor said without shame or chagrin that the move was part of a more general intent to reconfigure the newspaper’s coverage of arts, including music and dance. Meanwhile, readers of The Dallas Morning News found themselves without a full-time book critic when Jerome Weeks, who had filled the role since 1996, accepted a buyout offer amid a vast restructuring of the paper."

End of Summer Greetings,

It's just a few days after Labor Day and the Fall Publishing Season is in full swing. Already you can score a big one for Independent Publishing, because next Thursday, September 13th, something every independent publisher dreams about is going to happen: an indie-published book will be featured on OPRAH on the day of its release. That's right, Fred and Kim Goldman, the parents of Ron Goldman, who along with Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered on June 12th, 1994, will appear on OPRAH to talk about the release of the infamous O.J. book: If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.

The book's new publisher, Eric Kampmann, is the luckiest -- some might say the bravest -- indie publisher on the planet, as the first chapter of If I Did It's torrid history left of trail of public outrage, pulped books, and cost the once powerful Judith Regan her job. What a difference a year makes. Everything changed when in August, a Florida bankruptcy judge awarded publishing rights for the book to the Goldmans, to help satisfy the unpaid $38 million civil judgment O.J. owes them.

In this month's lead story, Nina L. Diamond explains how the book came to be published by Kampmann's Beaufort Books, why the Goldman family views the book as O.J.'s confession, and how this version of the book, with about 14,000 words of added commentary, may be received by the public with much less revulsion than its first go-round with O.J. and Regan in the limelight. Time -- and how things go on the Oprah spot -- will tell.

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In this month's second feature, we continue our series of articles on the effect that receiving a book award has on a book's future, this time focusing on foreign rights. Jacqueline Church Simonds explains how the Russian and Italian language rights to Ursula’s Maiden Army, a Historical Fiction category IPPY Award winner were sold. “The award made up their minds,” said rights agent Whitney Lee of The Fielding Agency. “When a book wins an award or even garners a rave review in a top trade magazine/newspaper, it helps foreign publishers distinguish it from the competition. This type of endorsement gets their attention and makes them read the book as a priority, which is the first step in making a sale."

More Awards news:

If you've recently published a business book, our new Axiom Business Book Awards are designed to bring increased recognition to exemplary business books and their creators, with the understanding that business people are a very well-read and informed segment of the reading population. Says Jenkins Group founder Jerrold R. Jenkins: "Today's business book readers are eager to learn about great new titles that will inspire and inform them, and help them improve their careers and businesses."

This makes four book awards contests now presented by Jenkins Group: the Independent Publisher Book Awards (since 1996) for indie-published books in 65 categories; the new Moonbeam Children's Book Awards launched earlier this year, the Nautilus Book Awards (presented along with Marilyn McGuire & Associates and recognizing the best in Mind/Body/Spirit titles since 2001), and now the Axiom Business Book Awards.

Best of luck to all participants!

* * * * *

This month's issue includes new articles from columnists Fern Reiss on "The 5 Best Ways to Get Media Attention" and Nina L. Diamond on Kinky Friedman's latest publishing adventures, plus a tribute to the fact that September is "Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month" by Malibu literary agent Wendy Keller.

* * * * *

Welcome back to an exciting Fall Publishing Season. All the best and stay in touch,

Jim Barnes
jimb@bookpublishing.com

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NEW! - He Did It & This Time It's Okay to Read It
by Nina L. Diamond
Indie-Published O.J. Book Set to Hit Bookstands Sept. 13th

NEW! - The IPPY Effect: Foreign Rights
by Jacqueline Church Simonds
How Book Awards Garner Foreign Rights Sales

NEW! - Jenkins Group Launches AXIOM Business Awards
1st Annual Axiom Business Book Awards contest will bring great business books and great business people together

On Wellness; or How I Published an Award-Winning Book of Humor, with a Little Help from My Friends
by William R. Vitanyi, Jr.

It's a Wrap! Independent Publisher Book Awards Rock the Big Apple
by Jim Barnes
IPPY Awards Entrants Examine World Issues

2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results

2007 Nautilus Book Awards Results

2007 The Audies® Book Awards Results

NEW! - September is "Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month
Guest contributor: Wendy Keller, literary agent
"Surgical Removal Techniques for the Book Inside You"

NEW! The Publishing Game - How to Play Better and Sell More Books
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com
This Month: The 5 Best Ways to Get Media Attention

NEW! Much Ado About Publishing
by Nina L. Diamond
This Month: A "Kinky" New Book

NEW! John Kremer’s Marvelous Book Marketing Strategies
Git-er-Done NOW 24-Point Book Marketing Action List:
Tip #9 – Scout Out Related Titles

Crazy Book Marketing Idea of the Month
This Month: The Great American Book of Church Signs

Midwest Book Review - Book Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers - Monthly, online book review publications dedicated to showcasing reviews of independently published, self-published, and POD published titles.

Industry Update: Latest News, Resources, Successes and Failures in Publishing

Highlighted Titles: Newly Releases from Top Independent Authors and Publishers

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INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS 2007