Outskirts Press made huge strides forward in 2018, adding well-thought-out publishing products to help authors get their books to print and up for sale online, and marketing options to launch those books to new heights. But the strenuous efforts of our production and marketing teams in 2018 is just the half of it; thanks to the talents and determination of our authors, our joint efforts paid off in the form of priceless awards and recognitions.

Take a short walk down Memory Lane with us as we revisit all we have achieved. If the things we’ve accomplished together over the past year is any indication of what’s to come, 2019 will truly be amazing!

Outskirts Press Author Awards

Authors, you made us so very proud this year! Here is a sampling of the many highlights over the course of the year, including a terrific showing in awards competitions.

Katherine S. Egan, author of Genetics Isn’t Everything, won a 1st Place EVVY Award in August, which she was able to accept in person at the banquet in Denver, Colorado. She subsequently became one of three finalists in the 2018 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Awards.

Jackie Fischer, author of The Lost Branch, won first place (and a new laptop computer) in the Outskirts Press “Show Us Your Love” annual video contest, which celebrates both Valentine’s Day and self-publishing. As she demonstrates in her video, she’s quite adept at rhyme, as well!

The annual Benjamin Franklin Awards are notoriously competitive, so it was no small feat when Dr. Jeanne Blanchet won a Silver Medal Award for Historical Fiction with her novel Man at the Cross Road. Proving herself to be anything but a one-trick pony, she quickly followed that up with an EVVY Award for her follow-up book, Cursed.

In July, prolific novelist Gabriel F.W. Koch learned that he was once again a finalist in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards. He walked away with a 2nd Place EVVY Award a couple years ago for his science fiction novel Paradox Effect (not to mention an Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year nomination). This year he picked up an EVVY Merit Award for Emma and the Dragon Tooth Sword. He has published four books thus far with Outskirts Press, including his latest, And Come Day’s End.

Speaking of science fiction, C.R. Norris discovered that she won 1st Place in the Science Fiction category at the EVVY Awards, for her book Wasp on the Wind. The book is the second in her Wasp Chronicles Series. She subsequently was nominated to be one of three finalists in the highly coveted Best Book of the Year Awards.

All those award nominations led us to the 2018 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award. This year, the honor, the award and the $1,500 Grand Prize went to T.D. Arkenberg for his biographical take on the events leading up to, and following in the shadows of, September 11. Two Towers is his fourth book but his first memoir.

In October we recognized our 50 bestselling authors for 2018. These high-achieving authors not only produced marvelous literary works but also exhibited the drive required to promote those works to readers!

New Publishing and Marketing Products

Our One-Click Publishing for Children’s Books was a hit from the moment we introduced this all-inclusive publishing package. At the very end of 2017, we launched One-Click for Children’s Books (author-provided illustrations) for juvenile book authors who don’t need illustrations, either because they have their own or their book does not call for them. It, too, was an instant hit and has helped another group of authors get published hassle-free.

Outskirts Press is proud to have introduced the Amazon Kindle eBook Box Set, which allows authors of multiple books to bundle their collection to capture additional sales from avid readers. This packaging increases the odds that a reader will buy not just one book but an entire series.

The new Author Book Banner Graphic provides authors with an attractive custom advertising banner to use any way they choose. The graphic is formatted according to the specific requirements and strengths of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or the Google search engine platform.

For authors interested in taking full advantage of the power of the Amazon selling platform, a professional Amazon Author Profile is now an option. This profile page gives readers valuable information about the author and connects them with other books by the author, social media, author blog and more.

Finally, Outskirts Press retooled its Guaranteed Radio Interview option. While authors who purchase this high-profile promotion still receive valuable radio interview guidance and a generous timeslot before a huge radio audience, the new platform and format better targets the audiences an author wants to reach!

Want your book published in 2019? Or do you have a book you would like to be the next big prize-winner? Find out more about publishing, marketing, promoting and submitting your book for awards and reviews.