ForeWord Book of the Year Awards

Nearly 1,400 books were entered in 59 different
categories from 419 different publishers. Now the finalists
for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards
have been announced!

Congratulations to The
Incredible Adventures of Enrique Diaz and The
Literary Six, both published by Outskirts Press.

This is the remarkable tale of Enrique Diaz, a young fifteenth-century Portuguese Catholic who sets off to realize his dream--to find an elusive utopian paradise in the heart of Africa--accompanied by his two sidekicks, a Portuguese Jew and a Moor. Traveling by ship, cart, and caravan, the three explorers encounter perils galore--pirates and storms at sea, slave traders and murderous thieves on land. They explore the exotic casbahs of Morocco...the mysterious ruins of ancient Egypt...the hidden civilization of Abyssinia, keepers of the Ark of the Covenant...the awe-inspiring holy city of Mecca...and return again to Renaissance Europe. En route the young travelers taste the richness of each other's religions--and win the hearts of their true loves. More »

For the faculty, students, and alumni of Bendleton University, The Literary Six was the scourge of its collective existence for four long years. Notorious across the campus for its snobby witticisms and scathing critiques of the university, its faculty, its students, and its founders, this elite group of college literati fashioned itself in the likeness of Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table - an irreverent group of playwrights, theatre critics, and novelists who regularly lunched at the historic Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. Indeed, graduation day for the members of The Literary Six brought a sigh of relief for many on the receiving end of the group's caustic pen. More »

13th Annual EVVY Awards Receives 38 Nominees From Outskirts Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

38 officially nominated books by print-on-demand publisher Outskirts Press demonstrate publishing quality for 2007 EVVY Awards, held by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association.

Outskirts Press Officially Nominates 38 Published Books for 13th Annual EVVY Awards

March 15, 2007. Denver, Colorado – Of the approximately 800 books published by Colorado publisher Outskirts Press in 2006, less than 5% are nominated to participate in the prestigious EVVY Awards, an annual independent book award contest sponsored by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. An Outskirts Press official Nomination is high recognition of a book’s excellence in its own right and is the first step toward winning a coveted EVVY Award.

Last year, Outskirts Press took home 8 awards, more than any other publisher, including first place awards in the inspirational/self-help category for Enough Already! and in the autobiography/memoirs category for Adios, Havana.

“Like the college student who earns a diploma for finishing at the top of his class, Adios, Havana [was] catapulted from the slush pile to the pinnacle of memoirs by winning a prestigious EVVY award,” states Andrew J. Rodriguez, award-winning author of Adios, Havana. “This tribute is my best credential to access audiences otherwise impossible to reach by a self-published author.”

In its 13th year, the 2007 EVVY Awards are being held by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association to recognize excellence in self-published and independently published books. Entries are judged by a panel of independent judges who are experts and professionals in their respective category fields.

Categories include autobiography/memoirs, biography/history, business/finance, fiction, how-to, inspirational/self-help, juvenile, non-fiction experiences, poetry, political/social, spirituality/religion, and travel. Outskirts Press nominated at least two books for each of the categories mentioned above and in 2007 hopes to demonstrate once again that on-demand publishing can be synonymous with quality publishing.

“Outskirts Press was our most winning publisher at the 2006 CIPA EVVY Awards,” says Lydia Griffin, Chair, 2006 EVVY Awards and CIPA President, 2006-2007. “Each unique title was praised by the judges for being well-written, interesting to read, and with a competitive, quality design. We can’t wait to see what Outskirts submits next!”

The 2007 Outskirts Press official nominees were announced in a recent email newsletter at http://outskirtspress.com/newsletters/012007.htm and the winners will be recognized and awarded during the CIPA College and EVVY Awards Gala on Friday night, March 23rd, at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver, Colorado.

About Outskirts Press

Located in Parker, Colorado on the outskirts of Denver and online at www.outskirtspress.com, Outskirts Press, Inc. publishes high-quality paperback and hardback books for individual writers as well as businesses on an as-needed, on-demand basis. Through its turn-key, customized book publishing services, Outskirts Press offers unprecedented power to the author, including creative control and pricing authority.

New consulting, writing, speaking, publishing website

My personal website at www.BrentSampson.com has now officially gone up. Well, it's not a personal website, per se, but more of a professional one, personally.

Writer’s Digest Partners with Outskirts Press for Writing Competition Publication

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

High-quality on-demand publisher Outskirts Press will sponsor and publish the 76th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Contest Collection for F&W Publications, Inc.

Writer’s Digest Partners with Outskirts Press for Writing Competition Publication

March 5, 2007. Denver, Colorado and Cincinnati, Ohio – F & W Publications, Inc. and Outskirts Press, Inc. jointly announced their continuing partnership focusing on Writer’s Digest’s most established writing competition. The 76th Annual Writing Competition Collection will be published by Outskirts Press and made available for retail and wholesale distribution in November of 2007. Outskirts Press previously published the 75th and 74th Annual editions.

“Outskirts Press is excited to continue our publishing partnership with Writer’s Digest,” states CEO Brent Sampson. “Not only is Writer’s Digest the premier writing magazine, but these publications showcase the quality that Outskirts Press is famous for. This partnership demonstrates on-demand publishing’s business-to-business applicability and simultaneously enables us to demonstrate the advantages to our target audience – writers.”
By publishing through Outskirts Press, F & W Publications can re-open additional revenue streams and promotional opportunities. The archived annual compilations require no warehouse space and no inventory management. Plus, writers published in the collection will never be out of print again.

About Writer’s Digest

Writer’s Digest, the world’s leading magazine for writers, is published by F+W Publications, Inc., one of the world’s largest publishers of books and magazines for enthusiasts. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, F+W employs approximately 1,000 associates worldwide and operates offices in Devon (England), Boston, Denver, New York City, Savannah, Herndon (Virginia) and Iola (Wisconsin). The Company’s publications target hobbyists and enthusiasts in categories such as writing, fine art, equestrian, genealogy, crafts, antiques, various collectibles, coins and the outdoors.

About Outskirts Press

Located in Parker, Colorado on the outskirts of Denver and online at www.outskirtspress.com, Outskirts Press, Inc. publishes high-quality paperback and hardback books for individual writers as well as businesses on an as-needed, on-demand basis. Through its turn-key, customized book publishing services, Outskirts Press offers unprecedented power to the author, including creative control and pricing authority.

PRINT ON DEMAND PUBLISHERS ANSWER GORE’S PLEA FOR CONSERVATION

In the wake of the Academy Awards, print-on-demand publishers follow Al Gore’s lead to protect and conserve Earth’s natural resources by featuring no-waste, no-inventory printing with post-consumer, recycled paper options.

Small Press Month runs from March 1 through 31 and is an annual celebration of the innovative spirit of small, independent, and alternative publishers. Their spirit soars in the face of controversy and stigma exaggerated by conglomerate, traditional publishers in New York who do not like what small presses, independent publishers, and print-on-demand companies represent for the more traditional publishing business model. One thing print-on-demand publishers do represent is conservationism.

Unlike traditional publishers who print 50,000 copies of a book only to destroy 40%-60% of them on average, print-on-demand publishing companies use technological advances in digital printing and electronic distribution to produce one book at a time. Books are printed only after they are purchased, only after there is a need.
“The magnitude of waste within the traditional publishing business is astronomical,” says on-demand publisher Brent Sampson, president and CEO of Outskirts Press, Inc. “It is no longer an inconvenient truth but rather an out-and-out fact. Earth cannot continue to weather this storm. All industries must find ways to conserve and recycle. For the publishing industry, the best way to do that is to not print books that have not already been bought.”

While there are no hard and accurate numbers to determine the number of trees involved in an average Random House failure, it can be roughly estimated that 500 sheets of 8.5x11 paper requires about 5% of an average tree. With the common hardback page count in the 500-700 page range, 5% of a tree doesn’t last long within a 50,000 print-run. Books that are not quickly sold at full retail prices are remaindered and discounted up to 75% off before being returned to the corporate publishers, who subsequently destroy them. Returns on some traditionally published books reach 70%.

On the other hand, print-on-demand publishers like Outskirts Press employ conservation tactics wherever possible. Books are printed when they are demanded by the consumer. Additionally, the most common book sizes feature recycled paper.

“Our most popular sizes are 5x8, 5.5x8.5, and 6x9,” Brent Sampson states. “The paper used to print books in these common sizes are post-consumer, featuring 30% recycled materials. Not only do we avoid print-runs that may be unnecessarily high, we are cognizant of opportunities to conserve even within the normal course of business.”

It has been estimated that approximately 7 trees are conserved for every ton of 30% postconsumer paper used.

ABOUT OUTSKIRTS PRESS

Located in Parker, Colorado on the outskirts of Denver and online at www.outskirtspress.com, Outskirts Press, Inc. publishes high-quality paperback and hardback books for individual writers as well as businesses on an as-needed, on-demand basis. Through its turn-key, customized book publishing services, Outskirts Press offers unprecedented power to the author, including creative control and pricing authority.