July 18, 2009 – University Club, San Francisco

INSTOCK, a conference for book self publishers, will include panels covering a variety of publishing and publicity topics. Panelists will include self publishers, marketing professionals, and executives from the traditional publishing industry.

Panels will address:

• Marketing your book
• Selecting a POD or printing house
• Finding your audience
• Publicity tactics
• Pricing your product

… and more.

Panelists will include successful self publishers, marketing pros, executives from the traditional publishing industry and others who will get you thinking strategically about your books.

For more information visit:
http://www.instockconference.com/

August 22, 2009 – Exposition Park Intergenerational Community Center, Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Black Book Expo 2009 will host a full day of activity at the Exposition Park Intergenerational Community Center, which will feature authors, storytellers, spoken word and poetry performances, musicians, exhibitors, children’s book authors, emerging writers, publishers, booksellers, panel discussions, editors, book reviewers, and others. 

Learn more >>

The Santa Fe Trail Creative Arts Guild, dba Creative Arts Council, is accepting applications for the 2010 Annual Self Published Fiction Book Awards. The competition is open to self-published fictional books that were published or revised and reprinted between 2000 and 2009. All book submissions must be published in English.

The grand-prize winner will receive $500 and a personalized plaque. Entrants to previous contests are welcome to submit again. The first place winner will receive $100 and a notable award certificate.

All entries must be postmarked no later than November 30, 2009. Winners will be notified April 1, 2010.

Deadline for entry: November 30, 2009

Links & Downloads:

For guidelines and an entry form, visit Creative Arts Council.

Web site (URL): http://www.creativeartscouncil.org/

Shelfari would like to congratulate the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Finalists. Three finalists have been selected from among several thousand qualified writers in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest searching for the next popular novel, sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc., Penguin Group (USA), and Createspace.

Find out more about the three finalists, read short excerpts of each manuscript, and recommend your favorite to other Shelfari members by visiting the Author Pages located below. Reviews from the expert panel (including Sue Monk Kidd and Sue Grafton) are available at www.amazon.com/abna.

Voting is open until Thursday May 21^st at 11:59 PM EDT. Make sure to cast your vote for the Grand Prize winner at www.amazon.com/abna.

The 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Finalists are:

	Ian Gibson, Victoria BC, for Stuff of Legends The author, who works at a theatre in British Columbia, developed the characters in this novel from a comic strip he created in 2003. Stuff of Legends is a comic fantasy about heroism and celebrity, where a 15-year-old boy’s fondest wish is granted and he is teamed with his idol, superhero Jordan the Red, to defeat villains, monsters and demonic armies.
	James King, Wilton CT, for Bill Warrington’s Last Chance A corporate communication specialist for the past 20 years, the author earned his master’s degree in Creative Writing in 2008 as a way to achieve his lifelong goal of writing fiction. In the novel, Bill Warrington is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and decides it’s time to reestablish ties with his estranged children. After several attempts at a reunion fail, he decides the only way to get his feuding sons and daughter talking is to kidnap his 15-year-old granddaughter.
	Brandi Lynn Ryder, Napa CA, for In Malice, Quite Close A Napa resident who grew up in the gold-mining town of Sonora, the author draws inspiration for her novel from her passions for Impressionist art and French culture. The novel opens in 1979 San Francisco, where an unlikely relationship forms between 15-year-old Karen, who longs to escape her abusive father, and wealthy art collector Tristan Mourault. Tristan gains Karen’s trust and she soon adopts a new identity as his daughter, sending the two on an extraordinary odyssey that spans 15 years and two coasts.