Category Archives: Writing Contests

Hip, Hip Hooray! An IPPY!

Leave a comment

“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.” ~ Colin Powell 

It’s shout out loud day! We are sending our congratulations to our client, Mike Campbell of Iffenwen Publishing for winning an IPPY Award in the Aging/Death and Dying category for his book When Mom and Dad Need Help. For more information on this book, please visit http://bit.ly/9CxyII or http://bit.ly/iSzqLz. Mike’s publication was also finalist in the Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards in the Family and Relationship Category. Great job, Mike! 

A few months ago, we also featured on this blog site another 2011 IPPY award-winning author, Paul Wainwright and his photographic book A Space for Faith. If you did not get a chance to read about Paul’s book, please visit two blogs entitled All For the People http://bit.ly/fbMoWc and the blog entitled All for Tourism http://bit.ly/fCuZV0.  

What is an IPPY Award? The IPPY Awards are open to independent authors and publishers worldwide. The awards are given to independently owned and operated presses that sell to the North American market. University Presses or publishing  presses operated by foundations, publishing less than 50 titles per year are also included.

Books in many, many genres and categories are awarded “the IPPY” for excellence in independent publishing. Tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling, we will be featuring more 2011 award-winning IPPY book titles that, I think, viewers of this website will find of particular interest. Come on back!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

She Writes Steamboat

2 Comments

“We can begin by doing small things at the local level… like looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place …from many local actions occurring simultaneously.” ~  Grace Lee Boggs 

One of the very best ways to build business is through networking – building communities of like-minded people! This applies to building independent publishing businesses, too. Self-publishing authors, micro-presses and small presses, do not have some of the benefits and the marketing advantages of traditional publishing conglomerates at their dispose. Therefore, it is important to join independent publishing trade associations and writers guilds. Cooperative efforts can be very effective in supporting the non-traditional publisher.

What self-publishing authors, micro-presses and small presses do have, to their advantage, is the flexibility of doing business any way they see fit. Many decide to independently publish for this very reason.  Publishers who go the independent route are fulfilling a need by providing unique publications that readers are looking for. Non-traditional publishers often opt for tactics of selling and marketing their books that traditional publishers may reject. 

There is a new networking group called She Writes www.shewrites.com  being established inSteamboat Springs, Colorado. This meet-up group’s goal is to heighten awareness of independent publishing projects that creatives in Steamboat Springs and the surrounding Routt County are engaged in and to support those efforts. Anyone who is starting or is in the process of independently publishing a book, film, music or other media can attend. 

She Writes Steamboat’s first objective is to establish a time and a regular place to meet and to connect with those in the community who would like to collaborate and network with other independent-minded publishing folks. In the coming weeks, more information will be available on our first gathering. Keep your eyes open to future blog posts on All Things Fulfilling about the She Writes Steamboat Meet-up group. Excitement is in the air!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Feeding Minds through Film

2 Comments

“In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.” ~ Henri Frederic Amiel

As predicted, the LunaFest,® on Friday night at the Bud Werner Library, www.steamboatlibrary.org had a fulfilling line-up of short films that were screened. Once I arrived at the film festival, I became aware that the LunaFest® is sponsored by LunaBars® –snack bars that are power-packed with vitamins and minerals that meet the needs of all women, and especially women on the go. “What woman is not on the go,” may I ask? 

Out of the 10 “shorts” that were shown, it is difficult to say which was my favorite. Each film had it’s own merits and an important issue that was brought to the fore. The producers and directors of the films were women from a diversity of countries and cultures. Americans, Brits, Israelis and Canadians were among the mix. The following is a list of films that were screened, and my interpretation of the issue that was highlighted in each film: 

  • The Translator – Communication between men & women.
  • Getting A Grip – Women competing in what is thought to be a man’s world.
  • Touch –  Guardian angels that appear in women’s lives.
  • Tightly Knit – Building community around common interests.
  • Top Spin – Women finding balance in their lives.
  • Thembi’s Diary – Global health issues (this film was artistically creative in how it incorporated textures and patterns with animation).
  • Mother of Many – Women’s health and parenting.
  • Irene – Adult children caring for aging parents.
  • Miracle Lady – Hope, life’s journey, enduring love
  • Love on the Line – Relationships and attraction. 

Each screenwriter, producer and director deserves to be recognized for having created a high-quality film that was chosen to be included in this festival. LunaBars®, a division of Clif Bar and Company http://bit.ly/fCXGKW is to be congratulated for their healthy alternative snack products and for the company’s vision of  raising money for breast cancer, through the power of film. This union between the corporate world and artistic expression, through filmmaking,  is an excellent example of bringing creative, effective marketing to the public and adding value to lives.

This blog brought to you by www.CornestoneFulfillmentService.com.

Writing Quality Children’s Books

1 Comment

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”~ B.B. King 

Attention children’s book authors, illustrators and publishers! There is an organization that offers consultation and critique of unpublished manuscripts to help you publish a quality finished product. The American Children’s Book Society fulfills their mission to help produce and market “superior and meaningful children’s books.”  Their services include:

  • Critique program
  • Book Review program
  • “A” Rating program
  • Consulting and Coaching 

By working with the American Children’s Book Society, Inc.  http://www.americanchildrensbooksociety.com/  your book will be reviewed for quality content, perhaps giving you an inroad to selling to schools and libraries. Because your book has been critiqued by the American Book Society, you will also have the advantage of entering your book into the annual “Scooter Awards” and the possibility of earning an “A” rank in their rating program. 

The panel of judges on the American Children’s Book Society, Inc. looks for compliance with all CPSIA regulations and rules including quality of design, suitability of content, presentation and pricing for retail markets. For all first-time authors/publishers who are unfamiliar with standards in children’s book compliance, this organization provides excellent services and gives you the tools to provide a quality children’s book to the industry.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Protecting against the Elements

2 Comments

“Every day may not be good, but there’s some thing good in every day.”   ~Author Unknown

It was inevitable. After months of watching 320+ inches of snow fall from the sky and fulfill it’s need to coat everything from roads to houses, to mountaintops, to cars, to animals, to trees, to rivers and every other surface within its reach, including me, I have begun to see only what can be described as disparate shades of white. I have forgotten what shades of glorious green, fun-loving fuchsia, perky periwinkle, luscious lemon yellow, outrageous orange and lady-like lavender even look like. Not even a hue of  tawny-tan is in sight. Pitiful! 

Every time I go to my computer and pull up a new Word Document to begin to compose my blog of the day all I see is white, white and more white! What is a blogger to do? All the colors of my life have gone into hiding, my creativity has vanished. There is no hope for beautiful, rhythmic prose for this day. Can’t even think of a single metaphor for how I am feeling. As I start to read what I have written, the alliteration seems to be all wrong.  I could try using a little hyperbole to get me started but I can’t even think what that is. There is not even an oxymoron in sight to help me out.  

All I see is a world devoid of color – just more white. Thirty-five years of living in snow country gets to me, big time, by this time of year. It happens by the end of February, when winter is at war with my psyche. It becomes a real sad state of affairs. It is the only time I wish my life away with thoughts of retiring to tropical climates where all the colors of the rainbow can be seen in beautiful flowers, birds and oceans filled with aquas, ultra-marines, royal blues and indigos to carry me away. 

I can’t let the winter doldrums get me down! I am going to rebel, and take charge of my own situation. Music is said to open up our unconscious mind. There has got to be beautiful images and words of color somewhere back there in the recesses of my mind. Perhaps if I open up my musical first aid kit the images will spring forth and shake me from the winter writing blues. Some swear by Mozart for his arrangement of musical notes, other writers attest to the powers of writing to light jazz. Classical movie scores are always fun or a little boogie-woogie might add some light-heartedness to my day. I’m staying away from country cowboys singing of broken hearts and stolen love, I’ll tell you that right now. That will only make things worse!  

I can take no more white anything! I don’t care that each snowflake has it’s own unique shape, one more beautiful than the next! March is just around the corner, so I’ll gladly accept no more snow! And no more white Word Document pages and no more white sound! I’ve got to keep telling myself that all things vanilla will pass – they always do.

Whew – I feel better. That took a lot of effort – for someone who didn’t have a thing to say this day – somehow, 536 words spewed forth.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Laugh

Leave a comment

“Laughter is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one place.”  ~Josh Billings 

The nation and many individual states choose a deserving poet to be honored with the Poet Laureate Award each year. The Vermont Council on the Arts has just announced they will be honoring their very first Cartoonist Laureate on March 10, 2011. http://bit.ly/gftNdx. It is the second state, behind Alaska, to grant this kind of award. Chosen for the child-like intensity to his work, native Vermonter James Kochalka will been given the award. He is the illustrator of the comic strip American Elf and a number of graphic novels. It is not surprising that Vermont has decided to present a deserving funny-man or woman with the Cartoonist Laureate award each year. The state of Vermont has the distinction of  fulfilling the need for a Center for Cartoon Studies. www.cartonstudies.org. 

 I personally love a daily little chuckle but what I really like is to roar out loud until the tears come to my eyes and roll down my cheeks. Everyone knows that a laugh like that can sometimes hurt our bellies, but it is oh so fulfilling and worth it. The best is when I can share that kind of laughter with my twin sister. Wow – can we get going! It is often difficult to stop. Often the humor is only understood by the two of us. Others, they just don’t get it because it can be over the silliest things. In good times and in bad times, who can’t use a little laugh each and every day? It is good for our hearts. This I whole-heartedly believe! To read about a study from the University of Maryland on the health benefits of laughter, please go to http://bit.ly/qTtai. 

Just listening to the news each day and hearing the politicking is enough to make one laugh, no matter what your political persuasion happens to be. Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike, often resort to child-like behaviors just to get their way. We could probably hold a debate as to whether it is even necessary to have a Cartoonist Laureate award. But there are too many debates already going on in this country, why add one more?

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Dwell in Possibility – Move Forward in Surety

Leave a comment

“We all have possibilities we don’t know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.” ~ Dale Carnegie

Yesterday, I had another opportunity to share with others my love and my passion for the independent (or non-traditional) publishing industry. I shared with the group that what began as my vision of providing stellar customer service for the internet sales of a single art book became a business of my own, dedicated to providing affordable e-commerce and e-marketing services for an industry of independent publishers. It has been from the beginning, my wish for independent publishers to be able to survive, as a sustainable industry, because I believe in the powers of independent thoughts, words and views that our country allows under it’s Constitution.

After the presentation, I began to think what an appropriate place to hold the event! In a library constructed with sustainable building materials and filled with the published works of writers, filmmakers and musicians who dared to step out and take a risk of telling their stories for the benefit of others. This is the basis from which many successful small businesses are formed. Successful business owners have passion, vision, belief and enduring energy that their product and service with be useful to others. And it is the customers and clients that endorse, sustain and support the dreams of the business owners that make them profitable. It truly is the American way.

Thanks to all who came, and I wish you the best in your journey of fulfilling your dreams in business and in publishing!  Thanks to the Bud Werner Library for providing a beautiful, light-filled space for those who gathered to learn more about what I see as a fascinating, fast growing, sustainable industry. www.steamboatlibrary.org.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

From a Personal Perspective

Leave a comment

“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your  heart in it, take yourself out of it.” ~ Unknown

Although I took last week off from the blogging world, make no mistake, I was still working hard. I spent my time reading and writing and ciphering, in preparation for the New Year as a business owner offering e-commerce and e-marketing services to those who have chosen a path of fulfilling their lives by combining business and the arts.

The arts is a big, broad term that in my opinion includes those persons who have made it an art to live according to what they believe to be true and right and good. There are those who practice the art of excellence in customer service, work in the healing arts, the art of design, the art of creating beautiful spaces and faces,  the art of spirituality, the art of working in a capacity for the betterment of this world, not even to mention the stereotypical artists – writers, filmmakers, musicians, photographers, visual artists and performing arts, to name a few.

As I meandered through the aisles of the library last week, I came across a book in the inspirational section called “This I Believe.”  www.thisibelieve.org.  Each essay is a proclamation from an individual who has a unique perspective on what they believe to be true in their lives. Each statement offers a personal “raison d’etre.” They are acknowledgements of what fulfills each individual with hope and makes sense of their world, no matter what their history or mission in life has been.

The end of the book challenges each reader to write their own 350-500 word narrative based on a “This I Believe” statement. For people who are driven by their passions in their work, this task should be a breeze! For me, as a business owner, it is!  My own personal statement is what makes me rise to and enjoy the challenges each and every day.

In the interest of keeping this blog short and not too laborious to read, I will state my “This I Believe” briefly. “I believe those who use their passions in their work, live the most fulfilling lives. I believe, as a business owner, that by serving others, so that our clients can focus on what they do best, this world will be a better place.”

Write your own “This I Believe” statement now! It will bring to light to your core values and it will drive you to do your best each and every day.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Books to Film

Leave a comment

“Everyday, things change for me…you make the necessary adaptations.”  ~ Craig Thomas 

I went on a quest today to fulfill my need for information about how many books are adapted into films each year? So, it’s time for all of you to guesstimate what I found out! 

According to one source, Variety Magazine, market conditions have reduced the number of literary adaptations from books to film in recent years. Approximately 30 books are adapted by major film production studios for screen each year. A small number, given the large number of books that are published each year! To see a list of books that were adapted for cinema release in 2010, see this article. http://www.chasingthefrog.com/moviebooks.htm. 

Slated for novel to cinema adaptation in 2011, is a film that I can not wait to see. The novel “Water for Elephants” was one of my most memorable reads in recent years and I look forward to seeing how the cinema version of the story compares. I flat out loved the book! It is being adapted for film along with several other popular literary works. Wondering what other popular literary works are scheduled for upcoming film release in the New Year? Visit http://amzn.to/93TjmI to take a sneak peak. 

In order to turn a novel into a successful cinematic release, all the right elements must be there. Are you interested in learning more about how to get your book turned into a film, please visit http://bit.ly/9TzhzP.

 If anyone out there has inside information about what else we can look forward to seeing in theatres in 2011, we would love to hear from you, if it is not top-secret information.  Perhaps in 2011, I’ll see you at the theatre – I’ll buy the popcorn if you save me a seat!

 

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Novel Writing Challenge

Leave a comment

“The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.  ~André Gide,

Heads up, novelists! November is National Novel Writing Month. Do you have what it takes to beat the challenge and fulfill the goals of  “thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon?” 50,000 words (175 pages) in 30 days is the goal and NaNoWriMo will have novelists all over the world participating in this fun literary challenge. 

Do not procrastinate, do not stall, write your heart out and win, above all!

 What’s this I read?

  • Worry, not about content, only quantity?
  • Allow your work to be unedited?
  • Write wrecklessly? Scary!
  • No writing experience needed?
  • Kids can participate in their own challenge! 

Join in this on-line writing challenge! For more information, please visit: http://www.nanowrimo.org/