FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOOK PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS HONORED FOR PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE

HIGHLAND CITY, FL – September 17, 2007 – On Saturday, September 15, 2007 the Florida Publishers Association (FPA) presented its 2007 President’s Book Awards to publisher and author members whose books were chosen as the best in 14 different categories.

FPA president Frank Gromling, owner of Ocean Publishing, Flagler Beach, FL, was the master of ceremonies for the President’s Book Awards Luncheon at the Marriott North Hotel, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Keynote speaker was Sara Nelson, Editor-in-Chief at Publishers Weekly, who spoke about current trends in book publishing.

The awards program was part of the two-day FPA Publishing Ed-U-Conference during which participants attended presentations and panels conducted by industry professionals, including representatives from Publishers Weekly, Lightning Source, United Graphics, DreamTime Publishing, and RES Marketing Alliance. A tour of the printing facilities of HCI Books, publishers of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, was conducted on Friday afternoon prior to a welcome reception sponsored by Publishers Weekly.

From the many books submitted to this annual contest for FPA members, independent judges selected winners in the following categories:

Best Adult Nonfiction (tie) --

The Man Who Fed the World by Leon Hesser (Naples, FL)

Here to There: Grief to Peace by Diana Jacks, Ph.D. (Quality of Life Publishing Co., Naples, FL)

Best Adult Fiction -- Coming Home by Cissy Hassell (RoseHeart Publishing, Gainesville, FL)

Best Interior Design -- Florida: Beyond the Blue Horizon by Alan S. Maltz (Light Flight Productions, Key West, FL)

Best Cover Design -- Ancient City Treasures by Wayne Randy Cribbs (OCRS, Jacksonville, FL)

Best Business Book -- The Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate Handbook by Frankie Orlando (Atlantic Publishing, Ocala, FL)

Best Florida Book for Adults -- Florida: Beyond the Blue Horizon by Alan S. Maltz (Light Flight Productions, Key West, FL)Best Poetry -- Ancient City Treasures by Wayne Randy Cribbs (OCRS, Jacksonville, FL)

-#-Best Children's Book -- If a Dolphin Were a Fish by Loran Wlodarski, illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein (Sylvan Dell Publishing, Mount Pleasant, SC)

Best Florida Book for Children -- Bowlegs' Bounty by Joseph Kropp (Day to Day Enterprises, Oviedo, FL)Best Juvenile Fiction -- The Secret of Squirrel Meadow by Marlin Houser (Marhouse Inc., Altamonte Springs, FL)

Best Young Adult Nonfiction -- Grandma's Magic Scissors by Linda S. Day (Day to Day Enterprises, Oviedo, FL)

Best Young Adult Fiction -- Inherited Journey by Lowell Teal (Windermere, FL)Best Overall Book -- The Secret of Squirrel Meadow by Marlin Houser (Marhouse Inc., Altamonte Springs, FL)President's Pick -- The Thief at Keswick Inn by Linda Salisbury (TabbyHouse, Mineral, VA)

In addition to a plaque commemorating their awards, all winning FPA members received a certificate and 1,000 President’s Book Awards gold foil labels for their book covers. This year’s winning publishers and authors came from Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Florida Publishers Association is a non-profit, statewide professional association of publishers, authors and others interested in book publishing in Florida. It conducts numerous educational conferences, seminars and workshops throughout Florida and is affiliated with PMA – the Independent Book Publishers Association, the American Association of Publishers, Small Publishers Association of North America, Florida Library Association, and the Florida Center for the Book.

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For more information or contacts for winners:

Betsy Wright-Lampe

FPAbooks@aol.com

863-647-5951

www.flbookpub.org