The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest International awards program for indie authors and independent publishers. They have awarded my book and plush set, The Rescue of Eddie & Elliott, a First Place award in 'Gifts' , and a Finalist in Children's/Juvenile Non-Fiction. In its eighteenth year of operation, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards was established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 80+ different categories, for the year, and is presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen Literary Agency (formerly the Allen O'Shea Literary Agency).
I would have been thrilled to even get to be a finalist but to win First place in one category and be a Finalist in the other is mind blowing to me. This award will surely change my life yet again, add visibility on an international scale, and it helps validate the feel good and educational value of this project. I will continue to go to schools and organizations to present and educate students and adults alike.
When I first took the pictures of this rescue in 2019 in Sequim, I knew they were going to change my world. And wow did they ever! Scholastic Magazine, The Dodo, The Bored Panda, and all kinds of other TV news and media outlets around the world shared the images and interviews with me, and ran with the story. Five years later, if you Google Eagles or Eaglets my images are the in the first set you will see! Pretty cool!
I actually wrote the book in December of 2019, but trying to get it into a printable format eluded me, in spite of my efforts to figure it out, while doing all my other many business lines and my day job at the time. Finally, in 2023 I hired Bookhouse Publishing out of Bellingham to help me as a contractor, to format, edit, and help me arrange printing. Melissa Coffman was amazing to work with, and I could not have done this without her. And huge thanks to Shelly Ament, a biologist with the WDFW, for providing the facts for the second half of the book called Fun Facts About Bald Eagles. At the same time I was going back and forth with 2 factories to produce the plush toys, trying to get exact replicas of what they looked like. It took a year, and many hours, but I am so pleased with their final product!
I could have found a publisher to do this project for me, but in doing so I would have given creative control to them, but I was not willing to waiver on my vision and dream of how this information would be shared and experienced. It is also why I only sell these as a book and plush set, as I want children, and adults, to enjoy them together. So glad I stayed focused on my vision! This book laying on your coffee table will get noticed and picked up by every guest that sees the picture on the cover. This is a fact! You can order direct from my web site, or pick up in one of the retailers here on the Olympic Peninsula. Email me at keith@keithsframeofmind.com for retailer locations or contact me through my web site. Be sure to Like my facebook page at www.facebook.com/keithsframeofmind or follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/keithsframeofmind/
Comments