Contact:

Judith Briles

Judith@Briles.com

303-885-2207

Colorado Authors Win

the Grand Prize

in the Draft to Dream Book Competition

DENVER, CO., May 19, 2015 — Four Colorado authors have won the Grand Prize totaling $10,000 each in their categories at the first annual Draft to Dream Book Competition sponsored by AuthorU.org and announced at the AuthorU Extravaganza held May 7-9, 2015 at the Renaissance Denver Hotel. Five finalists were selected in each category with prizes valued at $1,000 each.

The four categories included Children's, Young Adult – Juvenile, Fiction and Nonfiction and were judged by members of the Colorado Library Association. Winning the Grand Prize for Children's' was Timothy Madden of Broomfield for his book titled Bumzlee the Bee; Stephanie Parriott of Westminster in Young Adult – Juvenile for An Ordinary Princess; Julie Griffin of Aurora in Fiction for Elephant Eyes; and Tony Oliver of Denver in Nonfiction for Whittle Sticks.

 

Their prizes included editing, book cover design, interior layout, eBook creation, advanced reader copies, national distribution, virtual assistance, ISBNs, multiple webinars designed exclusively for them and their books, access to significant book printing discounts, publicity campaign, book launch, an author photo shoot, national library campaign, entry fees to national book awards, one year membership in AuthorU.org, full registration at the AuthorU annual Extravaganza, author and book platform strategy session and much more. What each winner walked away with was a funded crowdfunding campaign to complete the production of his or her book coupled with extensive marketing guidance.

Participants submitted a "draft" of their book manuscript which was forwarded to librarians across the State. Judged on literary merit, general appeal and originality, the critical areas of creativity, development and impact were rated. Each judge was also asked if she or he would recommend the finished book to be added to their library collections.

Dr. Judith Briles, CEO of AuthorU.org says, "AuthorU.org creates community, education, guidance, vision and success for the author who wants to be seriously successful. The Draft to Dream Book Publishing Contest became the tipping point to realize a budding author's dream and to make his or book a reality. The Colorado librarians were the perfect fit. Their thoughtful comments and encouragement on all the judging forms was an added bonus for each author-to-be to receive."

More about the Book Competition:

Manuscripts could not be published in any format prior to submission. Each author submitted five copies of their manuscript in a Word document that meant margin and specific specifics from November through January. The 24 finalists were notified in March of their status. Many were present for the AuthorU Extravaganza which was included in their prize.

###

Journalists and Bloggers:

Judith Briles can provide background, commentary and story ideas related to writing, book publishing and professional speaking. She responds quickly to interview requests. Call 303-885-2207 (cell), 303-627-9179 (land) or email Judith@Briles.com.

Weekly, she hosts the AuthorU - Your Guide to Book Publishing with over 180,000 podcast downloads monthly at bit.ly@AuthorURadio. As the author of 33 books, both traditionally and indie published, she knows publishing and speaks frequently throughout the United States.

The AuthorU.org community has over 10,000 members globally.