News

SDWEG member Marla Anderson's science fiction novel NanoMorphosis has received a number of awards: 2018 B.R.A.G. Medallion, 2019 eLit Book Bronze Medal, 2019 IAN Book of the Year Finalist.

Congratulations, Marla!

What is indie B.R.A.G. and the indie B.R.A.G. medallion? The term “indie” refers to self-published books and B.R.A.G. is an acronym for Book Readers Appreciation Group. The name “indieBRAG” and the B.R.A.G. logos are trademarks of indieBRAG, LLC. The B.R.A.G. Medallion is a certification trademark owned and controlled by indieBRAG, LLC.

What are the eLit Awards? The annual eLit Awards are a global awards program committed to illuminating and honoring the very best of English language digital publishing entertainment.

The eLit Awards are an industry-wide, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the electronic publishing industry.

The contest is presented by Jenkins Group Inc., a Michigan-based book publishing and marketing services company that has operated the popular Independent Publisher Book Awards contest since 1996.

What is the IAN Award? The Independent Author Network (IAN) is a community of authors who are self published or published by a small indie press. IAN promotes and has supported indie authors since 2010 to more than 580,000 Twitter followers and 115,000 Facebook followers. 

One step in the marketing of your book should be entering competition for awards such as these for your marketplace. For more information about available awards for indie authors, see this article in IndieReader listing the top ten such award programs.

If you have received or submitted your work in competition for book awards, consider sharing your experience on the Guild's Discussion Board Forum for Book Awards. The Discussion Board is open to only SDWEG registered members. You must login to be able to contribute.

Marla L. Anderson

I am a writer of novel length fiction and short stories, concentrating mostly (but not exclusively) on science fiction. I also dabble in horror, suspense, fantasy, mainstream fiction and the occasional philosophical rant.

Yes, sometimes I stay in the real world, though it’s not nearly as much fun as the ones I can imagine.

I hope you will join me on my flights of fancy.

At the September Marketing Support Meeting, Wade Taylor, President of wsRadio.com, reported on two podcasts he completed with SDWEG member Jerry Strayve. The first includes an interview with Scott Paulson and Wade on publishing tips from Jerry. The second is a reading from Jerry's novel, First Spouse of the United States.

J.R. Strayve, Jr. was born to a nomadic military family, attending nine schools before entering college. Following service in the United States Marine Corps, he raised a family. It is here that he discovered his talent for ”spinning tales,” regaling his young children with spontaneous bedtime stories. His passion for history spoke to him. He spoke back and wrote the epic historical novel, Braxton’s Century. He is currently working on the sequel to Braxton’s Century, (a planned  trilogy), Millennial Moguls Unhinged. He published the controversial novel, First Spouse of the United States, in March of 2019. A sequel is soon to follow.

J.R.'s Website

The San Diego Writers and Editors Guild observed our 40th anniversary on Saturday, September 14, at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse in San Diego.

The highlight of the event was the awarding of three Odin Awards to members of the San Diego literary community to recognize their body of work and their contributions to the wider San Diego community of writers. The awardees were Marc Chery, Charlotte Thompson, and Richard Lederer.

Richard Lederer, Charlotte Thompson, and Marc Chery, Odin Award recipients Judy Reeves

One of San Diego's writing legends and former Odin Award recipient, Judy Reeves, served as the master of ceremonies for the event. After providing a thoughtful presentation on the history of the Guild and the Odin Award, she highlighted the many remarkable achievements of each of the awardees in her introductory remarks.

Marc Chery modestly lists himself in his LinkedIn profile as Branch library management, community outreach, program planning, collection development, readers' advisory librarian at the San Diego Central Library. His impact on behalf of the San Diego writing community is much greater than that description implies. Marc is the man behind most of the presentations at the San Diego Central Library.

Marc was recognized as Black History Month Local Hero while he served as branch manager of the Malcolm X library, he has hosted panel discussions of local authors, and he plays a major role in the San Diego City Library's Local Author Showcase and in promoting the annual One Book, One San Diego selections.

Charlotte E. Thompson, M.D., is a board certified pediatrician. From 2005 to 2008, she was named each year as one of the nation's top pediatricians by the Consumer's Research Council of America. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at University of California Medical School in San Diego and the author of ten nonfiction books.

Dr. Richard Lederer is the author of more than 40 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling ANGUISHED ENGLISH series and his current books, AMERICAN TRIVIA, AMAZING WORDS, HILARIOUS HOLIDAY HUMOR, and THE BIG BOOK OF WORDPLAY CROSSWORDS. His works range from bloopers and puns to word origins and word games to pets and American history. He writes a weekly column for the San Diego Union Tribune, "Lederer on Language." He is the founding co-host of the syndicated program, "A Way With Words," presented each weekend on KPBS.