Entries Tagged 'Award Winning Book Covers' ↓

Sam & Emily: A Romance from the Underground

The sequels to The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy are on the way! If you haven’t discovered The Tales from Earth’s End Series, you have a treat in store.

The Tales from Earth’s End Series introduces characters pushed to their greatest extremity––to the end of the planet and their own lives. The people of Earth’s End must cope with nuclear holocaust, survive on a planet reduced to prehistoric standards, and  adjust to life in an underground tomb––the bomb shelter on the Piermont estate. And you were thinking life is rough!

The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy shows a group of people attempting to escape a nuclear holocaust in a ruined future world. It’s part teen romance and part coming of age story, with overtones of 1984. It’s won two national awards in visionary fiction, another in new age fiction & still another in fantasy/sci-fi.

The second sequel, Sam & Emily, is a love story involving two characters from The Angel. It’s an epic romance that takes place in the Piermont Estate’s underground bomb shelter after the nuclear bombs have gone off. Sam & Emily can’t escape a passion that lasts a lifetime. This book sizzles.

All three books have a transcendent, looking-for-a-better-world quality. The protagonists are pitted against horrific difficulties. They’re thrillers and well as visionary fiction.

A future world only heartbeats from our own

WAAAA-HOOO! Just received notification that my new sci-fi /fantasy / visionary fiction novel, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy has won the 2011 IPPY (Independent Publisher) GOLD MEDAL FOR VISIONARY FICTION! (Category 20) This is such a thrill! The IPPY Award Contest is one of the largest and oldest competitions for independent presses––in fact, it may be the oldest and largest. Winning is a big deal, and I’m thrilled and honored and excited. I’m going to tell you about it and then go out and crank up the rock ‘n’ roll!

This award feels very good. It marks almost four years of work by myself and my publishing team at Vilasa Press. I want to thank my content editor, Melanie Rigney; my book designer, Lewis Agell; and Kathy Grow and Kathryn Agrell for copy editing and proofreading assistance. Many thanks also to my husband, Barry Nathan for keeping Vilasa Press organized and moving forward.

This is a crazy day. I have been grieving deeply that last few weeks. We had to put my horse down yesterday. His heart was failing and nothing the veterinarians could do could stop it. I tell you, I thought my heart would fail when I lost that beautiful buckskin horse. Here’s his story, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. Teco’s story has already won a the 2011 Silver Nautilus Award for Children’s Nonfiction (grade 1-6) in its own right.

And today, I won a national award. I guess that God’s just telling me that it’s not over until it’s over. And that happiness and sadness can exist together.

“If you haven’t read The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, I invite you to do so. It’s available in a number of formats.”

AMAZON:
Trade Paperback
Kindle 99 cents. Such a deal!

BARNES & NOBLE.COM
Trade Paperback
Nook Book 99 cents. Such a deal!

SONY READER BOOK
I’m told by my distributor that the book is available, but I couldn’t find it. Please keep checking. It should be 99 cents.

iBook
iBook store for the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad  99 cents. Yet another great deal for an award-winning book!

Here’s some information about The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, if the book is new to you:

The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is Sandy Nathan’s new science fiction/fantasy novel. Of the special genre of books and films that include 1984, A Brave New World, and The Prisoner Series,  The Angel takes the reader to a dark future world that’s not so different from our own. In the late 22^nd century, people are continually watched, disappearing off the streets and from their homes. A shadowy but all-powerful government calls the shots; war rages while the authorities proclaim the Great Peace.

All is not bad in this fictional realm, for the angelic extraterrestrial, Eliana, appears on the streets on New York City on a mission to save her planet.  As radiant and pure as the world around her is tarnished, Eliana must find the Golden Boy. He turns out to be Jeremy Edgarton, a tech genius on a planet where technology is outlawed, a revolutionary, and the FBI’s most wanted. They find themselves caught up in an explosive adventure when Jeremy decodes new transmissions and discovers that a nuclear holocaust will take place the next morning.

The themes of The Angel read like pure sci-fi, but author Sandy Nathan explains, “I’m a former economist. While the love story between Jeremy and Eliana enchants, the back-story––the hideous world around them––is the product of my economist’s mind interacting with current events. We’re in the worst economic melt-down since the 1930’s, with no end in sight. Some events in  The Angel are based directly upon history. For instance, Germany’s economic distress during the Great Depression is one factor contributing to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Could a totalitarian government arise from our current conditions? Maybe.  The Angel’s world is just a heartbeat from our own. In writing  The Angel, I wanted to entertain my readers and challenge them to discover solutions.”

So the book has a vision, a powerful vision, and a dark vision. And it’s also got a love story that will melt your heart. And the sequel is well into production. I’ve been told it’s even better than The Angel.  Whoa. Something to look forward to.

What’s the rest of the news? It ain’t over yet. The 2011 IPPY AWARDS haven’t announced all of their winners, and the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards announce May 15th. The Best Books of 2011 by USA Book News doesn’t announce until September 2011.

So I may have more good news!

Sandy Nathan Ridin' High!

All the best,
Sandy Nathan

Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money

NUMENON (Book 1 of the Bloodsong Series) is an astonishing spiritual adventure. Critically acclaimed and beloved by readers, Numenon has now won FOUR NATIONAL AWARDS. (You can read about them below.)

ISN’T IT TIME THAT YOU READ NUMENON?

• If you have an Amazon Kindle, you can buy it for only .99 cents. (What a deal!)
• You can buy it as a paperback on Amazon, or as a 1st edition hardback. (Check those Amazon Reviews!)

You can also buy Numenon directly from Sandy Nathan’s website, and get great deals:

• The first edition, hardback Numenon is $18.95 on Sandy’s Web site. Your book will be signed by Sandy Nathan and can be inscribed any way you like. (Add a note on your Paypal or Google checkout indicating the inscription you’d like.)
  

• You can buy both of Sandy’s books for $29.95 with free shipping! These also will be signed by the author and inscribed to you or the recipient of the book.
  
• Remember: No shipping for purchases of two or more books from Vilasa Press. Contact Barry at Vilasa Press for details. barry@vilasapress.com

A message from Sandy Nathan:

“I’ve been thrilled and shocked and grateful this spring as the book contests announced their winners. Numenon won two more national awards in prestigious contests. All the information about Numenon’s wins is below. I’d like to invite you to read my book. I spent years writing it and fine-tuning it until it said what it was supposed to say. More years getting it published. Now you can reap the fruit of my work and read my book at your leisure.

“I’m hard at work rewriting, re-visioning, Mogollon, Numenon’s sequel. I think you’ll agree that the promise of Numenon is more than delivered in its sequel.

“I appreciate all of you who have purchased Numenon and given me such wonderful reviews. Please let your friends know about Numenon if you’re so moved. We authors need a boost, too!

“All the best on your journey,

Sandy Nathan

NUMENON’S BOOK CONTEST WINS:

Numenon, by Sandy Nathan, is a Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner!

In May 2009, Numenon won the 2009 SILVER NAUTILUS AWARD for INDIGENOUS/MULTICULTURAL FICTION. The Nautilus Award was established to “change the world one book at a time.” It is devoted to “Recognizing Books and Audio Books that Promote Spiritual Growth, Conscious Living, and Positive Social Change and stimulate the ‘imagination’ and inspire the reader to ‘new possibilities’ for a better world.” Previous Nautilus winners include: Deepak Chopra, M.D., Thich Nnat Hanh, Jean Houston, PhD., Eckhart Tolle, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Andrew Weil, M.D.

(The bestselling book, The Shack, was also a 2009 Silver Nautilus Award winner.)

INDEPENDENT PRESS SILVER MEDAL

NUMENON has just received a Silver Medal in the 2009 IPPY Awards, claiming its fourth national award. The “IPPY” Award is one of the oldest and largest book contests for independent presses. This year’s awards attracted 4,090 entries from throughout the U.S. and Canada, plus most English-speaking countries worldwide. Medal-winning books came from 44 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, eight Canadian provinces, and six countries overseas.

Book contest judges noticed Numenon before it was published. As an Advance Reading Copy (ARC or galley), Numenon WON in two contests:

THE BEST BOOKS OF 2007 AWARD in VISIONARY FICTION, USA Book News. The Best Book Award is a large, prestigious contest entered by the major publishers as well as independent presses.

THE 2007 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD in RELIGIOUS FICTION. The Indie Excellence contest stresses true excellence produced by independent presses.

THE NUMENON VIDEO:

"It May Be Forever" A beautiful cover by Lewis Agrell of The Agrell Group

I just posted an article about what makes book covers successful––i.e., so irresistible that the books inside them sell like crazy––on my blog for writers, YOUR SHELF LIFE. Lewis Agrell of The Agrell Group wrote the article and let me use his incredible cover designs to illustrate his points. Lewis designs custom book covers, interiors, and other materials (brochures, etc.) for publishers and self publishers.

The cover to the left is just one of the covers illustrating the article. Lewis writes about what makes a successful book cover offering concepts from psychology and human development. What makes a cover work––like sell the book it’s on? Beauty. Click the link and hop  over  to my other blog. Your Shelf Life: How Long Will You Last? Success & Sanity for Writers.

Just a head’s up for any of you looking for a book designer.

Sandy Nathan
Award winning author of Numenon and Stepping off the Edge.