Military Writers Society of America Announces 2011 Book Award Winners

The Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) announces the winners of its 2011 book awards. The MWSA book awards recognize outstanding military-themed books in a wide range of categories from children to adult. The categories include fiction, non-fiction, spiritual/religious, individual service branches, poetry, business/how to, and others. Entries included books published by traditional, subsidy, self-published, and e-book formats.

Three authors received special recognition. Mike "Moon" Mullins received the 2011 Founder’s Award, the society’s highest honor, for Out of the Mist: Memories of War. Leila Levinson received the 2011 President’s Award for her book Gated Grief. Jack Woodville London is the first recipient of the organization’s new Author of the Year Award. London received the 2011 Author of the Year Award for his book French Letters. The William E. Mayer Award for Literary or Artistic Excellence went to Bonnie Bartel Latino for Christmas Whistles (Gold) and Jim Greenwald for False Honor (Silver).

In addition, Donald Farinacci was the winner of the Korean War Book Award for his history, Truman and MacArthur. MWSA, together with the Center for the Study of the Korean War, Our History Project, and Positively Pittsburg Live, was a co-sponsor of this special book award, which included a cash prize of $150, designed to raise awareness of the conflict known as the "Forgotten War."

"Out of the Mist was a labor of love," Mike Mullins said. "The men who let me interview them just blessed me. When I wrote it, I never thought about anything except preserving their history. I never thought what might come of it; it’s wonderful."

"This is the best day I’ve had since Gated Grief was published," Leila Levinson said. "I am really just humbled, and thrilled."

"I am absolutely stunned to be named Author of the Year," Jack W. London said. "I can’t think of a more flattering award. I did not see this coming at all."

"The annual Awards program is MWSA’s most important and exciting function. We focus on content, style, visual, and technique. Each year, more active military, veteran, and historians submit their work. Each year, the competition is more intense," says Joyce Faulkner, President of Military Writers Society of America, "and 2011 is no exception."

The Military Writers Society of America is an association of more than 800 authors, poets, artists, and photographers whose core principle is a love of the men and women who defend this nation, and an understanding and respect of their sacrifice and dedication.

MWSA 2011 Award Winners
Founder’s Award

Out of the Mist: Memories of Warby Mike "Moon" Mullins

 President’s AwardGated Grief
by Leila Levinson

 Author of the Year 2011French Letters: Engaged in War
by Jack Woodville London

 Korean War Book AwardGold Medal: Truman & MacArthur by Donald Farinacci
Silver Medal: War Remains
by Jeffrey Miller
Bronze Medal: The Untold Experiences
by C. Gilbert Lowery
Honorable Mention: Eddie & Bingo
by Kathleen & Katherine Taylor
1^st Runner Up: Chitose Road
by Robert S. Ruehrdanz

 William E. Mayer Award for Literary or Artistic ExcellenceGold Medal: Bonnie Bartel Latino for Christmas Whistles
Silver Medal:
Jim Greenwald for False Honor


Historical Fiction/EventGold Medal: Victory Road by Mark Bowlin
Silver Medal: David & the Mighty Eight
by Marjorie Hodgson Parker
Bronze Medal: Once a Knight
by Walt Shiel
Honorable Mention: Beyond Those Hills
by M.H.A. Menondji
1^st Runner Up The Corydon Snow
by Richard Whitten Barnes
2^nd Runner Up Look Long Into the Abyss
by A.R. Homer


Historical Fiction/ChronicleGold Medal: Shall Never See So Much by Gerald Gillis


Historical Fiction/ProtagonistGold Medal: For Love of Country by William C. Hammond


Fiction/MysteryGold Medal: Laos File by Dale A. Dye
Silver Medal; Loose Ends Kill
by Bob Doerr
Bronze Medal: I Know Why the Dogwoods
Blush by Bill Cain


Fiction/ThrillerGold Medal: The Mullahs Storm by Thomas W. Young
Silver Medal: Pirates & Cartels
by Lee & Vista Boyland
Bronze Medal: Project Dragonslayers
by Kathy Rowe



Fiction/LiteraryGold Medal: War Remains by Jeffrey Miller
Silver Medal: The Book in the Wall
by John F. Simpson


Non-Fiction/HistoryGold Medal: Keeping the Promise by Donna Elliott
Silver Medal: Lost Eagles
by Blaine L. Pardue
Bronze Medal: American Guerilla
by Mike Guardia
Honorable Mention: T-41 Mescalero: The Military Cessna 172
by Walt Shiel
1^st Runner Up Eisenhower & Montgomery
by William Weidner
2^nd Runner Up Targeted Killing
by Thomas B. Hunter


Non-Fiction/MemoirGold Medal: DAI Uy Hoch by David R. Hoch
Silver Medal: Lullabies for Lieutenants
by Franklin Cox
Bronze Medal: Wing Wife
by Marcia J. Sargent
Honorable Mention: We Came to Fight a War
by Jack Flynn & Alvin E. Kotler
1^st Runner Up: Life Interrupted by War
by Thomas van Hees
2^nd Runner Up: Earning My Wings
by Shirley Dobbins Forgan


Non-Fiction/ReferenceGold Medal: Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel by Philip W. Stewart


Non-Fiction/BiographyGold Medal: Women in the U.S. Armed Forces by Darlene M. Iskra
Silver Medal: Grey Eminence
by Edward Cox
Bronze Medal: Beyond All Price
by Carolyn Poling Schriber
Honorable Mention: True Blue: A Tale of the Enemy Within
by Joe Sanchez & MoDhania


Non-Fiction/How To/Business
Gold Medal: Disability Compensation by Thomas van Hees
Silver Medal: Breastfeeding in Combat Boots
by Robyn Roche-Paul


Non-Fiction/Creative Non-FictionGold Medal: Incoming by Jack Manick
Silver Medal: Inside the President’s Helicopter by G.T. Boyd and J. Boor


Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ReligiousGold Medal: A Prayer Journey through Deployment by Donna Mull
Silver Medal: I Want to be the Fat Pretty One
by Lori Kathleen Cline
Bronze Medal: Bringing Courage to the Courageous
by Don Williamson
Honorable Mention: God + Military Spouse
by Lori Kathleen


Artistic/PictorialGold Medal: USAF Interceptors by Mary Isham & D. McLaren



Artistic/PictorialGold Medal: Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion by Billy Tucci


PoetryGold Medal: Kings of the Green Jelly Moon by King, Greenwald, Jellerson, Mullins
Silver Medal: Blooming Red
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson & Magdelina Ball
Bronze Medal: Through the Years
by James Jellerson

 Children/Ages 12 & BelowGold Medal: Klinger by Betsy Beard
Silver Medal: Our Daddy is Invincible
by Shannon Maxwell
Bronze Medal: The Sandpiper's Game
by Charles Boyle
Honorable Mention: Eddie & Bingo: A Friendship Tale
by Katherine & Kathleen L. Taylor
1^st Runner Up: The Adventures of Briskey Bear
by Steve Bolt


Military/Air ForceGold Medal: Two Gold Coins and a Prayer by James H. Keeffe lll
Silver Medal: Safe Landings
by Fran McGraw
Bronze Medal: The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe
by Jay A. Stout
Honorable Mention: Belle of the Brawl
by Gary A. Best


Military/ArmyGold Medal: Alan's Letters by Nancy E. Rial
Silver Medal: Still Standing
by Jim Kosmo
Bronze Medal: The Sentinel & the Shooter
by Douglas W. Bonnot


Military/MarinesGold Medal: Obediently Yours, Orson Welles by Ulman Bray


Military/NavyGold Medal: The Seventh Angel by Jeff Edwards
Silver Medal: Listening to Ghosts
by Robert (Bob) Stockton
Bronze Medal: The Untold Experiences
by C. Gilbert Lowery



Military/Coast GuardGold Medal: The Coast Guard by Tom Beard

-----
If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:

Book Promotion: It Is Never Too Early or Too Late

Book Sales Getting Musty?

Note: MWSA member Carolyn Howard-Johnson celebrates the release of the second edition of the multi award-winning Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) with this excerpt and a little rundown of what readers will find in the new edition that weren’t in the old one.

In the world of publishing as in life, persistence counts. Of course, there is no way to keep a book at the top of the charts forever, but if you keep reviving it, you might hold a classic in your hands. Or your marketing efforts for one book may propel your next one to greater heights.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen authors who measure their success by book sales give up on their book (and sometimes on writing) just about the time their careers are about ready to take off. I tell my students and clients to fight the it’s-too-late-urge.

Publicity is like the little waves you make when you toss pebbles into a lake. The waves travel, travel, travel and eventually come back to you. If you stop lobbing little stones, you lose momentum. It’s never too late and it’s never too early to promote. Rearrange your thinking. Marketing isn’t about a single book. It’s about building a career. And new books can build on the momentum created by an earlier book, if you keep the faith. Review the marketing ideas in this book, rearrange your schedule and priorities a bit, and keep at it.

Here are a few keep-at-it ideas.

• Run a contest on your Web site, on Twitter, or in your newsletter. Use your books for prizes or get cross-promotion benefits by asking other authors for books; many will donate one to you in trade for the exposure. Watch the 99 Cent Stores for suitable favors to go with them. 

Hint: Any promotion you do including a contest is more powerful when you call on your friends to tell their blog visitors or Facebook pals about it.

• Barter your books or your services for exposure on other authors’ Web sites.
• Post your flier, brochure, or business card on bulletin boards everywhere: In grocery stores, coffee shops, Laundromats, car washes, and bookstores.
• Offer classes in writing to your local high school, college, or library system. Publicizing them is easy and free. When appropriate, use your own book as suggested reading. The organization you are helping will pitch in by promoting your class. The network you build with them and your students is invaluable. Use this experience in your media kit to show you have teaching and presentation skills.
• Slip automailers into each book you sell or give away for publicity. Automailers are envelopes that are pre-stamped, ready to go. Your auto mailer asks the recipient to recommend your book to someone else. Your mailer includes a brief synopsis of your book, a picture of the cover of your book, your book’s ISBN, ordering information, a couple of your most powerful blurbs, and a space for the reader to add her handwritten, personal recommendation. Make it clear in the directions that the reader should fill out the form, address the envelope, and mail it to a friend. You may offer a free gift for helping out, but don’t make getting the freebie too tough. Proof-of-purchase type schemes discourage your audience from participating.
• Send notes to your friends and readers asking them to recommend your book to others. Or offer them a perk like free shipping, gift wrap, or small gift if they purchase your book for a friend. That’s an ideal way to use those contact lists you’ve been building.
• While you’re working on the suggestion above, put on your thinking cap. What directories have you neglected to incorporate into your contact list? Have you joined any new groups since your book was published? Did you ask your grown children for lists of their friends? Did you include lists of old classmates?
• Though it may be a bit more expensive than some ideas in this book, learn more about Google’s AdWords and AdSense. Learn about these opportunities on your Google account page. Many authors of niche nonfiction or fiction that can be identified with often-searched-for keywords find this advertising program effective.
• Check out ad programs like Amazon’s Vine review service. You agree to provide a certain number of books to Amazon and pay them a fee for the service. Amazon arranges the reviews for you. It’s expensive, but it gets your book exposed to Amazon’s select cadre of reviewers who not only write reviews for your Amazon sales page but also may start (or restart!) a buzz about your book.
• Some of your reviews (both others’ reviews of your book and reviews you’ve written about others’ books) have begun to age from disuse. Start posting them (with permission from the reviewer) on Web sites that allow you to do so. Check the guidelines for my free review service blog at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com.
• Connect and reconnect. Start reading blogs and newsletters you once subscribed to again. Subscribe to a new one. Join a writers’ group or organization related to the subject of your book.
• Record a playful message about your book on your answering machine.
• When you ship signed copies of your book, include a coupon for the purchase of another copy for a friend—signed and dedicated—or for one of your other books. Some distributors insert fliers or coupons into your books when they ship them for a fee.
• Adjust the idea above to a cross-promotional effort with a friend who writes in the same genre as you. He puts a coupon for your book in his shipments; you do the same for him in yours.
• Explore the opportunities for speaking on cruise ships. Many have cut back on the number of speakers they use, but your area of expertise may be perfect for one of them. I tried it, but found ship politics a drawback. Still many authors like Allyn Evans who holds top honors in Toastmasters and Erica Miner have used these venues successfully. For help with the application process from beginning to end, contact Daniel Hall at speakerscruisefree.com.

LEARN IN THE SECOND EDITION WHAT YOU DIDN’T IN THE FIRST

We all know that book promotion (and life!) has changed since The Frugal Book Promoter was first published
in 2004—particularly in ways that have to do with the Web, but in other ways, too. As an example, the publishing world in general is more open to indie publishing now than it was then. So, this new edition is
updated but it also includes lots of information on ways to promote that were not around or were in their
infancy a few short years ago. So here is what is new:

~The Second Edition has been reorganized.
~The Second Edition is almost twice as fat—read that “twice as chock full of promotions you can use.”
~The Second Edition still includes the basics that make you into an on-your-own publicist or a great partner
for a professional publicist. That includes everything you need to know to put together the best,
most effective media releases, query letters, and media kits possible. And how to utilize what you love to do
most—write—to get the word out about what you love most—your book. If you loved the chapters
like the ones on writers’ conferences, getting reviews, book fairs or tradeshows, you’ll love the
updated ones even more.
~You’ll love the chapters on what I call the game changers. These really are game changers!
There’s information on using online bookstores to your benefit. There's information on how to make
your blog actually work for you! And how to save time with your blogging! And ideas for blog posts
—even if you write fiction or poetry!
~There is new information that answers questions like these:

§ What is Carolyn’s simplified method for making social networks actually work—without spending too much time away from my writing?
§ How can I avoid falling into some of the scam-traps for authors?
§ How can I get into one of those big tradeshows like BEA?
§ What are the best “old-fashioned” ways to promote—the ones I shouldn’t give up on entirely?
§ There is even an updated section on how you go about writing (and publishing)
an award-worthy book. And, of course, you’ll find it loaded with resources you can use—but they’re all updated.
§ How can I use the new QR codes to promote my book to mobile users? And to others?
§ What are the pitfalls of using the Web and how can I avoid them?
§ What are the backdoor methods of getting reviews—even long after my book
has been published?


-----
If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter: