2020 is sure to go down in history as one of the most difficult years ever as the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic continues spreading around the globe, threatening the physical and mental health of Earth's inhabitants while simultaneously causing economic hardship for billions. And although the world continues to struggle, we are witnessing the good inherent in all people as neighbors help neighbors, friends help friends and loved ones help and cherish those they love. For many writers, the early days of quarantining allowed them to find their creative energy to write and perhaps even (finally) finish that book they've been working on.
It's apparent in the numbers. 2020 book sales boomed! While final numbers for 2020 aren't available at the time of this writing, NPD Bookscan reported an overall 6.4% increase for the first three quarters over the comparable quarters in 2019, led by a whopping 36% jump in young adult nonfiction, a 29% increase in juvenile nonfiction and a 19% bump in young adult fiction.
Homeschooling certainly contributed to this increase, and savvy writers were quick to capitalize, as the self-publishing industry is on track to publish more books in 2020 than ever before. For Outskirts Press, the only A+ rated and #1-rated self-publishing company according to the Better Business Bureau and Top Consumer Reviews, respectively, 2020 saw its authors thrive and prosper even in the shadow of the novel coronavirus.
At the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards Banquet, which, for the first time ever, took place "virtually" and streamed live from YouTube, Outskirts Press authors took home a total of 14 impressive 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-place awards. The recorded virtual ceremony will be available on the CIPA YouTube Channel indefinitely.
Winning a CIPA EVVY Award is a prerequisite to winning the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award and claiming its $1500 Grand Prize. In 2020, the following three First Place EVVY Award winners were in contention for the Best Book of the Year:
 Lance Anderson won a First Place Award in Fiction for his novel Life in the Morgue. Lance Anderson spent most of his life as an ironworker until he decided it was time for a change. He took a job at the medical examiner's office, where he worked for six years and assisted in more than two thousand cases until he was forced to retire due to vision problems. Life in the Morgue is his debut novel, but he has also written two movie scripts that are in the process of being produced.
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 George Rhoades won a First Place Award for Poetry with Musings from Cowboy Country. George Rhoades is the author of Along the Chisholm Trail and Other Poems and After the Chisholm. He is the winner of numerous poetry awards, including the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Will Rogers Gold and Bronze Medallions, Readers View First Place Award, Indie Excellence Book Award Finalist and Western Music Assoc. Poetry Book Finalist, and other accolades. Born on a farm in Cotton County, Oklahoma, Rhoades has been a rancher, a reporter/editor for UPI and Oklahoma newspapers and a college journalism professor. He retired from UT-Arlington and moved to Duncan, Oklahoma, where he owned a hay farm.
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 And Gina Simone won a First Place Award in the Spiritual/Religion category with Whispers of Love, which went on to win the coveted Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2020 (by securing a whopping 80% of the votes!). Gina Simone is a Spirit Medium certified through the Forever Family Foundation. At the age of 11, she began to notice and feel Spirit and energy around her. Not knowing what these gifts were, she always felt different and isolated. A traumatic pool accident with her toddler son catapulted her into finding the meaning behind life, Spirit, lessons, and karma. She left a comfortable corporate finance career to answer her calling to connect you with your loved ones and with your own innate intuition and higher consciousness. She has been a featured medium on Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP.com, has been voted Long Island Best Medium several years in a row, and is also a featured medium on the WBLI 106.1 morning show.
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Congratulations, Gina! And congratulations to all our EVVY-Award winners and, in fact, to all our award-winning authors, who celebrated their accomplishments in 2020 by receiving book awards.
How would it feel to publish in 2021 with the A+ Rated and #1-Rated self-publishing company according to the Better Business Bureau and Top Consumer Reviews, respectively? Find out more about publishing, marketing, promoting and submitting your book for publication, reviews, and awards by visiting us at OutskirtsPress.com. We would love to help you publish the book of your dreams in 2021.
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