2001 Medalists

Winners and Finalists in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2001 have been chosen, the Ten Outstanding Books of the Year have been named, and awards were presented to winning publishers at BookExpo America 2001 in Chicago.

"The word that comes to mind for describing this year's 'Ippys' is diversity," said Jim Barnes, coordinator of the awards. Of course this describes independent publishing in general, but I think it's especially appropriate this year. We saw an emergence of publishing regions other than the East and West coasts, such as Fiction category winners and finalists like Coffee House Press in Minneapolis, Sarabande Books in Louisville, Crane Hill in Birmingham, and John F. Blair in Winston-Salem. The Photography category winner is also from Winston-Salem, and the two finalists are both in Colorado--this is a category usually dominated by publishers from New York and L.A."

Pictured at right: An Armload of Ippys...One of the big winners in this year's Awards, Harvard Business School Press, and Director of Sales Mark Bloomfield receiving their Ippys for winner and finalist in the Business category.

Congratulations to thanks to all 770 publishers who participated--the quality of your work is incredible!


The Ten Outstanding Books of the Year

For 19 years our mission at Independent Publisher has been to recognize and encourage the work of publishers who exhibit the courage and creativity necessary to take chances, break new ground, and bring about change. The following Ten Outstanding Books of the Year were chosen for exemplifying that kind of independent spirit. Each will receive special recognition and a $500 cash award.

Most Inspirational to Youth: Highs! Over 150 Ways to Feel Really, REALLY Good... Without Alcohol or Other Drugs, by Alex J. Packer, PhD (Free Spirit Publishing)

Business Breakthrough of the Year: Unleashing the Idea Virus, by Seth Godin (Do You Zoom Inc.)

Most Likely To Save the Planet: The Living Wild, by Art Wolfe (Wildlands Press)

Best Health Book: Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America, by Wesley J. Smith (Encounter Books)

Best Book Arts Craftsmanship: Small Mountains, by W.D. Wetherell; illus. Jules Olitski (The Endeavour Collection)

Most Helpful to Society: What To Do (For Teen Health/When Your Child Gets Sick), by Gloria Mayer, R.N. & Ann Kuklierus, R.N. (Institute for Healthcare Advancement)

Most Life-Changing: Yoga: Mastering the Basics, by Sandra Anderson & Rolf Sovik, Psy.D. (Himalayan Institute Press)

Most Original Concept: Your Guy's Guide to Gynecology: A Reference for Men and Women, by Bruce Bekkar, MD & Udo Wahn, MD (Ant Hill Press)

Story Teller of the Year: Charles F. Price, author of The Cock's Spur (John F. Blair)

Most Unique Design: Coca-Cola Girls: An Advertising Art History, by Chris H. Beyer (Collectors Press)


2001 Independent Publisher Book Awards 2001 Winners and Finalists:

1. Fine Art (History, Criticism, Exhibition Catalog)

Winner: Wonderland (Saint Louis Art Museum)

Finalists: Ceramics of Shimaoka Tatsuzo (Mingei International Museum)

Nancy Grossman: Loud Whispers (Michael Rosenfeld Gallery)


2. Performing Arts (Music, Dance, Theater)

Winner: Josh White: Society Blues (University of Massachusetts Press)

Finalists: A Shakespearean Actor Prepares (Smith & Kraus)

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey (WGI Publishing)


3. Photography

Winner: All Over the Map: Travel Photographs & the Stories Behind Them (Loose Ends Press)

Finalists: Oregon: Then & Now (Westcliffe Publishers)

Telluride: Landscapes and Dreams (Montoya Publishing)


4. Architecture

Winner: Japan Modern (Tuttle Publishing)

Finalists: Adventures with Old Houses (Wyrick & Company)

The White House (Abbeville Press)


5. Fiction - General

Winner: The Beast God Forgot to Invent, by Jim Harrison (Grove/Atlantic)

Finalists: A Walk Through Fire (Crane Hill Publishers)

Cutter's Island (Academy Chicago)


6. Short Story Fiction

Winner: Assorted Fire Events, by David Means (Context Books)

Finalists: Glory Goes and Gets Some (Coffee House Press)

Head (Sarabande Books)


7. Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction

Winner: Little Wolf's Book of Badness, by Ian Whybrow (Lerner Publishing Group)

Finalists: Witches Night Out (Llewellen)

The Watcher (Kids Can)


8. Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Winner: The Black Chalice, by Marie Jakober (EDGE Sci-Fi & Fantasy Publishing)

Finalists: The Wrong World (FTL Publications)

Sexcrime (Circlet Press)


9. Horror

Winner: Butterfly House, by T.K. Sheils (LTD Books)

Finalists: Heart of Ice Blood of Fire (Crazy Wolf Publishing)

A Taste of Midnight (Circlet Press)


10. Multicultural Fiction

Winner: A Fast Red Road: A Plainsong, by Stephen Graham Jones (FC2)

Finalists: National Treasure (RKLOG Press)

A Place Called Milagro de la Paz (Curbstone Press)


11. Multicultural Fiction - Juv/Young Adult

Winner: My Very Own Room (Mi Propio Cuartito) by Amada Irma Perez (Children's Book Press)

Finalists: Sometimes I Talk, Sometimes I Sign (Communication Connection)

Girl-On-Fire (Haven Books)


12. Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

Winner: Tracon, by Paul McElroy (Japphire)

Finalists: Bleeding Out (Firebrand Books)

Two For Joy (Poisoned Pen Press)


13. Romance

Winner: Gino, the Countess & Chagall, by Len Lamensdorf (SeaScape Press)

Finalists: The Attraction Factor (Avid Press)

Heir to Govandhara (Saira Ramasastry/iUniverse)


14. Visionary Fiction

Winner: The Archer King, by Reyna Thera Lorele (Blue Arrow Books)

Finalists: The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break (John F. Blair)

Ashes for the Elephant God (Blue Planet)


15. Children's Picture Book (6 & under)

Winner: The Farewell Symphony (Charlesbridge)

Finalists: Struwwelpeter 2000 (Iolair Publishing)

Sleepy Little Mouse (Kids Can Press)


16. Children's Picture Book (7 & over)

Winner: Song of the Whooping Crane (Eerdman)

Finalists: The Rabbi Who Flew (Booksmythe)

The Story of the Search for the Story (Lerner Publishing Group)


17. Essay/Creative Non-Fiction

Winner: All Things Censored, by Mumia Abu-Jamal (Seven Stories Press)

Finalists: Novello: Ten Years of Great American Writing (Novello Festival Press)

The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales from the Hollywood Trenches (Public Affairs)


18. Juv/Young Adult Non-Fiction

Winner: Teen Angst? Naaah... (Free Spirit Publishing)

Finalists: The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions (Middleway Press)

Stories of Young Pioneers (Mountain Press Publishing)

Nuclear Legacy: Students of Two Atomic Cities (Battelle Press)


19. Multicultural Non-Fiction

Winner: Walls of Heritage/Walls of Pride (Pomegranate Communications)

Finalists: The Lonely Queue (East West Discovery Press)

Against Race (Harvard University Press)


20. Multicultural Non-Fiction – Juv/Young Adult

Winner: Painting the Dakota: Seth Eastman at Fort Snelling (Afton Historical Society Press)

Finalists: Upside Down Boy (Children's Book Press)

My Amazon River Day (Shedd Aquarium)


21. Autobiography/Memoir

Winner: Midnight Diaries, by Boris Yeltsin (Public Affairs)

Finalists: Baby Face: A Story of Heart and Bones (Woodbine House)

Leap To Life: Triumph Over Nazi Evil (Ardor Scribendi)


22. Biography

Winner: Lenin: A Biography (Harvard University Press)

Finalists: Indian Trader: The Life and Times of J.L. Hubbell (Kiva Publishing)

The Wildest Dream: The Biography of George Mallory (The Mountaineers Books)


23. Business/Career

Winner: Leading the Revolution (Harvard Business School Press)

Finalists: Winning Roles for Career Minded Women (Davies-Black Publishing)

The Monk and the Riddle (Harvard Business School Press)


24. Coffee Table Books

Winner: Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey (Deere & Company)

Finalists: Whispered Prayers (Talisman Press)

Horror of the 20th Century (Collectors Press)


25. Computer/Internet

Winner: The Art & Science of Web Design (New Riders Publishing)

Finalists: Architect for Learning (Teleologic Learning Company)

Photoshop, Painter, & Illustrator Side-by-Side (Sybex)


26. Cookbooks

Winner: American Harvest (Lebhar-Friedman Books)

Finalists: Savor the Moment (The Junior League of Boca Raton)

Purple Kiwi (Frieda's Inc.)


27. Current Events

Winner: All Our Relations (South End Press)

Finalists: Cuba: Neither Heaven Nor Hell (Epica)

Ben Franklin's Web Site: Privacy and Curiosity (Privacy Journal)


28. Education/Academic/Teaching

Winner: Going Bohemian: Activities That Engage Adolescents in the Art of Writing Well (International Reading Association)

Finalists: The First Six Weeks of School (Northeast Foundation for Children)

Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation (Fredric H. Jones & Assoc.)


29. Environment/Ecology/Nature

Winner: Watching the Watsonville Wetlands (Watsonville Wetlands Watch)

Finalists: Restoring North America's Birds (Yale University Press)

Stolen Harvest (South End Press)


30. Erotica/Sexuality

Winner: Still Doing It: Women & Men Over 60 Write About Their Sexuality (Down There Press)

Finalists: Guide to Getting It On (Goofy Foot Press)

The Divine Duty of Servants (Cool Grove Press)


31. Gay/Lesbian

Winner: Journeys Across the Rainbow (Rainbow Pride Press)

Finalists: Corporal In Charge (Palm Drive Publishing)

Black & White Men (Pond Street Press)


32. Health/Medicine/Nutrition

Winner: State of the Heart (Write Stuff Enterprises)

Finalists: New York Times Book of Women's Health (Lebhar-Friedman Books)

Soy Smart Health (Woodland Publishing)


33. History

Winner: The Jewish Confederates (University of South Carolina Press)

Finalists: A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War (Harvard University Press)

American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War (Harvard University Press)


34. Home & Garden

Winner: Meditations on Design (Conari Press)

Finalists: Infinite Spaces (Tuttle Publishing)

Water Gardens (Creative Homeowner)


35. How-To (Hobby/Crafts)

Winner: Working With Precious Metal Clay (Brynmorgen Press)

Finalists: Exotic Paper Airplanes (Cypress House)

Memory Makers Quilted Scrapbooks (Satellite Press)


36. Humor

Winner: Below the Beltway (Long Wind Publishing)

Finalists: Think Outside the Cat Box (Plan Nine Publishing)

The Snake in the Spin Cycle (1st Books/Sue Diaz)


37: Inspirational/Spiritual

Winner: Homo Delphinus: The Dolphin Within Man (Idelson-Gnocchi)

Finalists: The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life (Multnomah Publishers)

The Power of Prayer Around the World (Templeton Foundation Press)


38. New Age

Winner: Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellen)

Finalists: Direct Connection: Transformation of Consciousness (Rutledge Books)

Journey Into Your Center (Nataraja Publications)


39. Parenting

Winner: The Little Big Book for Moms (Welcome Enterprises)

Finalists: Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing Our Children from Birth to Seven (Michaelmas Press)

Managing the Gift: Alternative Approaches for ADD (LightLines Publishing)


40. Poetry

Winner: Cool, Calm & Collected: Poems 1960-2000, by Carolyn Kizer (Copper Canyon)

Finalists: Even As We Speak (The University of Evansville Press)

Breakers (Coffee House Press)


41. Popular Culture

Winner: The Beatles Story on Capitol Records (498 Productions)

Finalists: Comic Book Culture (Collectors Press)

The Puppy Baby Book (Artistic Origins)


42. Sports/Recreation

Winner: Prototypes: The History of the IMSA GTP Series (David Bull Publishing)

Finalists: Champions of Women's Golf (QuailMark Books)

Diving and Snorkeling Thailand (Lonely Planet)


43. Reference

Winner: Encyclopedia of the American Civil War (ABC-CLIO)

Finalists: Understanding USA (TED Foundation)

Easy Wedding Planner, Organizer and Keepsake (Wedding Solutions Publishing)


44. Religion

Winner: Jesus Today: Living Life as Jesus Would (City Bible Publishing)

Finalists: The Serpent Handlers: Three Families and Their Faith (John F. Blair)

Is the Pope Catholic? (The Crossroad Publishing Company)


45. Science

Winner: Robo Sapien: Evolution of a New Species (The MIT Press)

Finalists: E=MC2:A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation (Walker & Co.)

Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect (Island Press)


46. Self Help

Winner: Downshifting (Berrett-Koehler)

Finalists: The Circle of Healing: Deepening Our Connections with Self, Others, and Nature (Talking Birds Press)

Capture the Rapture: How to Step Out of Your Head and Leap Into Life (Covisioning)


47. Travel - Essay

Winner: Tracks of the Unseen (Fulcrum Publishing)

Finalists: Take Me With You (Travelers Tales)

The House on Dream Street (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)


48. Travel - Guidebook

Winner: The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls (Westcliffe Publishers)

Finalists: The World-Famous Alaska Highway: A Guide to the Alcan and other Wilderness (Fulcrum Publishing)

Gettysburg Expedition Guide (TravelBrains)


49. Women's Issues

Winner: Bountiful Women (Wildcat Canyon Press)

Finalists: By Herself (Graywolf)

40 Over 40 (Wildcat Canyon Press)