LOS ANGELES – USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS” 2008 AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2008. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2008 and late 2007.
 

Jeff Keen, President and CEO of USABookNews.com, said this year’s contest yielded an unprecedented number of entries, which were then narrowed down to over 500 winners and finalists.
 

Award highlights include the following:
 

• Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body's Energies for Optimal Health, Joy, and Vitality by Donna Eden with David Feinstein, Ph.D. (Tarcher/Penguin) snagged Best Self-Help Book
• Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews (Hyperion) was honored in the Autobiography/Memoirs category
• The Impulse Factor: Why Some of Us Play It Safe and Others Risk It All by Nick Tasler (Fireside, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) won the Best Business Career Book
• Squawk! How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results by Travis Bradberry (HarperCollins) topped the General Business category
• The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn Saks (Hyperion) placed number one in the Health: Psychology/Mental Health category.
• The Spirit of the Place by Samuel Shem (The Kent State University Press) won the General Fiction category
• Blood Harvest by Brant Randall (Capital Crime Press) took home the Best Mystery/Suspense prize
• Stealing Trinity by Ward Larsen (Oceanview Publishing) was awarded hottest new Thriller/Adventure
• How to Parent So Children Will Learn: Strategies For Raising Happy, Achieving Children, 3rd Edition by Dr. Sylvia Rimm (Great Potential Press) won first place in the General Parenting/Family category
• The Great Field: Soul at Play in a Conscious Universe by John James, Ph.D. (Energy Psychology Press) was honored as the Best Spirituality Book of 2008
• The Best New Fiction Award went to Stolen Boy by Michael Mehas (iUniverse)
• Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet by Norma Lehmeier Hartie (Lingham Press) was awarded Best New Non-Fiction
• First Snow in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick (Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.) was given the top spot in the Children’s Picture Book category
• Full results listing available online at USABookNews.com

Keen says of the awards, now in their fifth year, “The 2008 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States.

As an executive in the publishing PR and marketing industry and president and CEO of JPX Media, I wanted to create an awards competition that recognized books in their publication year rather than months after the original launch window. With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of NBBA, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”

Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, Tarcher/Penguin, HarperCollins, Hyperion, St. Martin’s Press, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons & hundreds of independent titles contributed to this year’s outstanding NBBA competition. Keen adds, “NBBA’s success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise.”

USABookNews.com is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community. USABN Magazine Online is the monthly electronic magazine e-mailed free to a large cross-section of the book buying public. JPX Media, in Los Angeles, California, is the parent company of USABookNews.com.
 

A complete list of the winners and finalists of the USABookNews.com National “Best Books” 2008 Awards are available online at http://www.USABookNews.com.
 

Jeff Keen, President & CEO of JPX Media, is available for television, radio, and press interviews nationwide to talk about the National “Best Books” 2008 Awards and other publishing industry topics. Contact 800-733-6511 or jpxmedia.earthlink.net for schedule availability.