Campaign to get into the International Christian Retail Show!

I have a great opportunity to take my three most-recent books to the International Christian Retail Show. But I need help to get in the door!

The International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) is a closed trade show (meaning not open to the public). It is a trade show where book publishers and other companies that create products to be sold in, or otherwise used for, Christian retail outlets show their wares to Christian retailers, such as Christian bookstores. This is done primarily through half-hour book signings where authors sign and give away the featured book. (No sales allowed.)

Almost all the the major Christian publishers attend.

My three most-recent books have been published by Pix-N-Pens Publishing (PNP), which is a small publisher that opened only two years ago in 2011. Owned by Tracy Ruckman, PNP has a sister publishing company called Write Integrity Press (WIP).

Because these two publishing companies are small and new, they do not have big budgets to pay all the expenses required to take part in this trade show, we're asking for you help.

What are the expenses?

For a publisher to hold a book signing at the International Christian Retail Show, there are several requirements:

• Each author entering the show must have a badge to get in. There are five authors going, besides Tracy and possibly other helpers.
• Fees for renting booth space.
• Must provide a minimum of 60 of each book featured to be given away (not sold). This means not only the cost of the books but the shipping to get them there. Multiply this times five authors. Multiplies more if the author is representing more that one book. I will be representing three!

As you can see, it cots a pretty penny to get this all done.

Are you raising money to pay for the authors' trips?

No. Each of the five authors and Tracy are all paying their own travel expenses to get there, including their travel, hotel, and meals. The money we are raising is only to pay for the requirements to hold our book signings at the show.

Where do I contribute?

We've set up a fundraising campaign over at FaithFunder.com called Meet Us in St. Louis 2013.

There we have a video that runs about 4 minutes. It made me laugh out loud! That's me there, in the first photo and the last photo and a few more in between.

Be sure to check out the list of incentives down the right side of the page. For as little as $5 you can get a digital book of your choice. For $10 you can get a print book, a real bargain since most of our books are more and this also includes shipping! If you'd like to donate a little more, you can get critiques of a large chunk of your novel or several pages of your screenplay (by yours truly). You can get 12 copies of a book for your Book Club plus a visit from the author via Skype. If you're in the St. Louis area during ICRS in June, we can do dinner. There's even a gift basket from Bolivia! There's much more, so please take a list.

Who all is going?

All the authors of Pix-N-Pens and Write Integrity Press were invited to go. Five responded. Besides me, the others are:

• Fay Lamb, author of Stalking Willow and Charisse (The Ties that Bind Series)
• Vicki Tiede, author of Parenting on Your Knees: Prayers and Practical Guidance for the Preschool Years
• Peggy Cunningham, author of the new children's book Really Rare Rabbits (children's series) and contributor to Grandparenting Through Obstacles.
• Marie Wells Coutu, author of For Such a Moment (Mended Vessels Series)

Which books are you representing, Dianne?

I will be signing my three most recent books (assuming we get funded and can get all the books there). They are:

• Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ. Coauthored with Renee Gray-Wilburn, this book just won "Book of the Year" in the Family / Relationships category from the Christian Small Publishers Association.
• Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus (November 2012)
• Prophecies Fulfilled in the Death & Resurrection of Jesus (April 2013)

Finally...

Please know I'm very grateful to every person who donates. And if you can't or don't want to, believe me I understand. I hate asking for money! I only am asking this time because we can't afford to do this on our own and so we need a little help.

So if you'd like to be part of getting us into the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, June 23 - 26, or if you just want one of the great incentives, please visit Meet Us in St. Louis 2013. But hurry, there's only a few days left. The fundraiser closes Saturday!

Thank you so very, very much.

My third book, Grandparenting Through Obstacles, Wins a CSPA "Book of theYear" Award!

Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) has announced the winners of their 2013 Book of the Year awards and Grandparenting Through Obstacles won in the "Family/Relationships" category!


A big hearty Thank You! to everyone who took the time to go vote. Obviously, this wouldn't have happened without you!
I offer my sincere congratulations to my co-author, Renee Gray-Wilburn, as well as to the twenty writers who contributed their stories and to Cavin Harper who wrote the foreword in the book.

Needless to say, our publisher, Pix-N-Pens Publishing, is also thrilled. This is the first Book of the Year award from Christian Small Publishers Association for the publisher as far as I know, so PNP is really excited. I also send my sincere congratulations to the publisher, Tracy Ruckman, for all she has done and all she is continuing to do to make this book successful.

(In the "continuing to do" category, we have some more really exciting news about something Tracy is up to...and we're going to need your help with that too, if I'm not coming to the well too often...but let's not cut this celebration short. I'll gather that information and put it in my next post and get it posted soon--perhaps tomorrow morning. Please don't miss it!

Oh.  You want a hint?  Okay: Going to St. Louis to promote my Pix-N-Pens books. But more about that later...)
For me, this is a special honor because this is the second year in a row one of my books has taken the "Book of the Year" in the Family / Relationships category! If you've been following this blog for long, you'll remember that my second book, Deliver Me, took this award a year ago.

Winning an award like this provides one more way to make our book known. It's hard to make a book known, but that is the only way it gets it on the radar scope of the people who need it and whom it can help.

So thank you again for all the help you gave us to win this "Book of the Year" award from Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA). You voted. You prayed. You did it. I thank you so much.  Again.