New Mexico Book Awards Announced

PRESS RELEASE
January 25, 2008
Contact: Paul Rhetts 505/344-9382

2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED
DENISE CHAVEZ & DAVID MORRELL TO GET FRIENDS OF NEW MEXICO BOOKS AWARD

The New Mexico Book Co-op is pleased to announce the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards Competition. Open to all books by New Mexico authors or publishers, books can be entered in any of the 34 categories, which range from children’s picture books to history and even poetry (the complete list of categories can be found at www.nmbookaward.com). Borders stores in New Mexico will also host the People’s Choice Award honoring any book ever published or written in New Mexico or about New Mexico. The deadline for entry submissions is July 1, 2008 (a discount is offered for entries received before May 31).

The 2008 Friends of New Mexico Books Award will go to Denise Chavez (Las Cruces), author and founder of the Border Book Festival, and David Morrell (Santa Fe), author of the Rambo series. The Friends of New Mexico Books Award recipients and the winners of each of the categories will be honored at the awards banquet on November 21 at the MCM Elegante Hotel in Albuquerque.

Bless Me Ultima won the 2007 People’s Choice Award and The Death at Awahi won the Best Book. In 2007 Tony Hillerman and Rudolfo Anaya received the Friends of New Mexico Books Award. Over 350 titles were entered in 2007.

Underwriters of the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards are Albuquerque The Magazine, Borders, New Mexico Book Co-op, and New Mexico Humanities Council. Sponsors for the individual book categories include: Borders Books, New Mexico Kids, Albuquerque The Magazine, New Mexico Humanities Council, SouthWest Writers, PageOne Books, Albuquerque/Bernalillo Library System, Wordharvest Writers Workshop, Sunbelt Shows/Fiery Foods, New Mexico Book Co-op, LPDPress/Rio Grande Books, and the New Mexico Book Association. Additional sponsors will be announced in the near future.

For more information on the New Mexico Book Awards and rules go to www.nmbookaward.com.

-30-
Connie Gotsch www.conniegotsch.com Host Write On Four Corners KSJE FM, Farmington NM www.ksje.com Author two award winning novels Snap Me a Future and A Mouthful of Shell available www.dlsijpress.com