Hurrah for the Whitney Awards

I've mentioned the Whitney awards before. This is an award given for LDS fiction books published this year. The exciting thing is that a sponsor has come forward and is offering a cash prize. This will really make this an exciting and prestigious award. Please go to www.whitneyawards.com for more information.

WHITNEY AWARDS COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES LARGE CASH AWARDS

The Whitney Awards Committee announced today that they will be
offering seven large cash awards to be presented at the upcoming
Whitney Awards banquet in March 2008. These cash prizes are due to
the generosity of the Whitney Awards' marquis sponsor,
ExclusivelyLDS.com.

Founded earlier this year, the Whitney Awards program is a non-profit
organization dedicated to rewarding excellence among LDS authors.
With the new sponsorship of ExclusivelyLDS.com, winning authors will
receive up to $1000 along with their trophy.

The Whitneys offer a total of seven awards. The five genre awards
(Best Romance/Women's Fiction, Best Mystery/Suspense, Best
YA/Children's, Best Speculative Fiction, Best Historical) will each
be accompanied by a $500 cash prize. The two overall winners, Best
Novel by a New Author and Best Novel of the Year, will each receive
$1000.

"We're very excited about the sponsorship with ExclusivelyLDS.com,"
Robison Wells, president of the Whitney Awards Committee,
explains. "There is enormous talent among LDS authors, and every
year seems to produce better and better novels. This is an exciting
time to be part of the LDS fiction industry. Our hope is that these
awards will raise awareness about the high quality fiction available
from LDS authors, and to draw in new readers."

Over a hundred years ago, Latter-Day Saint Apostle Orson F. Whitney
declared "We shall yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our
own. . . . In God's name and by His help we will build up a
literature whose tops will touch the heaven, though its foundation
may now be low on the earth."

Anyone can nominate a novel published during the previous calendar
year in any of seven categories, and a final academy of industry
professionals will vote on the final ballot. Nominations are being
taken for books published in 2007 by LDS authors at the Whitney
Awards website: www.whitneyawards.com

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CONTACT:
Robison Wells
Whitney Awards President
robisonwells@msn.com
www.whitneyawards.com