On Monday, Ooligan author Ruth Tenzer Feldman won an Oregon Book Award for her first novel, Blue Thread. Published last year, Blue Thread has been a bestseller for Ooligan Press and has earned an impressive reputation among reviewers and readers in the Pacific Northwest. We have always been proud of Ruth and of Blue Thread, but to win an Oregon Book Award is a really big deal—it’s something that very few authors can say they have done. Every publisher hopes that their book will be award-winning, and applying for awards is an important step in the publication of a book, but, naturally, not every book will win. Ooligan Press is fortunate to have won more than one Oregon Book Award, but this latest one for Blue Thread is particularly exciting since we are publishing its companion novel, The Ninth Day, this fall. If everything goes according to plan, then The Ninth Day will be as popular as Blue Thread, and maybe win its own Oregon Book Award someday. No one deserves it more than Ruth.
Next week, we will be researching authors and reviewers to start acquiring blurbs for The Ninth Day, as well as adding book award research to the marketing plan.