Karen A. Chase, has won three independent book publishing awards in two competitions for her first book, Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.). In both competitions, her self-published book competed against small- to mid-sized independent publishers, university and museum presses, and corporations that publish fewer than 50 titles a year.
Bonjour 40 won an IPPY Silver Medal for best Travel Essay in the Independent Book Publishers Award, and in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards it won a Winners Medal for Best Design Non-fiction, and a Finalist Medal for Best Travel/Travel Guide.
Chase said, “To see self-published books winning alongside books produced by traditional independent publishing houses, is a wonderful statement that the stigma of self-publishing is changing. Self-published authors are striving to create books with a professional level of writing, editing, design, and production. These awards help provide industry recognition for our efforts.”
Entirely self-published, Bonjour 40 was written, designed, and published by Chase and includes 132 full-color pages with over 100 of her own professional photographs. She worked with April Michelle Davis of Editorial Inspirations to professionally edit the manuscript.
