Whale Song wins KBR Bestseller Award

A couple of days ago I was notified that my bestselling novel Whale Song was a finalist in the Kindle Book Review Awards. This is what the awards are all about:

"The Indie Awards is all about honoring indie authors who have written exceptional fiction, have worked hard to get their work out there, and who are getting great reviews. There are 10 finalists chosen from our previous "Picks of the Day" and there will be 5 winners. Best of all, the KBR will have some great prizes for these talented authors, like a complete editing package for their next book, a publicity package, proofreading, and announcements at The Pub Write Group and Digital Book Today."

Out of the 10 finalist, 5 prizes were awarded:
First Place: The KBR Literary Excellence Award
Second Place: The KBR Mover & Shaker Award
Third Place: The KBR Bestseller Award
and a Fourth Place and Fifth Place Award

I was honored to be in the finals, and even more honored to have Whale Song pick up Third Place. This is what was said about Whale Song winning the KBR Bestseller Award: "Cheryl gets this award because Whale Song is the veteran of the bunch. First published in 2003, this book was collecting rave reviews long before the ebook revolution and still continues to do so today!"

Thank you to Kindle Book Review.

Whale Song is available in English in ebook and paperback at your favorite online retailer, includingAmazon, Kobo Books, B&N, Smashwords and more. Ask your bookstore to bring it in.

Edmonton's Salute to Excellence Hall of Fame Nominations

The City of Edmonton: Salute to Excellence Committee is currently gathering nominations for the 2011 Hall of Fame Induction ceremony being held in June to honour outstanding Edmontonians who, through their participation in arts and culture, community service, or sports, have made exemplary contributions to the quality of life in Edmonton. The induction ceremony will take place at the Winspear Centre for Music on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011.

Deadline: February 22 

If you know someone who has contributed to Edmonton's arts, culture, community or sports life, nominate them today.

Nomination packages can be downloaded at:
http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/14-NominationFormforHallofFame.pdf

Save the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantasic

The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award based on excellence of writing in two categories: adult and young adult. The awards are presented annually to Canadian writers with a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection of speculative fiction published any time during the previous calendar year.

Unfortunately, the Sunburst Awards have run into a hiccup. They do not have enough operating capital to keep going as they currently stand. This sad news comes at a particularly critical juncture in the award's life--the operating committee is in the process of getting the Sunburst organization registered as a non-profit, and getting it "national arts organization" status.

As part of a fundraising drive to shepherd the Sunburst through this change of status and structure, we’d like to ask fans, writers, editors, and publishers from the speculative fiction community to help raise awareness of this vital institution...

How to Participate

We're looking for short (30 second to 2 minutes) videos that say what you think about Canadian speculative fiction. These should be interview-style videos in the vein of Speaker's Corner and can be recorded as simply as with a web camera. Prior interviews or footage can be submitted provided that you have permission to do so. We will host these individually on a YouTube channel(sunburstaward), but will also edit them in order to create a series of short videos to promote awareness of the fundraising campaign. A longer video will be shown at the opening remarks to the Toronto SpecFic Colloquium. Check out the people who have already spoken out for us at:
http://www.specfic-colloquium.com/apps/videos/ .

Not savvy with a camera? Send us a high res image of yourself and either a short paragraph in text or a recorded audio track.

Not Canadian? Never fear. If you have something you want to say about Canadian speculative fiction then we want to hear it.

To participate, send your name, contact information, submission and a short release statement giving us permission to use the video/image to sunburstvideo@gmail.com by October 15, 2010.

Possible Topics:

• -favourite Canadian authors and/or stories
• -the relationship between Canadian writing and the rest of the world
• -publishing speculative fiction in Canada
• -the state of Canadian fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc
• -how does Canada inspire your work?
• -favourite Canadian settings to use in your writing

Of course, these topics are intended to be a jumping off point. Feel free to think outside of the box. And, above all, show your enthusiasm!

To donate directly, visit:
http://www.sunburstaward.org/content/please-lend-your-support-sunburst-awards.

Cheryl awarded "Most Popular" by Chapters Indigo Online Community

Gotta love awards. :) They make you feel special, like you've accomplished something. And the last few weeks, I've seen more awards than ever.

From The Best Blog of the Day Award that was awarded to me and 7 other authors for our multi-author blog Criminal Minds at Work, to a Gold Star for Excellence for my novel Whale Song. And now another one..."Most Popular" participant in the new Chapters Indigo Online Community.

This community is a place for booklovers and authors to come together. We can post reviews, post notes and message each other. I've met a lot of wonderful people through this community, including the wonderful CEO Heather Reisman, who is now reading Whale Song.

I started promoting this new social network as soon as it launched. In fact, when I ran out of my own bookmarks one time at a book signing in a Chapters store, I grabbed some of the ones advertising this online community.

I love to connect with people. I am always interested in hearing what they liked about my work--and even what they didn't like. Feedback like this allows me to grow as a writer. In fact, hearing from fans that they've enjoyed one of my novels is the only award I really need.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my books and to everyone involved with any award I have received. I appreciate you all.

Now for any of you who have not yet joined, please come see me at the Chapters Indigo Online Community. It's free! Add me as a friend. Read some of my posts. Tell me about your favorite books.

Join now:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/Community-Home/community_home-promonb.html

Visit my profile page:
http://community.indigo.ca/profile/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif/29765.html

Booklovers unite!
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com

Whale Song receives a Gold Star for Excellence

TeensReadToo.com awarded Cheryl Kaye Tardif's acclaimed novel Whale Song with a Gold Star for Excellence.

According to the Hall of Fame page on their website:

"These titles have earned the coveted Gold Star Award for Excellence! These aren't just books you just read. These are books you read over and over again--because they're that great!"

Breanna F., a reviewer for TeensReadToo.com, has this to say about Whale Song:

"Just go read the book and you'll find out how wonderful it is! It's completely heart wrenching...the whole book is just amazing...My heartstrings were being pulled the entire time and I absolutely loved it."

Visit the Hall of Fame on TeensReadToo.com.

Read Breanna's review (spoiler alert!).

Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif signs with New York literary agent

For any writer who's been at it long enough and sent out hundreds of queries over the years to agents and publishers, I'm here to bring you HOPE. I have enough rejections to wallpaper my office--twice!

In 2006, I managed to get an originally self-published work (Whale Song) picked up by Kunati Books.

Whale Song was published in April 2007 and launched Kunati's UNA trade paperback imprint. Other trade paperbacks will be joining the UNA imprint shortly, but I'm proud that Whale Song was the first.

This week, I signed a contract with an enthusiastic literary agent from New York. It's an all-inclusive contract, meaning he'll represent me and ALL of my books--past and future--in any upcoming deals.

To me, securing an agent represents climbing another ladder rung--or two. If you're a writer, you know how tough that can be to accomplish. And wait! I haven't told you the clincher...

I am Canadian.

No, this isn't a beer commercial. I'm a Canadian author, and in Canada, it's nearly impossible to get an agent here. First, we don't have the population of the US, and hence, we just don't have that many agents here. So many Canadian authors go across the border--or even the ocean--in search of that illusive literary agent.

My agent is in New York, the frenzied hub of the book industry. I couldn't be happier. He came highly recommended by one of his clients. I am positive this will be a productive and successful venture. Why? Because I'm a positive person. So there! :)

To every writer who has struck out sending query after query to agents and publishers over the years, I'll share my two secret strategies: UNWAVERING BELIEF and STUBBORN PERSISTENCE. You must have both.

Having a literary agent will open so many doors that have, in the past, been closed to me. Having a New York agent will even get past the ones that seemed deadbolted shut. I view my agent as my new business partner, someone who knows what he's doing and that I can trust to do the best for us both.

So I'm off to New York. Well, not really. But I am in spirit! My best friend said I should have a "pahty" to celebrate. I'm thinking of having one with a New York theme. You know...New York steaks, New York fries and New York cheesecake. Am I missing anything? Oh yes, and maybe Liza can show up and sing for me so that I'm not forced to Karaoke everyone to death.

And now...a musical interlude. You know the tune.

(music, please...)

Start spreading the news
I got an agent today
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York
My vagabond books
Are longing to stray
And make a brand new start of it
New York, New York
I want an agent in the city that never sleeps
So I can be queen of the hill, top of the heap
These Edmonton blues
Are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York.

(This is my shamelessly adapted version of 'New York, New York'--strictly for entertainment purposes.)

And no, I'm not mentioning my agent's name yet. Now you'll just have to check back here. :)

P.S. I welcome any other 'New York' themed ideas for my "pahty".

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif

WHALE SONG wins 2007 Book Cover of the Year!

Last May one of my very loyal fans entered my novel Whale Song in Erin Aislinn's Book Cover of the Month contest. Whale Song won for the month of May!

For the past 2 or so months, Whale Song has been competing for Erin's 2007 Book Cover of the Year award.

I am proud to announce that...

WHALE SONG has won the 2007 Book Cover of the Year award!

Thank you to everyone who voted. I wish I could take credit for this beautiful, haunting cover, but I can't.

It was designed by Kam Wai Yu, graphic designer for Kunati Books.