Congratulations to Elaine Mansfield Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief, by Elaine Mansfield (Larson Publications) has been awarded a national gold medal for the best book in the category Aging/Death & Dying from the world’s largest book awards contest. The Independent Publisher Book Awards, known as the IPPY, honor the year’s best titles from around the world published by academic, small and independent presses. Nearly 6,000 entries from more than 2,000 publishers representing all 50 states, eight Canadian provinces, and 34 countries participated in the 19th annual Independent Publishers Book Awards. The gala awards banquet for the IPPY Awards will be held Wednesday, May 27, in New York City. Elaine Mansfield will be in attendance with Amy Opperman and Paul Cash from Larson Publications and Jill Swenson. Larson Publications and Swenson Book Development llc will also showcase Elaine Mansfield’s memoir at Book Expo America at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City the last week of May. Amy Opperman and Paul Cash from Larson Publications deserve recognition as a small and independent publisher for this title and also a hat tip to the cover designer Ann Kilgore of Paperworks. The writing style, voice, and editorial substance of Elaine’s book makes it a winner. If you haven’t yet purchased the book, I highly recommend it. Uplifting and filled with grace, the story earns its gold medal.

In the modern publishing world, there are many new challenges authors face in promoting their books, but there are also many new avenues to aid in digital marketing of forthcoming releases. NetGalley provides a resource for authors and publishers to accumulate quality reviews from relevant readers, an essential pre-publishing marketing step. Strong early praise from a notable reviewer can draw in significantly more readers once a title is released. Rather than sending galleys the traditional way (an advance review copy right to a reviewer’s doorstep) NetGalley offers promotion through digital galleys, which eradicates the costs of printing and shipping. When a publisher or author establishes an account with NetGalley, the titles they post become available to NetGalley’s network of what they call “professional readers,” or book reviewers, journalists, bloggers, librarians, and others in the book world who can access and review these titles for free. Since many of the reviewers are already involved in book promotion, a glowing review could also lead to further collaboration and marketing opportunities down the road. When professional readers look for titles to review, they can search by publisher or by title or browse by genre. When they find a title of interest and submit a request for a digital galley, the corresponding owner can decide if there is a good fit based on the reader’s member profile. Authors or publishers must approve all galley requests before readers can receive them. And beyond NetGalley’s expansive network, they can also send requests for review to contacts within their own…

Jill Swenson: Congratulations on the forthcoming publication of your book, Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief, by Larson Publications in fall 2014. What is meant by the title of your book? Elaine Mansfield: After Vic’s death, I leaned into his love. I leaned into the love of the land, the life I created with him, our sons, close friends, and found support. Spiritual help came from meditation, various healing practices, and teachers, alive and dead. I lean my body and spirit into these teachings as I lean into the biggest trees in my forest. They protect me, hold me up, and heal me. After Vic died, we buried his ashes where he had requested in the woods. My sons and I built a cairn there. This had always been an important place for both of us—a massive healthy red oak at the top of a knoll in the woods and big trees all around. A group of basswood trees there was always my praying place. But a few months after Vic’s death, I began to visit daily, bring flowers and prayers and leave my grief there. The trees didn’t mind and I was soothed. Vic and I always loved nature, but since his death I find the forest is my healing sanctuary, more than ever before. I meditate, walk in the woods, and love combining spiritual practice with protecting the environment. Jill Swenson: Grief has its own calendar and seasons. How does your spiritual journey allow for those expansions and contractions…