Hate Mail takes Gold at the 2008 PubWest Book Design Awards

Congratulations are in order for m. m. garcia’s Hate Mail, the gold medal winner in the Gift/Holiday/Specialty Book category of the 2008 PubWest Book Design Awards. Recipients will be recognized at Publisher’s Association of the West’s National Publishing Conference, November 13-15, 2008, in Portland, Oregon. Award-winning books will also be on display in the PubWest booth at Book Expo America, June 1-3, 2008, in Los Angeles, California. Hate Mail is available at bookstores nationwide and on Amazon.com.

“Hate Mail is the debut title for Dame Rocket Press, so this award is significant for our company on many levels,” says Jen Weaver-Neist, publisher of Dame Rocket Press. “It continues to be a popular title for us, in huge part due to the design and packaging. Winning the gold medal just reinforces our confidence in this powerful little book.”

Hate Mail is comprised of eight short stories that help the reader say “I hate you” with courage and poise. Each story is followed by a bound-in envelope containing an “anti-greeting card” that punctuates the message of the story. The 7″ x 5″ trim size allows for a letter-shaped design, and the concealed Wire-O binding gives Hate Mail a sturdy, chunky quality that lends it extra gift-book appeal.

“The cards have proven to be such a hit, that we’ve received feedback from readers requesting replacement cards because they’ve actually mailed some of them. This is an interesting, somewhat pleasant problem to have!” says Allison Collins, Director of Marketing. She follows this up by announcing that Dame Rocket Press is considering creating a line of anti-greeting cards to be sold separately.

“We hope this award is the first of many for this title. All signs indicate that Hate Mail will continue to quell the public’s anger for years to come.”

Dame Rocket Press, an imprint of Ink & Paper Group, publishes works that emphasize pioneers in all walks of life and time. From nonfiction biographies to children’s books and women’s stories, Dame Rocket seeks to share the voice of lived experience.

For more information about Hate Mail or Dame Rocket Press, please contact Allison Collins, Director of Marketing.

Read the full list of winners:

The PubWest Book Design Awards took place in Portland, Oregon, on April 12. Ink & Paper Group accepted PubWest’s invitation to help judge more than one hundred book entries for excellence in typography, jacket/cover design, interior design, format, selection of materials used, and printing and binding production quality.

Ink & Paper Group proudly submitted Dame Rocket’s very own Hate Mail for the Gift Book category, and we are delighted to report that it won the gold medal! (All judges were recused from judging books they had a hand in creating.)

Bowler Hat Comics publisher Bo Johnson commented, “It was such a thrill to see so many well-crafted books gathered in one room-and difficult not to abscond with them at the end of the day. More than anything, it was great to see some truly fantastic design innovations that might very well one day work themselves into an Ink & Paper product or two.”

Representing Ink & Paper Group as judges were Allison Collins, Bo Björn Johnson, Linda Meyer, and Jen Weaver-Neist.

For more information and a complete listing of the contest winners, please see the full PubWest press release.