Who Wins the Prize?

It's that time of the year again, when every independent publisher and author ( who submitted a project) keeps checking for the announcements of the Independent Publisher Award committee.
It must be happening right now… today, or maybe tomorrow… the excitement and anxiety is nearly palpable on twitter.

Twice now, books that I've written were among the winners, in 2012 and 2013, so you can imagine that I'm not expecting to win anything this year. In fact, I don't even know if my publisher Buddhapuss Ink even submitted Song of the Storm. After all, no one wins three times in a row.

But that's not really what I wanted to write about.
Both times, when my books were winners, my publisher told me, "It's all YOUR achievement! YOU wrote the books!"
And every time I replied, "Yes, but they'd never be published if not for you and my editor at Buddhapuss!"
They never accept the credit. And yet, I know I'm right.
If Buddhapuss Ink hadn't literally grabbed my first book, The Distant Shore, out of my hesitant hands, I'd not be an author today, and even less, an award-winning author. They turned a messy, much too long something into an award-winning novel. They designed the cover, they put the book on the market.
And they did the same for my other books, Under the Same Sun and Song of the Storm.

So what I'm trying to say is, those awards, they're not only my achievement.
They are just as much my publisher's achievement. If anyone deserves to put that award certificate on their walls, it's them.
I can hold those two books in my hands and run my fingers over those award stickers on their covers, and I smile, because I know how lucky I am, to have been signed by the publisher who is just right for me.
And today, on the eve of the 2014 Independent Publisher Awards, I want to give a big shoutout to my editor at Buddhapuss Ink, MaryChris Bradley, and say thank you for an amazing and fun time together.
I hope we'll work together for many, many years to come, my dear!