Jodi Decker – another winner!
Jodi Decker was awarded Honorable Mention in the Specialty Articles, History category in the A-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest for her essay in The Stars in Your Family: The Southern California Genealogical Society Anthology. Congratulations, Jodi!
Jodi and other winners will be recognized at our May 14 State Conference in Scottsdale. (see tab above for details and to register.)
Competition in the At-large contest was strong with entries from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.
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- Jodi Decker
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- The Stars in Your Family
Jody Sharpe – 3rd place winner!
Jody Sharpe won third place in Fantasy in the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest! She won for her book, Town of Angels Christmas. Congratulations, Jody!
There was strong competition in the At-Large division with entrants from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.
Jody and the other APW members who won awards in the contest will be honored at our annual State Conference on May 14 at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. Besides our business meeting and honoring winners, we’ll have two excellent speakers, a salad lunch and a private docent-led tour of the museum. (Free parking is available.) See the tab above for details and to register. Both members and guests are welcome.
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- Jody Sharpe
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- Jody Sharpe – Town of Angels Christmas
Chrisann Dawson – two awards!
In the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest, Chrisann Dawson won 2nd in General Non-fiction for her devotional, Principles and Proverbs from Pride and Prejudice. And she received an honorable mention for her novel in the Fiction for Adult Readers category, Congo Crisis.
Chrisann will be recognized at the 2022 APW State Conference on May 14 (see tab above) and will be selling her books at the Payson Book Festival on July 23.
This year’s At-large division of the Communications Contest had strong entries from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.
Congratulations, Chrisann!
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- 2021 winner!
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- Chrisann Dawson
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- Chrisann Dawson – Congo Crisis
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- Chrisann Dawson – Principles and Proverbs from Pride and Prejudice
Bobbie Bennett – multiple awards!
APW member Bobbie Bennett won four awards in the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest. The awards were for the February 2021 edition of the Beaver Valley Bulletin, the community newsletter she regularly edits and writes for.
Bobbie’s awards included 2nd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; 3rd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; and two honorable mentions for Publication regularly written by entrant. The At-large division was extremely competitive this year with entrants from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.
Good job, Bobbie! The Bulletin is chock full of news pertinent to this Arizona community and is clearly a labor of love.
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- 2021 winner!
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- Bobbie Bennett
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- February 2021 edition
Brad Graber – another 1st place winner!
Brad Graber was the second of three First Place winners from APW in the At-large division of the NFPW 2021 Communications Contest!’
Boca by Moonlight won first place in the category “Fiction for adult readers.”
Brad’s book will go on to the national level of judging. National award winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the NFPW National Communications Conference Awards banquet to be held in Fargo, ND June 23-25 plus be recognized at our state conference on May 14. Entries from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain competed in the At-large division.
Brad is the afternoon speaker at our State Conference. His talk is ” THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES: THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIFTING OUR MINDSET.” Find out how his tips could help you create an award-winning book too! Click on the tab above or go to https://arizonaprofessionalwriters.org/2022-apw-state-conference/
Jan Cleere – 1st place winner!
Jan Cleere is one of three First Place winners in the At-large division of the NFPW 2021 Communications Contest!
Jan won 1st place in the Books, Biography or History category. Her entry, Military Wives in Arizona Territory: A History of Women Who Shaped the Frontier, will go on to the national level of judging. National award winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the NFPW National Communications Conference Awards banquet to be held in Fargo, ND June 23-25.
Accord to Teri Ehresman, contest director , “We had an extremely competitive at-large contest again this year. We had strong entries from entrants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Spain, Washington D.C. and Washington state.”
Congratulations, Jan, and good luck!
APW wins big in the At-large contest!
Arizona winners in the 2021 At-large NFPW communications contest
From Teri Ehresman, Contest Director: “You have an outstanding number of winners again this year in the NFPW at-large communications contest.”
Bobbi Bennett – 2nd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; 3rd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; two honorable mentions for Publication regularly written by entrant
Wynne Brown — Honorable Mention, Books, Biography or History
Jan Cleere — 1st place, Books, Biography or History
Chrisann Dawson – 2nd place, general fiction; Honorable Mention, Fiction for adult readers
Jodi Decker — Honorable Mention, Specialty Articles, History
Marie Fasano — 2nd place, photo/writer; 2nd place, Informational Column, 2nd place, Feature story
Rebecca Goodrich — 1st place, Short Stories
Brad Graber – 1st place, Fiction for adult readers
Janelle Molony – Honorable mention, specialty articles, history
Jody Sharpe — 3rd place, Novellas
We had an extremely competitive at-large contest again this year. We had strong entries from entrants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Spain, Washington D.C. and Washington state.
Congratulations to all! First place winners in their category move onto the national contest.
Ten benefits for joining APW
APW Benefits
- Meet and exchange ideas with local authors.
- One or two virtual meetings a month with a local speaker on a writing or publishing topic.
- Join the APW Book Club where read and review each other’s work (email Karen Lateiner kslateiner@gmail.com)
- Ability to use APW Zoom for book presentations or other writing-related meetings. (Contact Marie Fasano mafasano1@gmail.com or Jaimie Bruzenak calamityjaimie@gmail.com
- Enter the At-large contest for the National Federation of Press Women. First place winners go on to the national level. Many categories for these prestigious awards. See https://www.nfpw.org/professional-contest We had several winners at the At-large contest. Dianne Beaff and Wynne Brown won awards at the national level.
- Post on our Facebook page more than once about your book. (Nonmembers are limited to one post.) Share your new publications, wins and writing events.
- Keep up on local book and writing events in Arizona.
- Your book listed in the Holiday Bazaar before Christmas. Listed at least once on FB that it is there. (Email Jaimie Bruzenak calamityjaimie@gmail.com)
Additional National Federation of Press Women benefits
- Premium professional members of NFPW have access to discounted libel insurance through its group policy.
- NFPW focuses on and working to support the First Amendment. https://nfpw.memberclicks.net/the-first-amendment-network
Entries are open – NFPW Communications Contest!
Entries for the 2022 NFPW Communications Contest may be submitted starting today, October 1. You can avoid the late fee by getting your entry in now!
The National Federation of Press Women’s 2022 Professional Communications Contest
Entries for the 2022 contest must be published or broadcast in some format between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2021.
The NFPW professional contest is a two-tiered contest. Entrants first enter a state level contest in the state they live in or are a member of, People living in a state without a state contest, are encouraged to enter the at-large contest. When entries warrant in the at-large contest, the contest may be split into regions to create a more level playing field. APW members enter the at-large contest.
First-place winners in the state-level contest and the at-large contests are eligible to move to the national level of judging. To be eligible for compete in the national level, the entrant must be a member in good standing with the National Federation of Press Women. Unless the affiliate contest requires membership to participate, the entrants can join NFPW once they learn of their winning status. The deadline to join to compete in the national contest is March 15, 2022.
The professional contest deadlines are:
- Entry deadline — January 19, 2022 at noon in the entrant’s time zone (the first entry submitted by an entrant after this deadline will be charged a $25 fee)
- Winners must be NFPW members — March 15, 2022
- National winners announced and honored at NFPW conference in June 2022
President’s Page – July 2021
April was a month packed full of activity. First of all, Welcome! I’m Connie Cockrell, newly elected President for the Arizona Professional Writers. The biggest event was the April 17th Virtual State Conference. In our short business meeting, we elected new officers. I was elected President, Marie Fasano steps into the Past President role, Bobbie Bennett remains Vice President, and Brenda Whiteside remains Secretary.
Most importantly, we are in need of a Membership Director and a Treasurer. These are vital positions in any organization. Both areas are in good shape, we just need a couple of people to see the value in keeping our organization vibrant by stepping up to volunteer. You can contact me at connie.cockrell@gmail.com to talk about it.
June was the National Federation of Press Women virtual conference. In the national contest, Dianne Beeaff from Tucson, won second place in the category Collection of Short Stories, with her book titled On Traigh Lar Beach. See her website for info on the book. Wynne Brown, also of Tucson, won second place for the category Newsletter, Web, and Social Media. Her entry, Personal, The Sara Lemmon Project can be found at her website or contact her at wynne@wynnebrown.com. Congratulations to both as there were thousands of entries nationwide making competition very high.
Our Communicator of Achievement, Marie Fasano, attended the NFPW virtual award ceremony. We’re sorry to say that she didn’t win. Sherri Burris was selected. You can find her details at NFPW. Congratulations to Ms. Burris.
July features the Payson Book Festival. It is July 17th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino from 9am to 3:30pm. We have over 70 authors this year. We’ll have a shortened children’s program in the morning and entertainment by Marshall Trimble, Buckshot Dot, and a panel of Grand Canyon experts scheduled for the afternoon. I do hope you can make it to the festival even if you aren’t a “seller”. It will be a great time to catch up!
Speaking of the book festival, we’re doing a lot of posting on our Facebook pages for both APW and the book festival. Take a look at those pages and share the posts. Lots of people sharing creates a big boost in the number of people who get to see the post. It’s an easy way for you to get to know the authors appearing and to help us drive attendance to the festival. Payson Book Festival Facebook page and Arizona Professional Writers Facebook page.
That’s it for July. Everyone stay safe, enjoy the summer, and hope to see you at the book festival!
Connie Cockrell
APW President
Arizona Professional Writers 