HEADLINE: Indiana Authors Invited to Enter Best Books of Indiana Contest

Annual competition honors Indiana's top books and authors of 2011

INDIANAPOLIS (January 27, 2012) – The Indiana Center for the Book invites Indiana authors and publishers to enter the 2012 Best Books of Indiana Contest. The contest is open to books with original publication in 2011 and must have an Indiana theme, or the author must live or have lived in Indiana. Books must have an ISBN and have been originally published between January 1 and December 31, 2011. Entries must be postmarked or delivered in person by Friday, April 6, 2012.

"Indiana has a long and illustrious literary heritage that includes remarkable Hoosier authors like Gene Stratton Porter, James Whitcomb Riley and Kurt Vonnegut, among countless others," said Roberta Brooker, Indiana State Librarian. "The Best Books of Indiana was created to honor this heritage and it's a privilege to recognize today's leading Hoosier authors."

Categories for this year's competition include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's/young adult. Each category's winning title and author will be engraved on a plaque in the Indiana Authors Room. One copy of each finalist entry will remain housed in the Authors Room indefinitely. Two copies of all 2012 Best Books entries will be added to the State Library's collection. Indiana residents can borrow any Best Books of Indiana title from the State Library or request a copy via interlibrary loan at their local public library.

The entry form, contest guidelines and a complete listing of past Best Books' winners and finalists are available at www.centerforthebook.org.  Interested persons may also contact or recommend titles to the Indiana Center for the Book at icb@library.IN.gov or (317) 234-6566.

About the Indiana Center for the Book:
The Indiana Center for the Book is a program of the Indiana State Library and an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The Center promotes interest in reading, writing, literacy, libraries, and Indiana's literary heritage by sponsoring events and serving as an information resource at the state and local level. The Center also supports both the professional endeavors and the popular pursuits of Indiana's residents toward reading and writing.

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Media Contact: Drew Griffis
agriffis@library.in.gov, 317-650-6158