Falling for the Gold
It’s officially fall. And for us here at Book Business and many of you, fall can only mean one thing: It’s time for the Gold Ink Awards issue and the 19th annual Gold Ink Awards/Hall of Fame Banquet.
This issue is a favorite of mine to work on—it’s jam-packed with success stories. Every piece that wins a Gold Ink Award, whether Gold, Silver, Bronze or Pewter, is a testament to the complex effort involved in manufacturing a book, something I feel privileged to get a glimpse of.
It’s a unique feeling when you’re sitting on a train or walking through a park, and you see someone reading a Gold Ink Award-winning book or magazine, and you know who published it and printed it, what paper and ink was used, what equipment was used in its production, and the level of skill and craftsmanship with which it was made. It’s just one of those tiny moments that I secretly get a kick out of.
You also know what the book went through to take home its award. The judges (see page 29) take their work so seriously in evaluating each and every one of the 1,500 entries, using loops and light boxes, turning books almost inside out, running their hands along the spines and corners—it almost feels like you’re watching doctors perform a book physical.
After watching the process, you are even more aware that those who take home awards are truly accomplished in their quality and presentation, and I love being able to showcase the winners here in the pages of Book Business and to say congratulations to them for a job exceptionally well done.
While you can’t all be here to experience the judging process, you can now at least get a sneak peak into it—we video-recorded interviews with a handful of this year’s judges. We will be presenting it all on our Web site so you can get a glimpse into what the judges were looking for in the Gold Ink Awards, what made certain pieces stand out from the competition, and other interesting tidbits that you couldn’t have seen before. So, keep an eye out for it on our Web site at BookBusinessMag.com.
