March, 29, 2004

For immediate release
Contact: Ravay Snow-Renner
Telephone: (303) 347-2869
Email: ravay@snowboundpress.com

COLORADO AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR WINS NATIONAL CONTEST

Hildegarde and the Great Green Shirt Factory, Ravay Snow’s first picture book about a creative sheep, took the Writer’s Notes magazine's first place award for children’s books in 2004. The contest, which focuses on titles by small, independent, and self publishers, recognized Hildegarde for its excellence in the children’s category.

Ravay Snow works out of Littleton, Colorado and formed her own company, Snowbound Press, to publish books she and her brother have written and illustrated. “The Writer’s Notes award helped to validate my emphasis on quality.“ she noted. “I hadn’t submitted the manuscript to big publishers – in fact, I had never even considered that! I wanted more control over the process, which was why I started the company. Of course, now there are new challenges, like getting press and letting people know about this great book!”

To that end, Snow has begun scheduling visits to Denver-area schools in conjunction with a school fund-raiser the company’s developed. Second-graders, she reports, are loving the book – and they are diving into writing and illustrating their own stories after hearing her presentations. She has also started an author tour around the West, beginning with an event at Once Again Books in Nederland this weekend.

Reviews of the book, press releases, and more information about Snowbound Press are available at www.snowboundpress.com. A brief list of the winners of the Writer’s Notes competition can be found at http://hopepubs.home.comcast.net/winners.html.

--30--