XYP takes home the award!

Greetings at 4:02 AM!

Hazel Mills and I are just returning from Harlem, New York, and we had a blast! We would have been back sooner, but we spent an hour riding around New York, LOST! We could not figure out how to get out of that city. We felt like bees trapped in a jar, with no way out. The Lincoln Tunnel was the honey, and we couldn't find it to save our lives.

The 2008 African American Literary Awards Show was absolutely wonderful. Yvette Hayward and her committee members did the damn thing! You hear me? If you've never had the opportunity to attend, please try and do so next year, even if you're not nominated. It's truly an event that we should support 100%. The networking alone was priceless! Oh, and the goody bags! Ah, and the food and tasty deserts, and the WINE! The celebrities...fantastic!

So, now on to the good news. Xpress Yourself Publishing won the award for Independent Publishing House of the Year! I was a bumbling idiot, I know! LOL I was so nervous. There was a serious spotlight on the podium and I couldn't see squat. And, to make it easier for me, I said, "I'd like to thank the Academy." Yes, I got a few chuckles, but it didn't lessen my nervousness, that's for sure. All I could do was cry and thank God and my mama, as well as my XYP family! And, my dear friend, and partner in crime, William Fredrick Cooper presented me with the award. That really meant the world to me.

All winners received a 12-inch-wide, about 10 inches thick, glass shaped book with beautiful inscriptions. It's HEAVY and HUGE and could be used as a weapon if you're walking down the dark streets alone!

I sincerely want to thank my XYP family, for without them, none of this would be possible. One person cannot build a publishing house alone. It takes a team, and I do indeed have a great team! I know I act like the Mama Hen, giving them a hard way to go, from time to time, but great things are coming in 2009. They promote XYP more than I do, and I can't ask for any more than that! A special thank you to Makenzi, for stepping in and taking over the role of Author Relations, and for being my right, and sometimes my left, hand. You're the best!!

A genuine thank you to everyone who voted for Xpress Yourself Publishing. There were many of you who did not know me, or Xpress Yourself Publishing, from a hole in the wall, but you voted because of your friendship with my sisters, cousins, other family members and the XYP authors. Thank you, thank you and thank you one million times over!

Thank you to my BV (Black Voices) family for turning out in droves and voting for Xpress Yourself Publishing. Your support and kindness overwhelmed my heart, and was very much appreciated.

Thank you Ella Curry of EDC-Creations.com for email blasting to your entire database, rallying up votes for Xpress Yourself Publishing. Ella, you are a true gem, and a fantastic publicist for Xpress Yourself Publishing, and a sincere confidant. Thank you!

Oh, yes, and I would publicly like to thank my sisters: Valerie, Sheila, and especially Colleen and Jacqueline for being a great support system and for stepping in to take care of Dad while I'm off doing my book thing. I truly love my sisters!

Okay, off to bed. Have to make the donuts in the morning and prepare for the Baltimore Book Festival this weekend.

Jessica Tilles
Award-Winning Publisher, Xpress Yourself Publishing
www.xpressyourselfpublishing.org