Steven Burchik

Compass and a Camera Wins Silver Medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards

 

The book, Compass and a Camera, A Year in Vietnam , was chosen from nearly 6,000 entries from around the world.  The Silver Medal award was announced at the 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards ceremony in New York on May 27.  The awards ceremony took place during the annual BookExpo America publishing convention in New York.

 

The Independent Publisher award (also known as the "IPPY") was for the category Autobiography/Memoir III (personal struggle).  This marks the first international book award for author Steven Burchik.

 

This was the 19th annual "IPPY" awards event with the purpose of spotlighting the year's best independently published books.  The Independent Publisher Book Awards were conceived in 1996 as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry and "...are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent...titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing".

 

Author Steven Burchik was honored to receive the award.  

 

"Vietnam veterans were often ignored and sometimes vilified because of their participation in America's most unpopular war.  It took me more than forty-five years to come to terms with the personal impact of that experience and finally, with the encouragement of some very special people, write down the daily account of my year in Vietnam.  This medal is dedicated to all of the service men and women who fought there and who continue to live with the impact of that experience today.  I also owe a special thank you to my wife, Christina, who supported me while I was overseas, who saved all of my letters, and who served as the editor who made this book worthy of a medal".