Poet Lee Woodman Receives International Recognition Through the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD®

Woodman asked to present at BookCAMP 2025 after winning the 2025 Independent Press Award.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD, one of the most prestigious book award programs globally for independent authors, publishers, and illustrators, recognized "SOULSCAPES" by Lee Woodman as a winner in the Poetry category. This year, split between Family/Life/Emotion and Enviroment/Universe, Woodman showed off her brilliance in “SOULSCAPES” taking first place in the Poetry-Universe category.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected IPA Award Winners and Distinguished Favorites are based on overall excellence.

“SOULSCAPES”, the fifth volume in Lee Woodman's "scapes" series, is an exploration of the way we reach for godliness or soul in our lives and relations. As a seeker who admits, discovers, and ponders all gods, the poet has been influenced by aspects of many faiths-Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Judaic, Native American, as well as worldwide tribal beliefs; and she has investigated many areas of spiritual belief and practice-origin stories, spirit animals, tarot, witchcraft, the occult, past lives, lucid dreaming. The poems in this collection express Woodman's dedication to the exploration of both the scientific fact-based world and the magical, mysterious unknown as elements of an ever-growing faith in the oneness of the universe.

In 2025, the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD saw participation from journalists, well established authors, and small, medium and large publishers across the globe, including those residing in Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Winners were chosen from publishers such as Amplify Publishing Group, Black Rose Writing, Blackstone Publishing, BookBaby, Calumet Editions, Globe Pequot, Finishing Line Press, Gatekeepers Press, Hachette Go (Blanco of Grand Central Publishing), HarperCollins Leadership, Ideapress Publishing, IVP Kids, Koehler Books, Mad Cave Studios, North Dakota State University Press, Oceanview, Publishing Old Stone Press, Pegasus Books, Post Hill Press, Red T Kid's Media, Rowman & Littlefield, Shanti Arts, She Writes Press, University of California Press, and University of Georgia Press.

“The 2025 INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD awardees included the excellence and diversity of global independent publishing,” said Gabrielle Olczak, IPA President and Award Sponsor. "There is no stopping independent publishing. It provides unparalleled content and quality to consumers worldwide and we are excited to showcase this year's honorees to the world.”

For more information please visit independentpressaward.com; and to see this year's list of IPA Winners, please visit: https://www.independentpressaward.com/2025winners

Woodman's talents have not gone unnoticed. Impressed with Woodman’s past entries and current win, the publisher Ted Olczak of the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD and NYC Big Book Award magazine (Library of Congress: Online Format: ISSN 2836-9157; and the Print Format: ISSN 2836-9149) requested Woodman to share her marketing expertise and experience at BookCAMP 2025, May 2, 2025.

Woodman's prowess has earned her two sessions during Day One of BookCAMP “Small Press and Writers Day” on May 2nd at the DoubleTree by Hilton at the Newark International Airport. https://www.ipabookcamp.com/

A NEW OFFERING AT BookCAMP: Craft in Tandem with Marketing
Lee Woodman

SESSION ONE
Spotlight on Poetry: How it Relates to Many Genres
Poet Lee Woodman presents a few poems from her “Scapes” collections, leads participants in an intriguing exercise that applies to all genres of writing, and introduces ways of “stringing the pearls,” to attract publishers. Attendees are invited to bring a favorite photo or small object to the session. The focus will be on intense observation. Prompts will spark memories, characters, and places, providing ideas for future poems, scenes, dialogues, and stories.

SESSION TWO
Branding and Outreach: The Secret Life of A Writer
Woodman presents a second session, “Branding and Outreach” at BookCAMP, to share her experience of “How Not to be A Hermit.”

Topics include:
How a Theme Works; Artist Statements about Books; How to Choose Topics; Your Writing Community, Dynamic Websites and Press Kits; Contacts, Inquiries, and Thank You Notes; Radio, Video, and Podcasts.

To learn more about Lee Woodman and her "scapes" series, please visit her website: https://www.poetleewoodman.com

About the Author
Lee Woodman, a philanthropist and advocate for the arts and acclaimed poet, has served the art world and literary arts community as a museum pioneer, educator, business woman, and writer. Known as an award-winning public radio producer at the Library of Congress, and a film and multimedia producer at the Smithsonian Institution, Woodman has used the power of words and images to educate and enlighten broad audiences.

Woodman is the author of the “Scapes” poetry series and winner of 2023 IPA, Independent Press Award, for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry. Her other awards include: the 2020 William Meredith Prize for Poetry, the 2021 Atlantic Review International Poetry Competition Merit Award, and First Prize in Poetry and Prose Contest for Carve Magazine 2022. Her essays and poems have been published in Poet Lore, Tiferet Journal, Zócalo Public Square, Grey Sparrow Press, The Ekphrastic Review, vox poetica, The New Guard Review, The Concord Monitor, The Hill Rag, Naugatuck River Review, and The Broadkill Review. A Pushcart nominee, she received an Individual Poetry Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY 2019 and FY 2020, and a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship in March 2022. Her poetry collection, Mindscapes, was published by Poets’ Choice Publishing in 2020, Homescapes in 2020 by Finishing Line Press, Lifescapes by Kelsay Books in 2021, Artscapes by Shanti Arts in 2022, and Soulscapes by Shanti Arts in 2023. Woodman has been a featured guest on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including The Authors Show, Goodnews Broadcasting, Rodger Nichols, Steve Maggi, and Cyrus Webb. She has just signed her contract for her sixth poetry collection, Colorscapes.

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The Independent Press Award is announced every spring and is open to independent authors and publishers.

The fall book competition, NYC Big Book Award, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/ allows all authors, publishers, and includes submissions from the big five publishers.

Join us for the Awards Dinner on May 3rd, and at the BookCAMP event, May 2 - 4, 2025, https://www.independentpressaward.com/ipabookcamp or more details at https://www.ipabookcamp.com/

Gabby Olczak
Independent Press Award
+1 973-969-1899
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