Devon Author Wows Judges to Win Coveted B.R.A.G Medallion Award'
An ex-Tiverton student’s debut novel has been selected to receive a prestigious US award aimed at highlighting excellence in independently published books.
Katie Ward’s novel ‘The Pretender’ won the coveted B.R.A.G Medallion Award (Book Readers Appreciation Group) after a rigorous review process looking at the quality of the book’s plot, writing style, characterisation, cover, dialogue and copy editing to name a few. The ten-strong reading panel was then required to give unanimous agreement for the award to be bestowed. Only a fraction of submitted books is eligible to receive the award.
Speaking of her achievement, the former East Devon College and Mid Devon Gazette work placement student said: “I am delighted that my debut novel ‘The Pretender’ has received the B.R.A.G Medallion Award. This is one of the most prestigious quality awards an independent author can receive. So, the fact it scored highly in all areas is incredible. The quality of my book has always been of paramount importance to me and to be given an award that recognises that means I achieved exactly what I set out to do.”
Originally planning to be a journalist, Katie completed a degree in journalism at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. After finishing university, Katie decided to move to Dublin where she entered a competition being run on RTE’s Seoige and O’Shea show.
The story submitted was one that Katie had originally written when she was 14 when she was inspired by an article in her favourite teen magazine. Katie’s story was selected to be published in an anthology called “Do the Write Thing’ and reached the Irish Bestsellers List. A few months after this, Katie was also shortlisted for a competition run by Metro Eireann and judged by MAN Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle whom she got to meet.
Katie moved back to Devon in 2007 and now lives on the outskirts of Exeter.
All books that carry the B.R.A.G medallion sticker are guaranteed to be quality assured reads, giving consumers peace of mind that these books are worth both their time and their money.
‘The Pretender’ is available to buy now via Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions.
Visit the interview here: https://www.devonlive.com/news/local-news/devon-author-wows-judges-win-2846654