In the April SNAG newsletter, there’s an announcement about a “Best
of Artists and Artisans” competition which reads in part as follows:
“Kennedy Promotions is producing a unique new book series: 100+
winners featured in beautiful hardcover books for each state, listed
on the internet with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders, and up to
$10,000 in national cash prizes. $25/3 slides …”
The states called for are NY, NC, PA, CA, AZ, TX, WV, with a Sept. 1
deadline; and there’s a reference to http://www.bestofartists.com
I spent some time on the website and learned that Kennedy Promotions
is an offshoot of KAMG which is an artist management company of five
years standing. They say their “first project, Impressions of Life
in the Historic Triangle, will be available through Amazon.com,
BarnesandNoble.com, and Borders.com first quarter of 2005.” I
checked Amazon.com and couldn’t find it. I also noticed that nowhere
in all the provided does it mention who will publish the
books and/or when they are projected to be released. I sent an email
asking about publishers and release dates and received this reply
from Carolyn Henry “East Coast Director”:
“Kennedy Promotions is working with a couple of independent
publishing companies, to produce a beautiful high quality, full
color, large format, hard cover and/or soft cover book. The time line
for the books are determined by how many entries for each state, and
other variables. Our goal is to have them out by eight to Ten months
after the deadline date.”
The response seems somewhat vague to me. So I am wondering if any
of you have any knowledge of this competition, the people behind it
or any other relevant My cynical side says that at $25
per application (considering that they’re soliciting both fine
artists and craft artists of all kinds), the promoters could make a
lot of money on poor quality books that are never promoted beyond
“quarterly newsletters to our private list of art collectors and
galleries all around the world.”
The not-so-cynical side says, what have you got to lose besides $25
and some time. Then again, $25 is a great meal at California Pizza
Kitchen and time is precious!
Beth
