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U Star Novels, the UK’s first adventure romance novel with a twist… you are the star, was announced as a winner of the ‘Business Plan of the Year’ category at the Startups Awards ceremony and luncheon on Friday 20 October, 2006.
The Startups Awards, organised by Crimson Business’ Startups.co.uk, comprised of 15 categories, each showcasing the best new businesses in the UK.
The judges were impressed with U Star Novel’s unique concept and potential, placing the business among 52 finalists selected from over 450 entries.
The judges said:
“Katie Olver is arguably the bravest of this year’s winners. Her business plan is unconventional, and wouldn’t make a model business plan for others to copy. Yet despite that the judges felt strongly that it was the plan which achieved its objective by far the best, namely to persuade potential investors to want to learn more. Her business, U Star Novels, is also unconventional, publishing personalised erotic fiction, where customers’ partner could be written in as the star of various erotic tales. Already a successful category in America, erotic fiction is also one of the fastest growing sectors of book publishing in Britain, and Katie’s plan is bold, original and impressive. She broke some rules with her plan, but achieved her aim - which is so often what being an entrepreneur is all about.” |
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U Star Novels was delighted to be named as a Finalist in the Spinvox Innovation & Creativity category at the Sharp Edge Awards 2007.
The inaugural Sharp Edge magazine awards were organised by Dragons’ Den judge Duncan Bannantyne and boutique publishers Jack Spaniels.
Designed to celebrate entrepreneurial excellence across every field, Duncan Bannatyne said: “I am delighted to be hosting this inaugural Awards event with my magazine for entrepreneurs, The Sharp Edge. The Awards will recognise outstanding achievement among the UK’s growing wave of successful and innovative entrepreneurs. Some are developing leading edge business models using new technologies while others are simply beating established competitors through better focus or customer service. I’m passionate about encouraging people to take a risk and start a business and I hope this Awards event will help show just what can be done if you have the will.” |
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Our printers, Chichester based RPM Print and Design has confirmed its position as one of the premier digital printers of short-run and print-on-demand books in the UK by winning an honourable mention in a prestigious worldwide award in the Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging Awards (PIXI) 2007 which drew over five hundred entries from across the globe.
The annual PIXI Awards recognise excellence and innovation in digital printing applications. Independently judged by leading industry experts, the awards spotlight true digital innovators — those who succeed by creating superior marketing and variable information communications, books, and manuals in black and white and colour. This programme also recognises the valuable and productive relationships established between clients, creatives and their printers.
RPM were competing with over five hundred entries from around the World and succeeded in wining an honourable mention for the production of the innovative personalised novels produced by U Star.
RPM design and print the U Star novels using the latest in digital printing. Jonathan Harry, Managing Director of RPM, collected the award at a ceremony held in Chicago. He says, ‘This is a fantastic achievement and we are delighted with the recognition this award gives us. We have a team of experts within the company who are specialists in every field of short-run book production and personalisation techniques, and a track record now of many years of short-run book printing for publishers and self publishers. This award consolidates our position as one of the most innovative and leading companies in this field.’ |
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