In the recently announced 1999 Diamond Gem Awards, Oni Press was honoredwith the Best Publisher With Under 5% Marketshare Award. This marks thesecond year in a row that Oni has received accolades from Diamond andthe retailers who vote for the awards, having won best new publisher in1998.

“This is truly an honor,” commented Oni Publisher Joe Nozemack. “It’sbeen a great year for us in terms of doing the comics we’ve wanted todo, and to have this kind of acclaim come on the end of it is reallygratifying. The retailers have gone out of their way to support us thisyear. We know some companies have sold more than us, and it means a lotthat more stores are throwing their weight behind Oni.”

“Often, we work in a vacuum,” added editor in chief Jamie S. Rich. “Weknow there are people out there who like the books and who enjoy them,but we don’t always know the full extent of it. This is a realexpression of how much retailers – who are usually the biggest fans -understand and like Oni’s product. This is perhaps the best validationwe could receive. If I could go around and thank every single one whovoted for us, I would.”

“This really lights a fire under us to maintain the quality of ourline,” concluded Nozemack. “Now that we’ve earned your faith and trust, we need to make sure we hang onto it. Expect bigger and brighter things from us in 1999, and we hope you’ll want to put our names on the ballot again next year.”