BTW News Briefs

2008 Bellwether Prize Winner Announced

Heidi W. Durrow of Los Angeles has been named the 2008 winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction. Durrow will receive the $25,000 award for her unpublished novel, and the opportunity to work with an editor at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. The Bellwether Prize, which was established by Barbara Kingsolver, is awarded biennially to a promising first-time novelist working in the tradition of socially engaged literature.

The winning novel, Light-Skinned-ed Girl, is the story of a young woman's coming of age, complicated by society's ideas of race, beauty, and intelligence. A panel of judges selected the winning manuscript from a national pool of entries. Durrow is a graduate of Stanford University, Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, and Yale Law School. She is the co-founder of the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival in Los Angeles, which celebrates the stories of the multi-racial experience.

The Bellwether Prize was established by Barbara Kingsolver and is the only major North American prize that specifically advocates literary fiction addressing issues of social justice.

Ingram Book Group Launches Podcast Sites

Ingram Book Company and Ingram Library Services have announced the launch of podcast sites specifically designed to target the interests of booksellers and librarians. Kim Reynolds, Ingram's vice president for marketing, reported that author interviews to be featured on the podcasts are scheduled to occur in the Ingram booth #809 on the main floor level at BookExpo in the Los Angeles Convention Center. Ingram's first author interview is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 30. Attendees are invited to observe the interviews and, time permitting, submit questions for the authors, who include Dr. Ruth, George Hamilton, and Marty Stuart.

Joe Reynolds, vice president and general manager for Ingram Library Services, explained that the podcasts are a special feature of interact, the new online community powered by Ingram. Author interviews will be conducted live at BEA and then made available for librarians and booksellers to enjoy worldwide via podcast.

The podcasts can be found at www.ingramlibrary.com/interact or www.ingrambook.com/interact. An interview with Barbara Walters, discussing her new book Audition (Knopf ), is already available on those websites.

Sorcerer's Stone Special Anniversary Edition to be Released September 23

On May 20, Scholastic announced that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first book in J.K. Rowling's record-breaking series, will be released in a special anniversary edition on September 23. The book will feature exclusive bonus material from J.K. Rowling, as well as new cover art and a four-color frontispiece by Mary GrandPre. The special anniversary cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine; $30) depicts 11-year-old Harry looking into the Mirror of Erised, which Harry comes across in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and learns that the mirror shows you what you most desire.

B&N to Buy Borders?

According to a number of published reports, Barnes & Noble is considering making a bid for Borders Group, Inc. According to BusinessWeek, experts believe a deal could lift B&N's bottom line at a potential acquisition price of "well over $1 billion," including debt.

However, the article noted that investors are concerned whether the merger of the top two national book chains would create antitrust issues. "Former government regulators say the question will come down to just how national the book market has become," BusinessWeek wrote, and pointed out that the growth of Amazon and increasing book sales at large discounters like Wal-Mart "could provide enough cover to let the once unimaginable deal gain approval."

"There may be a lot of complaining but at the end of the day, it's highly unlikely it would be enough to block it," Michael McFalls, an attorney at Jones Day in Washington, D.C., who worked at the Federal Trade Commission from 1997 to 2000, told BusinessWeek.

AAP Launches "Get Caught Listening" Audiobook Campaign

On May 19, the Association of American Publishers announced the launch of a new audiobook extension to its "Get Caught Reading" public awareness reading campaign. "Get Caught Listening," the trade association's newest public awareness initiative, extols the particular pleasures of listening to books in audiobook format. The campaign will be celebrated during audiobook events at BookExpo America 2008 in Los Angeles, which will lead into National Audiobooks Month in June.

The cornerstone of Get Caught Listening incorporates both pre-recorded audio voiceovers of traditional and celebrity authors sharing their passion for audiobooks, complemented by a print campaign of those authors "getting caught" listening to their favorite book in audio format. Members of the American Booksellers Association's Book Sense program will receive kits with posters and other materials to aid them in enlisting the support of their local radio stations and encouraging them to run the PSA's, and in expanding publicity for their stores.

Video or audio recordings of the authors recording their voiceovers will also air on the AAP's Get Caught Reading website, which will have a placemark for the AAP's Get Caught Listening program at www.getcaughtreading.org/listening.

Markus Dohle to Head Bertelsmann AG's Random House Unit

Bertelsmann AG has chosen Markus Dohle, the current head of Bertelsmann's Arvato Print, the company's successful printing operation, to head up its Random House unit, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The move could result in a "shake up" of the "big and influential book-publishing business" a person familiar with the situation told WSJ. Dohle is 39-years-old and is succeeding Peter Olson.

The article reported that Random House's revenue fell six percent in 2007, with operating profit down five percent from 2006. WSJ speculated that "bringing in someone like Mr. Dohle, who hasn't worked in the book-publishing industry, could inject fresh ideas to expand the business and the brand.

Mark Pitts Joins Lightning Source Inc.

Lightning Source Inc. has announced that Mark W. Pitts has been appointed to the new position of vice president of sales for the Americas. Pitts joins Lightning Source from Glatfelter Co., headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. Pitts will lead Lightning's sales team for the Americas reporting to David Taylor, senior vice president of global sales for Lightning Source Inc. and managing director of Lightning Source UK. Before joining Lightning Source, Pitts served most recently as the director of Glatfelter's Book Publishing Papers business unit since 2006.