BTW News Briefs

Julian Barnes Wins Man Booker Prize

On Tuesday, October 18, Julian Barnes was named the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Sense of an Ending, published in the U.K. by Jonathan Cape and in the U.S. by Knopf.

Barnes was shortlisted for the £50,000 prize three times in the past, for Arthur and George (2005), England, England (1998), and Flaubert’s Parrot (1984).

The Sense of an Ending “is the story of a seemingly ordinary man who, when revisiting his past in later life, discovers that the memories he holds are less than perfect. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, this is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers,” said the Man Booker judges in a release.

Lauren Myracle’s Shine Withdrawn From National Book Awards

On Wednesday, October 12, due to a mistake on the part of National Book Foundation staff, Lauren Myracle’s Shine (Amulet) was named as a Young Adult finalist for the 2011 National Book Awards. On Friday, the 14th, Myracle “was asked to withdraw by the National Book Foundation to preserve the integrity of the award and the judges’ work,” and after thinking about it over the weekend, she agreed to do so, according to a release from her publisher. In recognition of its mistake, NBF agreed to donate $5,000 to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which works to protect and foster acceptance of gay youth.

In a Q&A with Vanity Fair Daily, published on October 18, Myracle said she felt gutted, embarrassed, and ashamed about being asked to withdraw from the running for this year’s prize.

Ingram to Distribute Nolo, Coutts to Service Singapore Libraries

On Tuesday, October 18, Ingram Publisher Services announced that it had signed a deal to handle sales, marketing, and distribution for Nolo, a provider of plain-English legal information and products for consumers and businesses. Ingram will begin distributing Nolo titles on January 29, 2012.

In other news this week, Coutts, Ingram’s academic library services and supply division, has signed to provide content and materials to the National Library Board Singapore and its network of 24 public libraries, as well as the National Library Singapore.  

Ingram will provide NLB with English-language printed materials from a variety of genres, including adult fiction and nonfiction, materials for children and young adults, mass market and reference materials. In collaboration with a local company, Advance Library Services, Ingram will also provide shelf ready services including local cataloging, processing as well as delivery for all of these materials.

New York Times Examines Effects of Amazon’s Publishing Programs

Last Sunday, the New York Times “Technology” section looked at how Amazon’s print and e-book publishing programs, which will release 122 titles this fall, are affecting traditional publishers, agents, and the book industry as a whole.

“If you’re a bookstore, Amazon has been in competition with you for some time,” Richard Curtis, an agent and e-book publisher, told the Times. “If you’re a publisher, one day you wake up and Amazon is competing with you too. And if you’re an agent, Amazon may be stealing your lunch because it is offering authors the opportunity to publish directly and cut you out. It’s an old strategy: divide and conquer.”

BEA Announces Read Russia as Focus of Global Market Forum

More than 40 Russian author and translators will take part in Read Russia 2012 in New York City in conjunction with BookExpo America next spring. Russia will be the country of focus of attention at BEA’s Global Market Forum, from June 5 – 7, and BEA will figure prominently into Read Russia 2012.

The Read Russia 2012 program, sponsored by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication and Media under the direction of Vladimir Grigoriev, will feature translation grants for the publication of contemporary and classical Russian literature in English, author tours for leading Russian writers and their publishers, a major exhibition on children’s book art, and a traveling film series and a new documentary television project about Russian literature.

The creation of a Russian institute of translation as well as awards to popularize and foster translations for both Russian contemporary and classic prose and poetry will be among the highlights of the cultural and professional programming for the Global Market Forum 2012.