Three Important Deadlines in July

There will be three opportunities for independent booksellers to help create Book Sense Picks lists in July:

• Friday, July 6, is the deadline for nominations for both the September Book Sense Picks list and the Book Sense Banned Books Top Ten list.
• Friday, July 13, is the deadline for nominations for the Fall Children's Picks list.

"Participation in the nomination process by booksellers has been solid and strong through the year," said Dan Cullen, Book Sense Picks editor-in-chief, "but this summer it would be great if we could include more booksellers -- especially those who have not yet nominated to the list, or who have not nominated in a while. With the launch of the redesigned BookWeb.org, it's easier than ever to use the online nomination form to make sure that you have a say in formulating the Picks titles."

Booksellers can use the nomination form, or they can send their nominations in an e-mail to picks@booksense.com.

The September Picks list comes at the beginning of the fall publishing season, and it is an important source of title information for consumers faced with a surfeit of new titles. Booksellers are encouraged to nominate titles that they are especially excited about handselling, especially titles that will be published in August or early September. Nominations don't have to be long, and can be for either fiction or nonfiction. (Staff recommendations written for shelf-talkers, store newsletters, or websites make great Picks nominations.)

The Banned Books Top Ten is timed to allow booksellers to incorporate selected titles in Banned Books Week displays and related events. (Banned Books Week is scheduled this year for September 29 to October 6.) The list aims to highlight outstanding titles (both for adults and for children) that have been banned or challenged in bookstores and/or libraries. Booksellers can nominate either hardcover or paperback titles, frontlist or backlist, for the Banned Books list.

The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 546 book challenges in 2006. (A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.) The list of the 10 most challenged titles includes And Tango Makes Three, Beloved, Athletic Shorts, and The Chocolate War. (More information about banned books is available on the ALA website, www.ala.org.)