BTW News Briefs

ABFFE Opposes Bill to Confiscate Blagojevich Book Advance

This week, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) joined other book and media groups in opposing a bill in the Illinois legislature that would force former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to forfeit an advance he will receive for writing a book. "The people of Illinois certainly have a right to be angry at Blagojevich, but the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that government threatens free speech when it attempts to punish people for what they say -- even convicted felons," said ABFFE President Chris Finan in a statement.

In early March, Blagojevich announced that he had signed a contract worth "six-figures" for a book exposing "the dark side" of state and national politics. Phoenix Books is publishing the book later this year. Incensed that the disgraced governor might be profiting from illegal conduct, an Illinois legislator introduced a bill that requires a public official convicted of a crime to forfeit money received for any published account of it.

ABFFE expressed its opposition to House Bill 4078 in a letter to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and members of the House Committee on State Government.

SBA Upgrades Podcast Resources for Small Businesses; Gets Increased Funding From Omnibus Appropriations Act

The Small Business Administration (SBA) this week announced that it had upgraded its podcasts to offer additional resources to the nation's entrepreneurs. The SBA podcasts, available online at sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/Podcasts/index.html, provide an introduction to a variety of small business topics, useful business information, and advice.

In other news, the Omnibus Appropriations Act signed into law by President Obama will give SBA the authority to back $17.5 billion for the 7(a) and $7.5 billion for the 504 loan programs, the largest sources of long-term capital for small businesses. In addition, it provides $2.5 million in funding to leverage more than $21 million in microloans and $20 million for microloan technical assistance. The bill provides $5 million for the Program for the Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME), which provides training and business assistance to low-income entrepreneurs with very small businesses; $5 million for the SCORE Program, which provides one-on-one counseling to small business owners through the use of experienced volunteers; and $2.5 million for the Historically Underutilized Business Zones program (HUBZones), which creates incentives for contracting with small firms to create jobs in underserved communities.

Publishing Triangle to Present Awards on May 7

The Publishing Triangle's 21st Annual Triangle Awards, honoring the best lesbian and gay fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published in 2008, will be presented on May 7, 2009, at the Tishman Auditorium of the New School for Social Research (66 West 12th Street in New York City) at 7:00 p.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public, with a reception to follow.

Among this year's finalists are:

Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction

• Regina Kunzel, Criminal Intimacy (University of Chicago Press)
• Nancy Polikoff, Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage (Beacon Press)
• Andrea Weiss, In the Shadow of the Magic Mountain (University of Chicago Press)

Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction

• Linas Alsenas, Gay America (Amulet Books/Abrams)
• Bob Morris, Assisted Loving (Harper)
• Kai Wright, Drifting Toward Love (Beacon Press)

Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry

• Elizabeth Bradfield, Interpretive Work (Red Hen Press)
• Maureen McLane, Same Life (Farrar Straus Giroux)
• Elaine Sexton, Causeway (New Issues)

Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry

• Jericho Brown, Please (New Issues)
• Mark Doty, Fire to Fire (Harper)
• Ely Shipley, Boy With Flowers (Barrow Street Press)

Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction

• Evan Fallenberg, Light Fell (Soho Press)
• Alistair McCartney, The End of the World Book  (University of Wisconsin Press)
• Shawn Stewart Ruff, Finlater (Quote Editions)

Ferro-Grumley Awards for LGBT Fiction

• Alison Bechdel, The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• David Ebershoff, The 19th Wife (Random House)
• Andrew Sean Greer, The Story of a Marriage (Farrar Straus Giroux)
• Blair Mastbaum, Us Ones In Between (Running Press)
• Ben Taylor, The Book of Getting Even (Steerforth)
• Ellen Wittlinger, Love and Lies (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

PNBA Membership Forum on March 28

In conjunction with its Book Awards party on Saturday, March 28, at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association will host a Membership Forum from 1:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

The PNBA newsletter explained that the forum will not include a formal agenda or the usual reports, but, rather, will be "a chance for members to hear about PNBA's financial concerns and to ask questions about what it may mean and what you would like us to do. The second part of the meeting, from 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., will be more informal, with refreshments and an opportunity for members to meet one-on-one with individual board members to discuss how PNBA might best provide support for its member stores."