BTW News Briefs

Online Contest Allows Listeners to Pick Award-Winning Audiobooks

The 2004 Audie Award finalists are showcased online in the "Pick the Winners" contest sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association. At the site, users can listen to the sound clips of the five nominated finalists in each category. Everyone who enters the contest will be eligible to win the Grand Prize of a complete collection of the 2004 Audie Winners or five Runner-Up Prizes of a gift subscription plus $50 worth of audiobooks. When the Audie winners are announced on June 4, listeners can compare their choices to the expert Audie judges' choices. Last year's contest attracted nearly 1,000 visitors who selected their favorite audiobooks online. For more information, go to the APA Web site at www.audiopub.org.

Consumer Confidence Surges in April

A recent Conference Board survey reported that consumer confidence in the economy rose in April due to a brightening employment outlook, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The survey showed that its consumer-confidence index this month stood at 92.9, up from 88.5 in March. The board is a nonprofit research group based in New York. In addition, the WSJ article also reported that consumers' optimism about the next six months improved for the first time this year, according to the Conference Board survey.

Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance to Hold Launch & Lunch

On April 26, the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) announced that it would introduce itself to the community with its "AIBA Kick-Off Event: Launch & Lunch," on May 13, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., at the Outpost Performance Space. The event will include an AIBA overview and presentation on the benefits of membership and a discussion about "Marketing Your Alliance," among other topics.

S&S Named Domestic Manga Distributor for VIZ

On April 28, Simon & Schuster announced that it would be the domestic manga distributor for VIZ, LLC, a publisher and distributor of manga and anime content. The agreement will begin June 1. Under the agreement, S&S will provide retail and wholesale distribution operations for the entire VIZ catalog of titles. Publishers Group West previously distributed VIZ titles.