BTW News Briefs

BA Launches First IndieBound Marketing Campaign

The Bookseller reported this week that booksellers from the U.K. and Ireland had chosen the top 12 titles to be featured in a Christmas catalog that is the first marketing campaign for the new IndieBound initiative adopted by the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland (BA) this past spring.

The catalog will be supported by additional materials on the BA’s IndieBound website, including author interviews, sample chapters, recipes, and signed books. Other local independent retailers will be encouraged to display the catalog in counter packs created by the BA.

Bookstore Tourism Alive in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that a bookstore tour will guide readers on a three-hour excursion through the city’s indie bookstores. Inspired by Larry Portzline, who founded Bookstore Tourism, Pittsburgh resident Karen Lillis is leading the tour to highlight and support the city’s independent bookstores.

The $10 trolley tour will visit Copacetic Comics in Polish Hill, Awesome Books in Garfield, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and more. Lillis is also organizing a library tour.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Announces 2010 Finalists

On September 1, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation announced the 12 finalists for the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize in fiction and nonfiction.

Inspired by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia, The Dayton Literary Peace Prize celebrates the power of literature to promote peace.

The shortlist includes works by both bestselling authors (Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, Stones Into Schoools by Greg Mortenson) and debuts (The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim). The list of finalists can be found at daytonliterarypeaceprize.org.

A winner and runner-up in fiction and nonfiction will be announced on September 22.

 Rona Jaffe Foundation to Celebrate Annual Writers’ Awards

The Rona Jaffe Foundation will honor its annual Writers Awards winners at a private ceremony on September 23 in New York City. Six emerging women writers have been singled out for excellence by the Foundation and will receive awards of $25,000 each.

The 2010 winners are Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams,Rachel Aviv, Sara Elizabeth Johnson, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, Laura Newbern, and Tiphanie Yanique.