BTW News Briefs

National Poetry Month Poster Unveiled

The Academy of American Poets has unveiled the official poster for National Poetry Month 2007. Designed by award-winning illustrator and graphic designer Christoph Niemann, the blue-and-black poster features the encoded image of poet Walt Whitman, composed of repeating white type reading "National Poetry Month April 2007."

The image is accompanied by a line from Whitman's poem "Leaves of Grass": "And our visions, the visions of poets, the most solid announcements of any." The poster may be viewed in PDF format on the AAP's website, poets.org.

On January 20, the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) announced the nominees for the NBCC awards for the 2006 publishing year in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, memoir/autobiography, criticism, biography, and poetry. The finalists will be announced on March 8, at the annual NBCC Awards Ceremony in New York City.

The nominees in the fiction category are:

• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf)
• The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Grove/Atlantic)
• What Is the What by Dave Eggers (McSweeney's)
• The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford (Knopf)
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf)

The complete list of finalists is available in the NBCC website, www.bookcritics.org

Mystery Writers of America Announce Edgar Nominees

This week, the Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, television, and film published or produced in 2006. The Edgar Awards will be presented to the winners at the 61st Gala Banquet, April 26, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in New York City.

Nominees for the best novel are:

• The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard (HarperCollins)
• The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (FSG);
• Gentleman and Players by Joanne Harris (William Morrow)
• The Dead Hour by Denise Mina (Little Brown)
• The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
• The Liberation Movements by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin's Minotaur)

For the complete list of nominees, go to the Mystery Writers of America website, www.mysterywriters.org.

NRF Reports Gift Card Spending Surpassed Expectations

According to a National Retail Federation survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers have spent less than half of the value of their gift cards (37.3 percent on average) by the second week in January. Retailers are encouraging customers to redeem the cards so that they can be counted as sales and because businesses are aware that customers redeeming gift cards are likely to spend more than the value of the card. According to the survey, half of shoppers who redeemed holiday gift cards said they spent more than the value of the card to purchase an item.

The survey also stated that, although gift cards were expected to be a popular holiday gift, sales were even greater than projected. According to the survey, consumers spent an average of $164.81 on gift cards, up from the $146.20 they were projected to spend. As a result, gift card spending during the holidays was $27.8 billion, higher than the $24.8 billion initially estimated by NRF. Men spent the most on gift cards ($176.84) while young adults 18-24 spent the least ($118.12).

Gustavo Estrada Joins Gibbs Smith as Chief Revenue Officer

On January 18, Publisher Gibbs Smith announced that Gustavo Estrada was appointed chief revenue officer for the company, taking over the daily responsibilities handled previously by CEO Christopher Robbins. Estrada has more than 15 years experience in sales and marketing in both large corporations and small business environments. He will report directly to Christopher Robbins.