BTW News Briefs

BookExpo America’s Global Market Forum 2013 to Focus on Mexico

The annual Global Market Forum at BEA, which honors countries from around the world by providing educational panels and cultural exchange opportunities, will focus on Mexico and its estimated $830 million book market. The full day of programming is Wednesday, May 29, 2013.

BEA is partnering with the Mexican Chamber of the Publishing Industry and the Mexican government’s National Council for Culture and the Arts to present the program. Topics will cover the Mexican publishing business and book market, main players and innovative editorial ventures, the action the Mexican government takes to foster reading and books, and children’s and digital books.

IBPA Appoints New Executive Director

Angela Bole will be joining the Independent Book Publishers Association as executive director. Bole is the current deputy director of the Book Industry Study Group and will replace Florrie Binford Kichler, who is retiring from IBPA in June. Terry Nathan will continue as Chief Operating Officer of IBPA.

“IBPA has been uniquely positioned as the heart and soul of independent publishing for 30 years,” said Bole. “Being extremely passionate about books and storytelling in all possible genres and formats, I knew right away IBPA was the perfect fit. It’s a community center, a support network, an education hub, and proof that it’s possible to do together what it’s impossible to do alone.”

IBPA is the largest nonprofit trade organization for publishers in the U.S., aiming to serve the independent publishing community.

Andrew Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction has been announced, with six authors in the running for the awards.

The shortlist was chosen by a committee of librarians from a longlist of titles selected from the previous year’s Booklist Editor’s Choice and RUSA Notable Books lists.

The fiction finalists are:

• This is How You Lose Her, by Junot Diaz (Riverhead)
• The Round House, by Louise Erdrich (Harper)
• Canada, by Richard Ford (Ecco)

The nonfiction finalists are:

• Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis, by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death, by Jill Lepore (Knopf)
• Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen (W. W. Norton & Company)

The awards were established in 2012 to recognize the best in fiction and nonfiction books for adults published during the previous year. Winners will be announced at the American Library Association annual conference on June 30 and will win $5,000. The medals are made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Lambda Literary Foundation to Honor Authors at 25^th Anniversary Awards

The Lambda Literary Foundation will be honoring dozens of writers at its 25^th Annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony on June 3 in New York. Among them are Augusten Burroughs, the recipient of the Foundation’s Trustee Award; John Irving, who will receive the Bridge Builder Award; and Cherríe Moraga, who will be presented with the Pioneer Award.

The “Lammys” ceremony acknowledges the best in LGBT books. More than 400 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities will attend the ceremony.

Unbridled Books Donates to the Afghan Women’s Writing Project

Unbridled Books will be honoring author Masha Hamilton with a promotion to benefit the important work of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, which was founded by Hamilton in 2009 and serves to help women in Afghanistan to tell the stories of their lives.

The e-book of Hamilton’s new title What Changes Everything, which focuses on the effect of the current war on American and Afghan families, will be released on April 25, one month earlier than the official release date. For every e-book sold, Unbridled will be donating $1 to support the AWWP.

Egmont USA Staff Changes

Margaret Coffee has joined Egmont USA as sales and marketing director. With more than 25 years in publishing, she has worked with Albert Whitman & Company, Scholastic, Dutton Children’s Books, Candlewick, and Penguin.

In addition, Katie Halata, formerly marketing manager, is now sales and marketing manager and Alison Weiss, formerly assistant editor, is now associate editor.

Egmont USA is a children’s book publisher based in Manhattan and is part of the Egmont Group, one of Scandinavia’s leading media groups, with activities including film, TV production, and interactive games.