Submissions open from May 1st to September 15th.

Fiction entries judged by Valerie Martin award winning author of 9 novels, 3 short story collections, and one biography.

Poetry entries judged by Julie Kane, Poet Laureate of Louisana.

Check out the guidelines and prizes at www.wnba-books.org/contest

PROMOTE YOUR BOOOK OR BUSINESS!

Author? You can promote your book with its cover image and a link on our home page.

Business? You can promote your book-related business on our website with an image, description, and link.

All for only $30 per year.

Go to the Members page to find out more!

The award has been presented continuously since 1940, at first annually, and since 1976 every other year in the even numbered years. 2004 marked the 50th presentation of the WNBA Award. A nomination application form is available in the Members Only section.

To nominate your favorite bookstore (even your own!), please provide the following:

1) Name and location of store

2) Category—indicate whether the store is a general or a children’s specialty bookshop

3) Contact person at the store, including email address and phone number (most important!)

4) A brief statement about why you believe the store is deserving of this award, including information about programs that the store sponsors to encourage the love of books in young readers.

6) Your name, contact info, and affiliation to the nominated store.

Please email your nomination to Valerie Tomaselli, current chair of the WNBA Pannell Award committee, at vtomaselli@mtmpublishing.com. Deadline for nominations is Jan. 15.

The 2011 winner in the General Bookstore category is Queen Anne Books in Seattle, WA. The Children’s Specialty Store category winner is Fairytales Bookstore in Nashville, TN.

A jury of five book industry professionals deliberated for four weeks, then selected the winners based on creativity, responsiveness to community needs and an understanding of young readers. Jurors expressed admiration for all the nominated stores. In particular, the reasons they gave for the selected bookstores included:

Queen Anne Books

was lauded for its “clear understanding of the needs of young readers at different ages and stages,” for “its creative ways to reach them (in stores, in schools, in libraries, in the community),” and for “not overlooking the oft-forgotten secret weapon, the parents.” Also impressive are “the fact that they reach out to children in foster homes and give discounts for parent-child book groups,” and “the Bookworms Little League Team.”

Fairytales Bookstore was praised for the “comprehensive approach it takes to involving kids in reading, from creative play and storytelling, to music, and visual arts.”  Also noted was that “its daily story time offers many ways for kids to engage with reading and books.”  Its attention to parents – their need to “relax and rejuvenate” in the store – was also commended.

To learn more about the winners and the Pannell Award, go to: WNBA Awards.

WNBA held a reception on March 12th in New York City to honor 2010 recipient of the WNBA Award,  Masha Hamilton.  The reception was held at the Center for Fiction/Mercantile Library, 17 East 47th Street (betw. 5th and Madison).

Colleagues, friends, and WNBA members were in attendance.

Learn more

The organizers of National Reading Group Month invite publishers to participate in the Great Group Reads 2011 program. Now in its third year, Great Group Reads is a highly regarded and anticipated resource for book clubs and reading groups to plan discussions—and likewise, for bookstores and libraries to recommend.

Preliminary submission guidelines:

1) Genre: fiction (novels, novellas, short stories) and memoir published between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011;

2) Submissions: limited to two titles per publisher, or imprint;

3) Format: all eligible, including trade-paper reprints published within the designated timeframe;

4) Restrictions: previously submitted titles are ineligible.

Titles for consideration should be submitted on/before Friday, March 18. Publishers are asked to contact Roz Reisner, Great Group Reads Coordinator, via email at roz@thereisners.net, (re: Great Group Reads 2011).

More: www.NationalReadingGroupMonth.org.

Media Contact:

Jill A. Tardiff, National Reading Group Month Chair

jill.tardiff@gmail.com, or NationalReadingGroupMonth@gmail.com

Reviewer Roxana Robinson said Pearlman’s writing is “intelligent, perceptive, funny and quite beautiful”.

WNBA congratulates her, and encourages members to read her work.

Today, 380,000 children still live in displacement camps, waiting for their struggle to move from mere survival to revival.

This anniversary date is not one for celebration, but a day to remember the countless children who still need our help. They are the earthquake generation, and what happens next for them will determine the fate of an entire country.

As long as this generation of children teeters on the brink, UNICEF will be there.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Please read more about the progress we’ve made and what you can do next to help.

With my deepest thanks,
Caryl M. Stern
President & CEO
U.S. Fund for UNICEF

“Her work has reinforced reading via libraries as essential and empowering for all people. Her innovation in training has deepened the book skills of library workers. Her public outreach has effectively promoted libraries well beyond library walls.”

Nancy Pearl, author of numerous volumes of Book Lust starting in 2003, also hosts a monthly TV program of the same name.  “The former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book, Pearl celebrates the written word by speaking at bookstores and libraries across the country.” (source: www.NancyPearl.com)