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Egmont to Close U.S. Publishing Operations

Egmont Publishing announced on Wednesday that it will be closing all publishing activities in the U.S., effective January 31.

Attempts to sell Egmont USA, which began in October 2014, have not resulted in a buyer, according to Egmont Publishing International CEO Rob McMenemy

Egmont said the decision to close U.S. operations was in adherence with its new strategic focus: to only invest in books and magazine businesses in countries where Egmont can hold a leading market position. The company, which employs 2,400 people across 30 countries, entered the U.S. market in 2008. 

Egmont USA’s spring 2015 list will be published and books will continue to be available through Random House.

American Small Business Championship Contest Now Open

Small business owners can apply online from now through February 6, 2015, for the American Small Business Championship, a contest sponsored by SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives Association) to reward small business owners around the country for their sacrifices in the name of success.

Two small businesses from each state and the District of Columbia will be selected as winners of a $1,000 Sam’s Club gift card, expense-paid attendance at a regional Championship Celebration and Symposium, SCORE business mentoring for one year, and significant national publicity.

To enter, business owners must answer the question “What sacrifice have you made to help your business succeed?” in one of two ways: a 30- to 60-second video, or a photo and written statement of 250 words or fewer.

In the contest’s second stage, entrants will have until February 12 to receive at least 100 votes from family, friends, customers, and supporters. The more votes a business entry gets, the higher the overall scoring potential.

Judges are looking for personal, compelling stories of what the entrant has done to make his or her business work, as well as a description of the challenges that the contest’s prizes would enable the business to address. Full details are available online.

National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced

The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced its selection of 30 finalists for the best books of 2014 in six categories: Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, General Nonfiction, and Poetry.

In an announcement on Tuesday, NBCC also reported that, for the first time in its history, a single book, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press), has been nominated in two categories: Poetry and Criticism.

The National Book Critics Circle Awards will be presented March 12 at the New School in New York City.

NBCC’s 2015 honorees also include Toni Morrison, winner of the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; Phil Klay, winner of the John Leonard Prize for his debut story collection Redeployment (Penguin Press); and New Yorker assistant editor Alexandra Schwartz, winner of the 2014 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing.