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Midwest Booksellers Choice Award Winners Announced

The winners have been announced for the Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards, which honors titles selected by booksellers from across the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association’s (MIBA) nine-state region.

MIBA booksellers voted for their favorites among the finalists in each of five literary categories. Authors were eligible if they had books published between May 2014 and April 2015 that highlight the Midwest or if they are Midwesterners themselves.

The winners are:

  • Adult Fiction: Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher (Doubleday)
  • Adult Nonfiction: Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill (South Dakota Historical Society Press)
  • Poetry: Splitting an Order, by Ted Kooser (Copper Canyon Press)
  • Children’s Literature (YA & Middle Grade): The Scavengers, by Michael Perry (HarperCollins)
  • Children’s Picture Books: Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold, by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen (HMH Books for Young Readers).

All winners will be honored on October 9 at the Heartland Fall Forum in Lombard, Illinois.

Go Set a Watchman Becomes Fastest-Selling Book in HarperCollins’ History

Booksellers in the U.S. and Canada have sold more than 1.1 million copies of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman in print, eBook, and audio formats, making it the fastest-selling book in HarperCollins’ history, the company announced on July 20.

Released on July 14, Lee’s recently discovered second book, quickly jumped to the number one spot on every major book retailer’s bestseller list. Since the book’s publication a little over a week ago, HarperCollins has gone back to print multiple times and currently has 3.3 million copies in print.

Deadline Approaches for 2016 PEN Literary Awards Title Submissions

PEN American Center is reminding publishers and literary agents to submit their authors’ 2015 titles for consideration for the 2016 PEN Literary Awards by August 15, an earlier deadline than in prior years.

The list of all 2016 awards and eligibility requirements are available on the PEN website. A total of $150,000 in prize money will be awarded.

Members of PEN are also encouraged to submit their nominations for the organization’s career achievement awards.