BTW News Briefs

Binc’s Assistance to Booksellers on the Rise

The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation has seen a steady rise in requests for financial assistance — from two requests at this time last year to 17 — from members of the bookselling industry. The increase was spurred in part by the help of industry partners who have been communicating information about Binc’s resources to booksellers in need.

The requests for financial assistance average $1,900 and encompass a wider variety of occurrences, including utility shut-off prevention, loss of household income, homelessness prevention, and medical expenses. The requests are from booksellers at independent stores and at chain stores around the country.

Binc offers assistance to bookstore employees who have a financial need arising from a qualifying hardship or emergency circumstance, and it has provided more than $5 million in assistance since its inception in 1996. Learn more about Binc here.

BEA Adds Keynote with Author Walter Isaacson

On Friday, May 30, at 10:00 a.m., bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson, whose subjects have included Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin, will participate in a one-on-one talk with Jacob Weisberg, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, as part of a keynote session at BookExpo America.

Isaacson’s upcoming book, The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (S&S), looks at the history of the digital age, and Weisberg will interview Isaacson about his latest title and will discuss innovations in the publishing, media, and business worlds.

The 50-minute keynote will take place in Rooms 1E10/1E11 – E Hallway (lower level) of the Javits Convention Center.

Lambda Names Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists and Emerging Writers

The Lambda Literary Foundation has selected the winners for the 2014 Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize and the Dr. Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award.

Michael Thomas Ford, the author of more than 60 titles for young readers and adults, and Radclyffe, who has penned romance and paranormal titles as well as short stories, will be awarded the Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize, which comes with $5,000.

Imogen Binnie, zine and magazine writer, and Charles Rice-Gonzalez, writer, playwright, and LGBT activist, will receive the Emerging Writer Award and a cash prize of $1,000.

The four will accept their awards at the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony in New York City on June 2.

Deadline Nears for National Book Award Submissions

The deadline for entries for the 2014 National Book Awards is May 15 for titles in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people’s literature. Entry rules and guidelines are available on the NBA website.

The longlist will be announced September 10 and the finalists on October 15. The 65th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner, where the winners will be announced, will be held November 19 in New York City.