Reed Business and NBC Launch New National Book Awards

On Tuesday, January 25, Reed Business Information (RBI) and the NBC Universal Television Stations announced that the two companies had joined forces to launch The Quill Awards (The Quills), a new national book award that honors excellence in book publishing and includes consumers in the voting process. The Quills will honor winners in more than 15 different categories, including Book of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement. The first Quill Awards will be presented in October 2005, during a ceremony that will be carried on the 14 NBC Universal television stations.

A national panel of booksellers and librarians selected from RBI's Publishers Weekly subscriber base will make the initial nominations. Afterwards, the awards process will be opened to include the reading public. The winners will be determined by consumers voting online and in bookstores. NBC Universal's stations group will create the backbone of the online consumer voting system, which will be featured on all of the station's Web sites in the weeks leading up to the awards ceremony.

Quills' events and programs will be shaped and guided by The Quills Executive Council, which is comprised of individuals from publishing, education, finance, media, entertainment. Among those serving on the Council are ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz; James E. Chandler, president and CEO of the Ingram Book Group; Jay Ireland, president of NBC Universal stations; Greg Josefowicz, CEO of The Borders Group; Larry Kirshbaum, chairman of the Time Warner Book Group; and Peter Olson, chairman and CEO of Random House. The council will provide input on awards categories and advise on the selection of the annual distinguished service or lifetime achievement award

"There are no consumer-driven awards that acknowledge the power and importance of the written word," noted Ireland, in a statement. "Books, which are among the most valuable and important vehicles for both storytelling and educating, do not receive the same recognition as other entertainment vehicles. The NBC Universal Television Stations are pleased to help establish the Quill Awards and create a television event that celebrates reading and promotes literacy."

Gerry Byrne, former publisher of Variety and Daily Variety, will supervise the Quill Awards and serve as chairman of The Quills Literacy Foundation, which will evaluate existing literacy programs and will direct Quills' support to a variety of programs, such as The Screen Actors Guild "Book Pas," Verizon Reads, and The First Book National Book Bank. "With the Quills, we will create excitement among consumers, bring well-deserved recognition to writers, energize and invigorate the marketplace, and most importantly, interest more people in buying and reading books," Byrne said in a statement.

Overall, the hope is that the Quills will achieve a number of goals: celebrate excellence in writing and publishing; recognize the creators of important books and great literature; interest more consumers in acquiring books and reading; drive revenue for publishers and circulation for libraries; act as a bellwether for literacy initiatives; and create benefits for The Quills Literacy Foundation, according to an overview of the event released to BTW. In addition, it noted that the Quills would be an "NBC Universal Stations destination event. It will be a celebrity-energized presentation produced in a 'Golden Globes' (dinner tables) format."

Notification of the Nominating Council for the Quill Awards will be completed by the end of January and the formal process of book selections will begin May 1, 2005. Mirroring the contender-naming domain of the Academy Awards or Golden Globes, this nominating board will be primarily comprised of approximately 6,000 booksellers and librarians formed from a national panel of Publishers Weekly subscribers.