In the January 7, 2002, issue of BTW, you'll find a ballot for the first round of voting for the 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year awards. You'll see a long list of nominees drawn from the Book Sense 76s of 2002 in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, Children's Illustrated, and, for the first time, a Rediscovery Award. This new fifth award will be drawn from a mix of adult and children's backlist or recently reissued books that made the 76 in 2001. We believe this is one more way to reinforce the independents' role in supporting books of quality.

The first round of voting will result in a shortlist of five books in each of the five award categories, for you to vote on in March. The winners will be announced Friday, May 3, 2002 at the Celebration of Bookselling at BEA in New York City. We'll be inviting last year's four winners to come back and present the award to this year's winners, and a surprise guest to announce the Rediscovery Award.

Hope to see you in NYC in May for this, and many, many other great events!