BTW News Briefs

Amazon Wins Control of .Book Domain Name

Amazon has paid up to $10 million at a private auction for the right to control and sell domain names ending in .book, according to Sky News, which noted that the online giant beat off competition from eight other companies, including Google.

The auction was a result of a decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) to create scores of new domain name suffixes as alternatives to the likes of .com and .org.

AMIBA Offering Buy Local Resources in Spanish

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and American Express OPEN are offering new, Spanish-language resources to facilitate the development of “buy local” initiatives among Latino business owners.

The “Building Buy Local Campaigns that Shift Culture and Spending” guide, newly revised in English with 2014 survey results, is now available in Spanish and Spanish adaptations of AMIBA’s most popular public education articles, ads, and posters are also on AMIBA’s website.

Additionally, American Express OPEN is offering underwriting support for 15 communities to host on-site trainings with AMIBA in early 2015. Learn more about the trainings here.

Indies Introduce Author Wins 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize

On November 10, Sean Michaels was named the winner of Canada’s 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Us Conductors, published by Random House Canada. The title, published in the U.S. by Tin House Books, is a featured in the 2014 Summer/Fall Indies Introduce promotion. Michaels was born in Scotland, grew up in Ottawa, and currently lives in Montreal.

Of Us Conductors, the Giller jury wrote: “Michaels’ book is based on the life of Lev Thermen, the Russian-born inventor of the Theremin, the most ethereal of musical instruments. As the narrative shifts countries and climates, from the glittery brightness of New York in the 1920s to the leaden cold of the Soviet Union under Stalin, the grace of Michaels’ style makes these times and places seem entirely new. He succeeds at one of the hardest things a writer can do: he makes music seem to sing from the pages of a novel.”

The Giller Prize awards $100,000 to the winning author of a Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists.

National Readathon Day to Support NBF’s Literacy Efforts

The National Book Foundation, GoodReads, Mashable, and Penguin Random House have joined forces to create National Readathon Day, to be celebrated on Saturday, January 24, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Readers nationwide will mark the occasion by committing to read a book for four straight hours and to raise funds to support the work of the National Book Foundation (NBF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which brings books to needy communities and promotes innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.

Bookstores and libraries are invited to host a “reading party” on January 24, so that readers can gather, connect, and read silently together all Saturday afternoon. Everyone is asked to share their experiences using the hashtag #timetoread.

Readers can raise money either individually or as organized teams. National Readathon Day organizers have partnered with FirstGiving.org, and all money raised will go directly to NBF’s work to promote a culture of reading and appreciation of literature throughout America.

Learn more about the Readathon here.

First Amendment Groups Express Concern Over Kings Canyon School Board Review Process

In a letter sent to the Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley, California, on November 6, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, and PEN America expressed dismay over the handling of a recent controversy concerning the use of David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green in Reedley High School’s ninth-grade English classrooms.

In response to a complaint that the book was “pornographic” and “blasphemous,” the school board ordered the teacher to stop using the book in classrooms while it was in the process of assembling a review committee.

In their November 6 letter, signatories argued that the process, as it stands, automatically rewards the desires of complainants, implying that “those who object to materials may reasonably believe that the mere act of filing a complaint will remove the material at least temporarily.”

The letter recommended that the school district would best serve its students if it strengthened its review policies to ensure that challenged books are not removed from classrooms preceding a formal review process. The premature removal of books from classrooms directly disadvantages the educational experience of students.

Courtney Muller Named Executive Vice President at Urban Expositions

Urban Expositions has announced the appointment of former Reed Expositions executive Courtney Muller as executive vice president of the Atlanta-based trade show and expositions company.

Muller, who will report directly Urban Expositions owners Miller and Tim von Gal, will oversee much of the day-to-day management of the company and will seek out new acquisitions, launches, and partnerships.

Since its founding in 1996, Urban Expositions has grown to include 21 gift, decorative accessory, souvenir, and resort merchandise trade shows throughout the U.S. Eight Urban Expositions gift shows will be held in locations around the country in the coming months, and booksellers can take advantage of free admission and other perks at each. Learn more.

2014 National Outdoor Book Award Winners Announced

The recipients of the 2014 National Outdoor Book Awards, sponsored by the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Idaho State University, and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, were announced on Thursday, November 13.

The winners are:

• Outdoor Literature: Small Feet, Big Land by Erin McKittrick (Mountaineers Books)
• Natural History Literature: The Small Heart of Things by Julian Hoffman (University of Georgia Press)
• History/Biography: Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery (Chicago Review Press)
• Classic Award: Not Without Peril by Nicholas Howe (Appalachian Mountain Club Books)
• Nature and Environment: Life on the Rocks by Bruce L. Smith (University Press of Colorado); Honorable Mention to Feathers by Stan Tekiela (Adventure Publications)
• Design and Artistic Merit: Salt: Coastal and Flats Fishing with photos by Andy Anderson and essays by Tom Rosenbauer (Rizzoli International Publications)
• Children’s Category: Good Morning Loon by Elizabeth S. Varnai; illustrated by Kate Hartley (Vista Court Books)
• Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks: Chattahoochee River User’s Guide by Joe Cook (University of Georgia Press)
• Nature Guidebooks: The Warbler Guide by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle (Princeton University Press)
• Instructional: Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House and Scott Johnston (Patagonia Books); Honorable Mention to Simple Fly Fishing by Yvon Chouinard, Craig Mathews, and Mauro Mazzo (Patagonia Books)
• Work of Significance: Fieldbook: Scouting’s Manual of Basic and Advanced Skills for Outdoor Adventure by Robert Birkby (Boy Scouts of America)