There is a campaign happening in our country that has nothing to do with political parties. It is called World Book Night and its purpose is to give away one million free paperback books across America to new or reluctant readers and those without easy access to books.

On April 23^rd, 50,000 volunteers will give away one million books from a preselected list of 30 titles. Volunteers wanting to share their passion for books are currently being recruited on line.

Click here to learn how you can get involved in 2012 World Book Night.

Will publishers begin using more and more special effects to make books more desirable as a keepsake? Read more…

http://nyti.ms/vi2NDD

Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.

I thought all of Washington was focused on the debt ceiling, but today apparently the House passed a bill to amend the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act). This legislation excludes ordinary books and paper based printed materials from third-party testing.

The bill is up for a Senate vote tonight. However, the Senate version does not have the same exclusion. It is expected that once the Senate passes the bill, the House will most likely offer a substitute amendment and send it back to the Senate to accept.

Keeping our fingers crossed that this goes through!

Congratulations to Solution Tree and Teachscape on winning the Association of Educational Publishers’ inaugural Innovation Award.

The largest publishing event in North America, Book Expo America, is going on now at the Javits Center in NYC!

Pictured is the Hay House exhibit.

Congratulations to Hardscratch Press on their recent awards from BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Association). Vasco was selected as Best Regional History and Homesteaders in the Headlights was chosen as Best Memoir.