Esther Margolis, founder of Newmarket Press will receive the New York Center for Independent Publishing's Poor Richard Award at the NYCIP's annual Benefit and Cocktail Reception on Monday, November 10.
The Poor Richard Award is named for the almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, an independent publisher. It is given to a publisher who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of independent publishing.
Margolis is the president, publisher, and majority owner of Newmarket Press, which has published 300 books in its twenty-six years. She founded Newmarket after seventeen years at Bantam Books. She ended her career at Bantam as its first division head for marketing, publicity, and communications worldwide.
Today Newmarket publishes about thirty titles per year in the areas of entertainment, childcare & parenting, psychology, business, health & nutrition, biography & memoir, personal finance, and popular self-help & inspiration. Newmarket Press is distributed by the Perseus Distribution Group.
Sometimes events don't turn out as planned. That was the case yesterday in San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, writers gathered on the steps of the Main Library at Civic Center and read from books that have been banned, as part of Banned Books Week. But it is hard to be outrageous in the City by the Bay.
"Nobody was shocked, outraged or even slightly ticked off," Steve Rubenstein writes.
Writers read from the works of D.H. Lawrence, J.D. Salinger, and Malcolm X, among others.
President of the San Francisco Library Commission Jewelle Gomez told the small crowd that all the books read that day "are waiting on the shelves inside the library, and nobody is ever going to tell her otherwise."
San Francisco Chronicle
Today, ForeWord will begin using NetGalley, an innovative online connection point for book publishers and professional readers. Publishers will now be able to submit their titles for review to ForeWord magazine digitally via NetGalley, and will receive updates about the status of their submissions.
"NetGalley will help ForeWord speed the handling and cut costs associated with galley management, ultimately enabling the magazine to review more titles," said Michael Forney, President of Rosetta Solutions. "Best of all, independent publishers can use NetGalley to expand their reach to media, bloggers, booksellers, and educators."
NetGalley delivers digital galleys and promotional materials to "professional readers"-reviewers, media, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and educators. Publishers who have joined NetGalley can start submitting their titles to ForeWord via NetGalley today.
Saturday's firebombing of the London home of The Jewel of Medina's independent British publisher, Martyn Rinja of Gibson House, elicited this response to ForeWord's inquiry from Eric Kampmann of Beaufort, the book's U.S. publisher, "Beaufort's reaction to the heinous act of terrorism against a British publisher was to accelerate the shipment of Jewel of Medina here in the US."
The historical novel about the favorite wife of the Prophet Muhammad was characterized by Sherry Jones, its author, as "an exciting tale of love, war, spiritual awakening, and redemption."
Originally scheduled to be published by Random House in August, it was withdrawn "for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and any one else" connected with the distribution of the novel, according to a spokesman. This came after a University of Texas professor who saw the manuscript warned Random House that the book was "more dangerous than The Satanic Verses or the Danish cartoons."
This is the second controversial book in the past year that Kampmann rescued after other major publishers found them toxic. The first was O.J. Simpson's If I Did It, published by Beaufort in September 2007. The risk here is of an entirely different order and the potential threat to the free press we take for granted deserves attention by the entire industry. Kampmann announced a first printing of 50,000 copies for Jewel of Medina, which will be shipping shortly (978-0-8253-0518-4).
The Women's National Book Association has declared October National Reading Group Month. Authors of reading group favorites will appear at events across the country sponsored by WNBA chapters.
For reading groups at your library, ForeWord suggests the following novels reviewed in the September/October issue:
For more information about National Reading Group month, visit www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.org.
Updated: 10/3/2008
Blankety Blank: A Novel of Vulgaria
Vulgaria is an upscale suburban sprawl of McMansions and drunken backyard barbecues outside the monocultural metropolis that is Grand Rapids, Michigan. The hometown of President Gerald Ford and Amway is the largest city in the country to roll up the sidewalks at five p.m. each afternoon. Blankety Blank's alleged protagonist Rutger Van Trout is a figure of marrow-deep malaise who enjoys quoting the unofficial town motto, still the same in the 2030s: "You ain't much if you ain't Dutch."
Van Trout's powerlessness at home and his irrational excess as a weapon against ennui makes an amusing farce, however his central role is overshadowed by a scene-stealing chiropractor with superhero fantasies. The chiropractor's alter ego, "The Gamehater," dresses in cheesy costumes such as ".......
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BOOKS FOR MOTHERS TO BE - New books promise to take the surprises and stress out of childbirth.
EDITOR'S CHOICE: OTHER PRESS - Editors from leading independent presses tell ForeWord about their favorite titles from their company's fall list. This week Other Press editor Corinna Barsan speaks out.
FAST FOREWORD - News, awards and announcements from our wire.
FOREWORD FOOTNOTES - Titles of note from our review stacks.
updated: 10/01/08
 To celebrate its tenth year, ForeWord Magazine named the first Independent Publisher of the Year in conjunction with its annual Book of the Year Awards. Kunati Books, a publisher of fiction and nonfiction which released its first titles just over two years ago, is the first recipient of this title. Read more about the award
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 | ForeWord's 24/7 Bookshelf offers exclusive lists of titles in targeted categories recommended by ForeWord contributors - great for growing a library, or scoping out the stash of a trusted reviewer. Each list is presented in a PDF document that you can either read online in your browser or download and print. Click to check it out!
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