Sunday Salon: I've Got the News! ~ 3sg jef fery

Does anyone still read the Sunday papers? (We just cancelled ours.) I have news to share about some things they wouldn't tell you there.

After a successful inaugural year, the Independent Literary Awards are poised for growth in their 2011 edition with the addition of three new categories. The genres and panels for this year’s awards were announced a few days ago. Many of the 2010 panel members are returning to serve again, and the new panels for Mystery and Poetry are real all-star teams!

I served as a panelist for the Non-Fiction category of the 2010 Indie Lit Awards. For 2011, Biography and Memoir have been moved from NF to a separate category, and I am honored to be serving as Director of this new panel. I think we have an all-star team of our own:

Alyce (At Home with Books)

Candace (Beth Fish Reads)

Colleen (Books in the City)

Nadia (A Bookish Way of Life)

Nominations for the 2011 Awards will open in September. As you read this year, please keep your favorites in mind so that you can nominate them when the time comes! Here’s how that will work:

You must be a literary blogger, and a link to your blog must be provided with your nomination so we can verify this. (You may not be the author, publisher, or publicist of the book you are nominating).
Books nominated must have a 2011 release date.
You may nominate a book that has already been listed (the books with the most nominations will be what we add to the Long List).
You may nominate books in more than one genre, but only one per genre.
Nominations are open midnight PST September 1, 2011 – 11:59 PST December 31, 2011.

Also returning after a very successful first year: Armchair BEA! The original event-planning team is happy to be back, and along with a few new members, we’re working on getting another great event together for the week of May 23-27. If you can’t be in New York City for Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention, you’ll definitely want to be on your computer and on Twitter for the Armchair excitement and fun!

And even if you ARE at the “real thing,” you’re welcome to be part of Armchair BEA too - two of Armchair BEA’s founders, Emily and I, will be special “on-site correspondents” reporting from BEA and BBC as time permits.

I’m repeating the following items from the past week for those who only stop by for the Sunday Salon, and anyone else who might have missed them:

I celebrated my 4th Blogiversary on March 16, and decided to mark it with a giveaway - one with a twist. For every comment on my Blogiversary post, I committed to donate $1 to Writers for the Red Cross, and I added an extra $1 for each comment that included a question for me (to be answered in a future post). I’m carrying that promise over to today, but you’ll have to go to the Blogiversary post to leave your comment - with or without a question - to add another $1 to the donation pot!

I’ve also opened sign-ups for anyone interested in joining me to read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott in May and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood in August:

BIRD BY BIRD Group Read Sign-Up

THE HANDMAID’S TALE Group Read Sign-Up

I’ll add another $1 to the WFTRC donation for each person who signs up to read along.