Reed Business Information announced yesterday that it plans to suspend the Quills, the awards program it sponsored along with NBC Universal. The Quills, which were created in 2005, carried no cash value, relying instead on high-profile coverage and celebrities such as former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, weatherman Al Roker, and actress Brooke Shields to honor the best in book publishing and promote literacy. The annual black-tie awards ceremony, held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, was televised on NBC.
"On behalf of Reed Business Information, we wish to thank our publishing colleagues, including the publishing houses, booksellers, librarians, and our sponsors for their support of the Quill Awards program," program director William McGorry told Publishers Weekly, which is published by Reed.
Last year the Quills were overhauled to eliminate the public voting that had been a part of the slection process for ninteen categories of finalists. (The public was still allowed to vote for the twentieth category, book of the year, won in 2007 by Nora Roberts for Angels Fall.)
The Quills Literacy Foundation, which was established to oversee the awards program, will donate its remaining funds to First Book and to Literacy Partners.
