Tattered Essence

The Bellwether Prize committee will accept submissions from September 1 through October 2, 2009. This period is for the 2010 award. The prize was established by Barbara Kingsolver,

The prize supports the writing and publication of serious literary fiction addressing issues of social justice in culture and human relations. It has been awarded in even-numbered years for the past decade. In addition to the $25,000 cash prize, the award guarantees publication of the winning novel by a major U.S. publishing house.

Liam Neeson “is negotiating to star in Unknown White Male, the Dark Castle thriller that will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra,” Variety reported. The film is adapted from Didier Van Cauwelaert’s novel Out of My Head. Production is set to begin next January.

Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) will direct a screen version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. “The project has been set up at Universal, where Scott will produce the project with an eye to direct. His sometimes collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, meanwhile, will produce with an eye to star,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which added that Farhad Safinia will adapt the novel and “much of the timing going forward will depend on the script.”

According to USA Today, “This year, three movie tie-in paperbacks have made it to Number 1 on USA Today’s Best-Selling Books list. This week it’s The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, spurred on by the movie of the same name opening next week. The paperback has 2 million copies in print.” The other two were Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight movie tie-in edition, which “took the top spot four times this year,” and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. Also highlighted was Julie Powell’s Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. That movie opens nationwide today.

Source: Shelf Awareness

When the governor of North Carolina sign the budget something called the “E-fairness Provision” will go into effect. This provision will make it mandatory that online retailers with affiliates in the state collect tax on sales made to in-state residents over the Internet. This makes North Carolina only the 3rd state to enact such a thing.

It seems that plans are starting to come together for the 9th annual National Book Festival in Washington, DC. It takes place on September 26 if you do not have your calendar marked.

As usual, a lot of children’s authors will be in attendance, but for 2009, the Library of Congress and the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance have teamed up with 18 children’s book authors and illustrators for a special presentation entitled The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, an ongoing story that will be unveiled over the course of a year, concluding before the 2010 National Book Festival.

More information about the events and authors for this year’s festival is available at the National Book Festival Web site.