Now Reed pulls the Quills

Just a few days after putting its magazine division on the block, Reed has now pulled the plug on its Quills Awards program. Publishers Weekly reported that its parent company, Reed Business Information, has announced plans to suspend support of the awards after just two years.

The first Quills event took place in October 2005 to celebrate the best in book publishing while promoting the cause of literacy in the US--the awards ceremony was televised by NBC. A Quills Literacy Foundation was overseen by an advisory board made up of 40 members of the publishing and media community. According to PW, the remaining funds will be distributed to First Book and to Literacy Partners.

"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,” said William McGorry, Quills director.