Quill Award
The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was supported by a number of notable media corporations, including Reed Business Information, then parent of Publishers Weekly, and NBC Universal Television Stations, along with Parade Magazine, Borders, Barnes & Noble and the American Booksellers Association. Reed Business Information announced plans to dissolve the awards program in February 2008 and distribute the remaining Foundation funds to non-profit organizations First Book  and Literacy Partners. Reed declined to give reasons for the suspension, but the awards had produced little effect on book sales, and the televised ceremonies were criticized for being too long and poorly planned. Selection process. Winners were selected through a two-part process involving nomination by industry experts and final selection by consumer votes. To be eligible for nomination, a book had to be published in English during the previous year and be included in at least one industry or sponsor listing. Readers selected the winners from among the five nominees selected by the board for each category. However , for the 2007 edition, the choice by public vote was restricted to book of the year, and winners in other categories were chosen by retailers and librarians. 2005 Quill Award winners. The foundation awarded a Quills Corporate Literacy Award to Verizon for its support of literacy programs in the United States.