第1回eBook Awardsの受賞者発表リリース

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The International eBook Award Foundation Announces Winners For Inaugural Frankfurt eBook Awards

Grand Prize Goes to E.M. Schorb and David Maraniss

Dr. Peter N. Yianilos Wins Technology Award

NEW YORK, NY, October 20, 2000 - The International eBook Award Foundation (IeBAF) has proudly announced the names of the winners for the inaugural Frankfurt eBook Award, the first award designed to recognize achievements in the emerging eBook industry. Selected from a field that included entries from Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the winners were named during a ceremony at the Old Frankfurt Opera House on October 20, 2000. They include Larry Colton, Ed McBain, David Maraniss, E.M. Schorb, Zadie Smith, Vilim Vasata and Dr. Peter N. Yianilos. The top award, the Grand Prize for the best original eBook, was given to E.M. Schorb for his murder mystery, Paradise Square (Denlinger's Publishers Ltd.) and David Maraniss for When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi (Simon & Schuster), illuminating the life of the legendary Green Bay Packers football coach. The judges felt strongly that both books, in their own way, exemplified the Grand Prize criteria, and therefore honored two individuals with the top prize, each receiving $US 50,000. The Technology Award was presented to Dr. Peter N. Yianilos for eBookMan (Franklin Electronic Publishers), a hand-held electronic multi-media content device.

''The Foundation was pleased to have accomplished several of the major goals of these first-time awards: to recognize and honor eBook authors, to promote the publishing of a wide variety of authors from around the world in the eBook format, and to bring eBooks to the wider attention of the reading public,'' said Judging Director for the IeBAF foundation Peter Mollman, a former publishing and software executive with World Book Encyclopedia and Random House. ''We are delighted to present these inaugural awards, and salute all the authors and publishers who participated. Especially gratifying was the fact that so many of the submissions came from pure eBook publishers, pioneers in this new world.''
James Burke, Master of Ceremonies for the Awards, said, ''We feel this is the beginning of a new era. The eBook is going to present as many challenges as opportunities to those of us involved with the business of literacy. Tonight's finalists and prize-winners are among the first to cross into that unknown territory.'' For over thirty years, James Burke has produced, directed, written and presented award-winning television series on the BBC, PBS and The Learning Channel, including the Connections series. A best-selling author, he currently writes a monthly column for Scientific American.

The winners for the inaugural Frankfurt eBook Awards are:

Grand Prize - Best Original eBook
E.M. Schorb, Paradise Square (Denlinger's Publishers Ltd.)
David Maraniss, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi (Simon & Schuster)

Best Fiction work originally published in eBook form:
Ed McBain, The Last Dance (Simon & Schuster)

Best Non-fiction work originally published in eBook form:
Larry Colton, Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn (iPublish.com/Time-Warner Books)

Best Fiction work originally published in print and converted to eBook form:
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (Random House)

Best Non-fiction work originally published in print and converted to eBook form:
Vilim Vasata, Ueberleben in der Sintflut (Econ Verlag, Germany); English title is Radical Brand

eBook Technology Award
Dr. Peter N. Yianilos, eBookMan (Franklin Electronic Publishers)

The Grand Prize, as well as the prize of $US 10,000 for the four writing categories, were presented to eBook authors. The judges also bestowed a $US 10,000 technical achievement award for the advancement and implementation of eBook technologies and features.

Final judging decisions on the winners were made in a confidential closed session in Frankfurt. The judges picked the Grand Prize winner from the fiction and non-fiction Original eBook category finalists. Submissions in these categories included works published originally in eBook form, as well as those published simultaneously in eBook and paper. All winners were kept secret until they were announced at the Award Ceremony.

The prestigious international panel of Frankfurt eBook Award judges included Walter Anderson, Chairman, CEO and publisher of Parade Publications; Pierre Assouline, Editor-in-Chief of Lire magazine; Daniel J. Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus; Stewart Brand, President of The Long Now Foundation; Maria B. Campbell, President of Maria B. Campbell Associates Inc.; Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Chair of the Afro-American Studies Department and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Studies at Harvard University; James Gleick, author of Faster and Chaos; Cheryl Hurley, President of The Library America; Roger G. Kennedy, author of, Burr Hamilton and Jefferson: A Study in Character and past Director, U.S. National Park Service; Walter Mosley, author of Devil in a Blue Dress and past President of the Mystery Writers of America; Hermann Rotermund, head of the German ARD digital television project, and Paul Saffo, author and technology forecaster with the Institute of the Future.

Alberto Vitale, former Chairman and CEO of Random House, who has spent his career leading publishing enterprises and spearheading important, cutting-edge initiatives in media, serves as Chairman of the International eBook Award Foundation. ''I am pleased that tonight we're also celebrating the authors and agents who are embracing this new medium, as well as the publishers who are making all of this possible, and who are at the forefront of this enormously exciting publishing venue,'' Vitale said. ''This a very new industry in its earliest stages with the potential to grow explosively in the months and years to come. It is a work in progress, and we will all learn and adapt as the software and technology develops and improves. As the industry matures, the Frankfurt eBook Awards will evolve accordingly.''

''In addition to shining a light on and energizing the eBook industry, which was the first role of the Foundation, we serve as a communication and information platform for the publishing community,'' said Roxanna Frost, President and Executive Director of the International eBook Award Foundation. ''We have successfully opened a worldwide dialogue on eBooks and created a forum for bringing together the best examples of this creative form. We look forward to building on this strong beginning.''

The International eBook Award Foundation sponsors the Frankfurt eBook Awards. Further information is available on the IeBAF. The site includes complete finalist listings, submission criteria, profiles of the judges, and other background material regarding the Foundation.

IeBAF is sponsored by Microsoft Reader URL(http://www.microsoft.com/reader/), Gemstar's Rocket eBook and Softbook Press (www.gemstar.com), Adobe Glassbook, Overdrive, and Reciprocal, with support from the Frankfurt Book Fair URL(http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com), Contentville URL(http://www.contentville.com), and the Open eBook Forum (www.openeBook.com).

Video coverage filmed during the award ceremony can be seen on the IeBAF