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    RWA Vivian Stephens Industry Award

    The RWA Vivian Stephens Industry Award is presented to one or more professionals in the romance-publishing industry, who is not a writer, who has contributed to the genre or to RWA in a significant and/or continuing manner.

    Named for one of RWA's founders, the RWA Vivian Stephens Industry Award is for an accumulated body of work and may n    ot be presented every year if no candidate is clearly identified as meeting the level of excellence established by past recipients of the award.

    To nominate an industry professional for the RWA Vivian Stephens Industry Award, e-mail nominations@rwa.org.


    2013 RWA Vivian Stephens Industry Award Recipient
    Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

    Bette-Lee FoxCelebrating her 41st year with Library Journal, Managing Editor Bette-Lee Fox also edits LJ's Video Reviews, romance column (a staple of the magazine since 1994), and e-original romance reviews, which post weekly as LJ Xpress Reviews. A Brooklyn native, Fox attended her first RWA annual meeting in 2004 as a guest, and it was about that time that she began editing LJ’s romance reviews column. She has participated in several panels at RWA speaking about subjects ranging from reviewing to library collections, has spoken at a Novelists Inc. meeting in New Orleans, has presented at a staff development program about romance at the Brooklyn Public Library, moderated a romance panel at BookExpo America (BEA), and led the inaugural Library Journal Day of Dialog romance panel, also as part of BEA. She is proud to call herself a romance fan and to be associated with this wonderful community of writers and readers.

     

    Past RWA Industry Award Recipients

    • 2012: Barbara Vey, Publishers Weekly
    • 2011: award not given
    • 2010: Eileen Hutton, VP, Associate Publisher (retired), Brilliance Audio
    • 2009: Tracy Farrell, editor-at-large, Harlequin Enterprises
    • 2008: Sue Grimshaw, romance buyer, Borders Group
    • 2007: Linda Marrow, vice president/editorial director, Ballantine
    • 2006: Lucia Macro, executive editor, Avon Books
    • 2005: Leslie Wainger, executive editor, Harlequin Enterprises
    • 2004: Donna Hayes, publisher and CEO Harlequin Enterprises, and Isabel Swift, vice president of editorial, Harlequin Enterprises
    • 2003: Donna Seaman, Booklist
    • 2002: award not given
    • 2001: Carol Stacy, Romantic Times publisher
    • 2000: Jeff Bezos, president & CEO, Amazon.com
    • 1999: award not given
    • 1998: Daisy Maryles, executive editor, Publishers Weekly
    • 1997: Kay Murray, attorney, Authors Guild
    • 1996: Evan M. Fogelman, literary agent
    • 1995: Gerald Ratcliff, bookseller
    • 1994: Richard Curtis, literary agent
    • 1993: Jayne Ann Krentz, author
    • 1992: Marilyn Black, publisher, Meteor Kismet
    • 1991: Kate Duffy, executive editor, Meteor Kismet

     

    Historical note: Waldenbooks was awarded special recognition for contributions to the romance genre in 1990, prior to the inception of the Industry award in 1991. The award was presented to the Waldenbooks romance expert committee comprised of Jennifer McCord, Frances Perrine and Mary Grigg. Prior to 2006, the Vivian Stephens Industry Award was known as the Industry Award. The award name was changed in order to honor one of RWA's founders, Vivian Stephens.