Gerry Byrne

The Quill Awards were handed out in New York City this week during a ceremony its producers hope will eventually be to books what the Oscars telecast is to motion pictures. A star-studded roster of authors were on-hand Tuesday night to scoop up their prizes at the event, held at the American Museum of Natural History. The awards were taped for a one-hour broadcast that will run on NBC on Oct. 28. Tyler Perry’s “Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life” was honored with the night’s top prize as the Quill Book of the Year. Author

The organizers of a national book award are hoping the pizzaz of a “Hollywood-style” ceremony and its consumer-driven online voting process will help draw some mainstream attention back to the written word. With the announcement of the nominations this week for the second annual edition of the Quill Book Awards, online voters will have the next month to vote for the books they believe deserve to be presented on network TV as the best of the year. This year’s nominated books for the Quill Awards were released on NBC’s “The Today Show” earlier this week. The network, the award’s broadcast partner, will also air a