The Lambda Literary Foundation revealed the finalists for the 25th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. The “Lammy” awards honor the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) published works from 2012.

The nominated works in the 22 categories were picked by more than 90 booksellers, book reviewers, librarians, authors, and previous Lammy Award winners. The winners will be announced on June 3, 2013 at a ceremony in New York City. We’ve listed a few of this year’s nominees below.

Here’s more from the release: “Lambda Literary Foundation set a new record in 2013 for both the number of LGBT books submitted for Lammy consideration, 687, and the number of publishers participating, 332. This beats the record-setting numbers in 2012 of 600 titles by over 250 publishers and is the fourth consecutive year of growth in submissions and publishers.”

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The nominees for this year’s Nebula Awards have been revealed, and we’ve collected free samples of all the nominees below–the best science fiction books of 2012.

Many of these stories are available to read for free online. These are marked “COMPLETE” among the links.  Here’s more about the awards:

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.

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Scholastic will publish an autobiographical picture book by Suzanne Collins called Year of the Jungle. The book will hit stores in September.

The book is about how her family coped with her father’s year serving in Vietnam. Like her previous two series, The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games, the book focuses on themes of war. Artist James Proimos, who also worked with Collins in children’s television, will illustrate. We’ve embedded the cover image below.

Collins (pictured, via) had this statement in the release: “For several years I had this little wicker basket next to my writing chair with the postcards my dad had sent me from Viet Nam and photos of that year. But I could never quite find a way into the story. It has elements that can be scary for the audience and it would be easy for the art to reinforce those.  It could be really beautiful art but still be off-putting to a kid, which would defeat the point of doing the book. Then one day I was having lunch with Jim and telling him about the idea and he said, ‘That sounds fantastic.’  I looked at him and I had this flash of the story through his eyes, with his art.  It was like being handed a key to a locked door. So, I just blurted out, ‘Do you want to do it?’  Fortunately he said yes. That afternoon, on the train ride home, the book started unfolding in my head.”

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Mortal Instruments author Cassandra Clare and The Spiderwick Chronicles author Holly Black have landed a book deal for a five-book middle grade fantasy series.

Scholastic will publish the first book, The Iron Trial, in 2014. Editorial director David Levithan negotiated the deal with literary agents Russell Galen (for Clare) and Barry Goldblatt (for Black).

Here’s more from the release: “In this exciting new series, twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has grown up knowing three rules by heart. Never trust a magician. Never pass a test a magician gives you. And never let a magician take you to the Magisterium. Callum is about to break all the rules. And when he does, his life will change in ways he can’t possibly imagine.”

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Scholastic has made six promotions within its trade publishing division.

In the editorial department, Maria Dominguez has been named executive editor and manager and David Levithan has been promoted to VP, publisher and editorial director.

Dominguez has been with the imprint Scholastic en español since 2004. Levithan began his career at Scholastic with an internship and has since gone on to work with several bestselling authors including Suzanne Collins and Maggie Stiefvater.

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Nightshade trilogy author Andrea Creamer has inked a deal with Penguin Group (USA)’s Philomel imprint for a new YA steampunk series.

The first book, titled The Inventor’s Secret, is slated for publication in fall 2013. Executive editor Jill Santopolo negotiated the deal with InkWell Management literary agents Richard Pine and Charlie Olsen.

Here’s more from the release: “The series is set in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery…As part of the deal, Philomel has also acquired a second prequel to Nightshade entitled RISE, which is scheduled for publication in summer 2013. The first prequel to Nightshade,entitled RIFT, is scheduled for publication in fall 2012.” (Photo Credit: Gina Monroe)

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According to Chase’s Calendar, September is “Be Kind To Editors & Writers Month.”

Which editors and writers would you like to celebrate?

This GalleyCat contributor would like to salute the editors behind some of the world’s most beloved YA titles, including editorial director David Levithan (The Hunger Games trilogy), publisher Megan Tingley (The Twilight Saga) and publishing consultant Barbara Marcus (The Harry Potter series).

Usually you can’t talk inside a library, much less have a rock concert. Last night, Tiger Beat (a band comprised of Y.A. authors) played inside the 42nd Street New York Public Library.

Jack Martin hosted the NYC Teen Author Festival event, titled “Y.A. Rocks.” The night included music-related-readings from Philana Marie Boles, Jon Skovron, Jeri Smith-Ready, and Rita Williams-Garcia. Band members Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Barney Miller also read.

The video embedded above shows Tiger Beat playing their original song, “Y.A. Song.” The lyrics make references to The Hunger Games, The Chocolate Wars, Catcher in the Rye, and several other titles. As they played, NYPL intern Zach held up specially-made illustrated cue cards with the lyrics to the song. It was his first day on the job.

In his first adult book, The Lover’s Dictionary, author and editor David Levithan wrote “the story of a relationship told in the form of dictionary entries.”

Levithan (pictured next to an espresso book machine) read at McNally Jackson Books earlier this week. He explained that he used The New York Times’ Book of Words You Need to Know to pick out words for the book. While writing, he followed the dictionary format, telling the story in a non-linear way.

After the reading, the author fielded audience questions. When asked to pick his favorite word, Levithan said “wonder.” He concluded the night with an encore reading of one of his favorite entries in the book,  ”elegy.” What is your favorite word?

Disney Publishing imprint Disney-Hyperion has acquired a four-book science fiction series written by Rachel Cohn. Beta, the first book of the YA series, will be published in fall 2012.

Executive editor Emily Meehan negotiated the deal with literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh from William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

Cohn (pictured, via) has written several popular children’s books, including the Cyd Charisse series. She also collaborated with Scholastic editor David Levithan on several titles, including Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

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