Billy Crystal received an honor from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Monday night at the 16th annual Glaad Media Awards. He was recognized for his work on ABC’s “Soap” in the role of as Jodie, one of the first leading gay characters on television.

“I took the part because I thought that we could do something different, that we could do something great and possibly important,” Mr. Crystal said. “What we tried to do on the show, week after week, was make this a man who happened to be gay, get rid of the stereotype and make Jodie something different that television hadn’t seen before.”

Actor Alan Cumming said he was glad to be honored this year instead of last, because “in light of what has happened in the past year, we know that there’s so much more need to stand up now and shout – not just for acceptance, because I don’t want to be just accepted or tolerated. I want to be respected for who I am.”

The organization’s executive director, Joan Garry, exchanged hugs with various celebrities that took part in the ceremony, including Jessica Lange, “Spamalot” actor Tim Curry, and “Queer as Folk” star Hal Sparks.

The organization also gave awards to television shows (such as “Will & Grace”), magazines (such as People and the Nation), and theater productions (such as “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead”).

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Even the books were buzzing in the Lotos Club library Monday night, when more than 200 leading lights of the book business gathered to toast the new editor of Publishers Weekly, Sara Nelson.

The hosts of the “New Era, New Sara” party were two big fans of Ms. Nelson, the publisher of Publishers Weekly, Bill McGorry, and the president of the media division of Reed Business Information, Tad Smith. “We love Sara, she’s doing a great job, and wait until you see what’s next,” Mr. Smith said. Reed Business Information owns Publishers Weekly.

Guests included the chief executive of HarperCollins, Jane Friedman; the editor in chief of Random House, Daniel Menaker; the founder of Ecco Press, Daniel Halpern; literary agent Amanda Urban, and the president of Simon & Schuster, Carolyn Reidy.

Just two months into the job, Ms. Nelson has punched up the magazine by writing editorials and adding a column on Hollywood. In coming months, readers can look for a substantive redesign by J.C. Suares, making it “more contemporary, more user-friendly, more journalistic,” Ms. Nelson said, adding that her ultimate goal is “to increase the magazine’s presence in the industry and restore some of its luster.”

It was a cute but ultimately unnecessary gesture to ask guests to indicate “the book I’m reading now” on their name tag. As if this crowd needed an excuse to bring up such a subject.

Ms. Nelson indicated she is reading “Small Island” by Andrea Levy. Mr. Menaker put down “Saturday” by Ian McKewan.

Some editors thought they were being clever by writing on their name tags books under submission – in other words, books not even acquired yet. This turned out to be risky, though, as some editors discovered that what they thought they were reading exclusively had also been submitted to other publishing houses.

Book parties do have their perils, some of which are not related to books. Not all the invited publishing executives arrived in the formal business attire required by the crusty and private Lotos Club.

“I was turned away from the Lotos Club because I was wearing blue jeans. It was my fault, I should have remembered,” the owner of Grove/ Atlantic, Morgan Entrekin, said during a telephone interview yesterday. He said he went home and read “War Reporting for Cowards,” which his company is publishing in August.

We also hear that the president of the Knopf Publishing Group, Sonny Mehta, another denim lover, was turned away, as was a scout, Todd Franklin.

Mr. Entrekin was circumspect on the matter. “It’s nice places like that still exist,” he said, “but I was disappointed because I wanted to celebrate with Sara.”

Ms. Nelson was also disappointed. “I’m so sorry that they were turned away and so honored that they tried to come in the first place,” she said.

All in all, Ms. Nelson said she was “incredibly flattered” by the event. “I was really moved by it and by the fact that all these people came out on this horrible night of miserable weather.”