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Book and Author Award Programs

The following are a few of the awards given out to books and authors every year. If you find out about others, please let me know and I will add them to this page. Thank you for your support and help in maintaining this page. Email: JohnKremer@bookmarket.com.

Why go for awards? Because they will help you sell books. As five-time RITA award-winning author Jo Beverley noted, “Whenever you win, it makes it easier to sell your work.”

Similarly Leslie Wagner, senior editor at Silhouette, uses the designation ‘RITA Award-winning author’ on covers whenever she can because “It's one other piece that makes the books stand out in a crowded marketplace.”

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Acupuncture Book of the Year Award, Acupuncture.com, Johanna Masse, Yo San Books, 13315 Washington Boulevard #200, Los Angeles CA 90066; 310-302-1207. Email: jmasse@taostar.com.

American Horticultural Society Awards, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria VA 22308; 703-768-5700; 800-777-7931; Fax: 703-768-8700. Each year AHS honors great gardening literature through the AHS Book Award Program, including children's and adult gardening books.

Arizona Book Awards, Arizona Book Publishing Association, Gwen Henson, Executive Director, 6340 S Rural Road #118-152, Tempe AZ 85283; 602-274-6264; Gwen: 480-777-9250. Email: azbookawards@gmail.com. Awards for books written by an Arizona author, published by an Arizona publisher, or set in Arizona.

ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Awards, ASPCA Education Department, 424 East 92nd Street, New York NY 10128; 212-876-7700, ext. 4402. Deadline: October 31st, with awards presented at the American Library Association Convention during the next summer. Awarded to outstanding children's books that foster empathy, compassion, and respect for living beings.

Association for Library Service to Children Awards, 50 E Huron Street, Chicago IL 60611; 800-545-2433. Email: alsc@ala.org. Awards details: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/ awardsscholarships.htm. Awards for children's book authors and illustrators, including the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, and more.

Audie Awards, Audio Publishers Association, 191 Clarksville Road, Princeton Junction NJ 08550; 609-799-6327; Fax: 609-799-7032. Email: info@audiopub.org. Annual awards prior to BookExpo America with many awards in various categories for spoken word audio.

The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award, 610 West 112th Street, New York NY 10025; 212-875-4540. Email: bookcom@bankstreet.edu. Given to a picture book for children, grades 1 through 3, that is considered the best for text and illustration.

Books for a Better Life Awards, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York City Chapter; 212-463-7787. Offers awards for first book, inspirational memoir, motivational, psychology, relationships, spiritual, and wellness. Very New York publisher oriented in its selections.

Boston Globe / Horn Book Awards, Sarah Scriver, 56 Roland Street #200, Boston MA 02129; 617-628-0225, ext. 221. Email: sscriver@hbook.com. Categories: picture book, children's fiction and poetry, and children's nonfiction. Submissions: http://www.hbook.com/bghb/submissions_bghb.asp.

CBHL Literature Award, Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries. Recognizes a general interest and technical book making a significant contribution to botany and horticulture. Online submission form.

The Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College, 610 West 112th Street, New York NY 10025; 212-875-4540. Email: bookcom@bankstreet.edu. The Josette Frank Award for children's fiction and the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for children's nonfiction.

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year, Christian Small Publishers Association, Sarah Bolme, P O Box 481022, Charlotte NC 28269; 704-277-7194; Fax: 704-717-2928. Email: cspa@christianpublishers.net. Honors fiction, nonfiction, and children's books produced by small publishers each year for outstanding contribution to Christian life.

Christopher Awards, Judith Trojan, Program Manager, The Christophers, 12 East 48th Street, 4th Floor, New York NY 10017; 212-759-4050; Fax: 212-838-5073. Email: j.trojan@christophers.org. Presented annually to writers, producers, directors, and illustrators in the publishing, film, broadcast TV, and cable industries for works that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”

800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards, Kate Mytty; 414-274-6406, ext. 235. Email: kate@800ceoread.com. Thirteen categories: sales, leadership, human resourses, entrepreneurship/small business, finance/economics, advertising/marketing, globalization, fables, biographies/memoirs, personal development, innovation/creativity, industry, and new perspectives.

Firecracker Alternative Book Awards — Awards for gay/lesbian, alternative cultural books, etc. Given out at BEA every year. Horrible web site. Unless you allow Flash to work, you have no access to this web site. No alternatives to this alternative web site.

First Book Prize in Photography, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, 1317 W Pettigrew Street, Durham NC 27705; 919-660-3663.

ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards, ForeWord, 129½ E. Front Street, Traverse City MI 49684; 231-933-3699; Fax: 231-933-3899. Email: karen@forewordmagazine.com. 42 categories of awards.

Benjamin Franklin Book Awards, Publishers Marketing Association, 627 Aviation Way, Manhattan Beach CA 90266; 310-372-2732; Fax: 310-374-3342. Email: PMAonline@aol.com. Annual awards prior to BookExpo America with more than 100 categories, all subjects and formats. One of the most prestigious of awards now being presented.

Garden Globe Awards, Garden Writers Association of America, 10210 Leatherleaf Court, Manassas VA 20111; 703-257-1032; Fax: 703-257-0213. Email: info@gwaa.org. Web: http://www.gwaa.org. Since the early 1980s, the GWAA annual awards program has recognized outstanding writing, photography, graphic design and illustration for books, newspaper stories, magazine articles, and other works focused on gardening. In recent years awards have expanded to include on-air talent, production and direction for radio, television, video, Internet and other electronic media.

Georgia Author of the Year Awards, Georgia Writers Association, English Department #2701, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw GA 30144; 770-420-4736. Email: rtwilson@kennesaw.edu. Awards for fiction, first novel, memoir, history, self-help, essay, inspirational, specialty books, poetry, short stories/anthologies, young adult, middle readers, and picture books. Nomination forms at http://www.georgiawriters.org/gayanom-43rd.pdf.

Griffin Poetry Prize, The Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, Toronto, Canada; 905-565-5993. International and Canadian poetry prizes ($40,000 each).

Eric Hoffer Book Award, Hopewell Publications, P O Box 11, Titusville NJ 08560; Fax: 609-818-1913. Email: hofferaward@yahoo.com. $40 entry fee. Awards in art, fiction, commercial fiction, young adult, culture, business, reference, home, health/self-help, and legacy (titles over two years old). Plus individual press awards to micro press, small press, academic press, and self-published.

Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Jim Barnes, Managing Editor, 400 W Front Street #4A, Traverse City MI 49684; 231-933-0445; 800-706-4636; Fax: 231-933-0448. Email: jimb@bookpublishing.com. Annual awards just prior to BookExpo America every year. Online entry form at: http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/IPAwards.php. Now in its eleventh year.

International Automotive Media Awards, Walter Haessner, Executive Director; 520-749-2260; Fax: 520-792-8501. Email: wrh@aztexcorp.com or iama0@earthlink.net.

Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Institute, Jeannine Cuevas, Prize Manager; 415-777-1628. Web: http://www.pacificrimvoices.org. Honors books that “encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim.” Winners, who win $15,000, are announced in October.

Koret Jewish Book Awards — The Koret Foundation and National Foundation for Jewish Culture offer $10,000 awards in four Jewish life categories: biography, fiction, history, and philosophy and thought. Deadline: October. Announced in late March.

Legacy Awards for Black Writers — The Hurston/Wright Foundation and Borders Books honor innovative black writers in three categories: literary fiction, nonfiction, and debut/first fiction.

Lukas Prize Project, 212-854-8653. Email: lukas@jrn.columbia.edu. The $10,000 J. Anthony Lukas Prize is given annually to a book of narrative non-fiction on a topic of American political or social concern. Also the $10,000 Mark Lynton History Prize is given to a work of narrative history on any subject. Finally, the $45,000 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress is given annually to aid the completion of a significant work of non-fiction. All three prizes are jointly administered by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Deadline: early December.

John T. Lupton New Voices In Literature Awards, Books for Life Foundation; 317-685-2500. A prize of $10,000 is awarded to winners in both the fiction and nonfiction categories.

Macavity Awards, Mystery Readers International. Announced annually at the World Mystery Convention. For information, contact Janet A. Rudolph, editor, Mystery Readers Journal; 510-845-3600; Email: whodunit@murderonthemenu.com.

Mom's Choice Awards, Bumble Bee Productions, 725 Watch Island Reach, Chesapeake VA 23320; 757-410-9409, ext. 712; Fax: 757-410-9409. Email: momschoiceawards@bbpmail.com. Recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents, and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media products and services. Awards in 50 categories.

National Book Awards, The National Book Foundation, 99 Madison Avenue #709, New York NY 10016; 212-685-0261; Fax: 212-213-6570. Email: nationalbook@nationalbook.org or natbkfdn@mindspring.com. $125 per entry. Entry information: http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaentry.html. Awards in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the National Book Awards confer “significant sales to little-known works of fiction.” 92% of the 30,799 copies of William Vollman's Europe Central were sold after the novel won the 2005 award. 96% of the 36,893 copies of Kevin Boyle's Arc of Justice were sold after the novel won the 2004 award. Lily Tuck's The News from Paraguay sold 60,000 copies after winning the award. Prior to the award, her book had sold 14,000 copies.

National Indie Excellence Awards, 269 S Beverly Drive #1065, Beverly Hills CA 90212; 805-884-9996; Fax: 805-884-9911. Email: support@indieexcellence.com. Presents an opportunity for all independent publishers, small presses, self-publishers, and POD authors. Entry deadline: March 31st each year.

National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA), Ron Watters, Iowa State University, Ames IA; 208-282-3912; Fax: 208-282-4600. Email: wattron@isu.edu. Awards for outdoors history/biography, outdoors literature, outdoor classic, design & artistic merit, children's books, nature/environment, nature guidebook, instructional, and outdoor adventure guidebook. Very open to small publishers.

Nautilus Book Awards, Marilyn McGuire & Associates, P O Box 400, Eastsound WA 98245; 360-376-2001. Email: marilyn@marilynmcguire.com. Awards for mind/body/spirit books.

New Mexico Book Awards, Paul Rhetts & Barbe Awalt, NM Book Co-op, 925 Salamanca NW, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM 87107; 505-344-9382. Email: info@nmbookcoop.com. The books must have some connection to New Mexico or the Southwest, either via the subject, the author, or the publisher. Lots of categories, including children's, arts, biography, history, cookbooks, business, reference, religion, self-help, travel, poetry, and more. Plus five fiction categories and anthologies.

Parent's Choice Award: Honors the best material for children, including books, toys, music and storytelling, magazines, software, videogames, television, and websites.

PNBA Book Awards, Thom Chambliss, Director, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, 214 East 12th Avenue, Eugene OR 97401-3245; 541-683-4363; Fax: 541-683-3910. Email: info@pnba.org.

RITA Awards, Romance Writers Association. Thiks national association of romance writers offers awards in a variety of romance novel categories.

Self-Published Book Awards, Writer's Digest, 1507 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45207. Annual awards with a mid-December deadline for applications.

Texas Institute of Letters Annual Awards, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos TX 78666; 512-245-2428; Fax: 512-245-7462. Annual awards for short pieces, books, and book design. Open to Texas residents.

Dylan Thomas Prize, Tim Prosser, CEO; 44-1792-474051 or 44-7968-854435. Email: tim@dylanthomasprize.com. They accept nominations for this £60,000 prize until April 30th of each year. The prize is awarded to the best book in English published by an author under 30. In 2006, Rachel Trezise won for her collection of short stories, Fresh Apples.

The Prize aims to encourage, promote and reward exciting new writing in the English speaking world in commemoration of the life and work of Dylan Thomas. Entrants should be the author of a published book (in English), under the age of 30, writing within one of the following categories: poetry, novel, collection of short stories by one author, play that has been professionally performed, a broadcast radio play, a professionally produced screenplay that has resulted in a feature-length film. Authors need to be nominated by their publishers or producers (in the case of performance art). To be eligible a literary work must have been commercially published, for the first time in the English language between 27th April 2006 and 30th April 2008.

Young Adult Book Awards, click here.

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