Want to win a book industry award?
Winning awards won’t make you rich, and won’t help you sell books. But It will spruce up your CV, massage your ego immensely, impress your boss and on occasion you can even win a mighty fine prize.
The following are noteworthy prizes, awards and programmes available for publishing super-stars to apply for. There are plenty more for teams to win, but here are individual ones you can focus on for now.
Kim Scott Walwyn Prize
The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize is managed by the Prize Committee and Book Trust and is run in partnership with the Society of Young Publishers and the Publishing Training Centre. It is open to any woman has worked in publishing in the UK for up to seven years and recognises the professional achievements and promise of women in the industry.
Pandora Prize
The Pandora Prize is run by Women in Publishing and is awarded annually to a woman who has made a significant and sustained contribution to the publishing industry.
The Bookseller’s Rising Stars
The Bookseller picks a number of Rising Stars annually for a feature on the next generation of movers and shakers in the book industry.The list is about the ‘young guns’, but it is not necessarily about age, as it can include a trade veteran who has changed roles or a seasoned professional from outside the industry who is new to the business.
The Bookseller 100
The Bookseller 100 is a British-based list compiled of those who influence the book industry significantly in any given year. Individual influence is measured by the company size, a campaigning voice, or technological innovation to name but three.
Young Stationers’ Prize (open now for nominations in 2015)
The Young Stationers’ Prize is given annually to a person who will generally be under 40 who, in the opinion of the judges, has made the most recognisable contribution to the trades of the Company, as well as for future promise. All those working in the press, publishing, and other trades of the Stationers’ Company are eligible to apply.
The British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE)
The British Council has been pioneering to build a strong community and professional network of creative businesses, through the reward programme Young Creative Entrepreneur Awards. The awards help nurture enterprise across seven categories – including publishing.
The British Council lifetime achievement award
The ELTons are the only international awards to recognise innovative achievement in English Language Teaching (ELT) publishing globally. The awards have been organised into seven categories including the British Council Lifetime Achievement Award.
IPG Young independent publisher of the year
The IPG Independent Publishing Awards are awarded annually at a prestigious ceremony in Oxfordshire. Judges include publishers, agents, Book Fair executives and other top industry professionals.
Frankfurt Fellowship programme
Publishers, editors, rights and licensing professionals, agents and product managers (print and digital) can apply for the Frankfurt Fellowship. It takes place in the run-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair and focuses on information exchange, professional dialogue and the creation of networks between young international publishers. More than 280 participants from 55 countries have taken part in this experience.
The London Book Fair – Literary Agent Award / Lifetime Achievement Award
These awards take place at The London Book Fair and celebrate international excellence in the book industry. They cover all areas of international publishing including: academic and scholarly, children’s publishing and digital innovation. In each award category the judging panel was made up of experts in that sector.
So how can you win a publishing award? The BookMachine team have won or been shortlisted for a few: Kim Scott Walwyn, The Bookseller Rising Stars, Tools of Change Start-up Showcase and the British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur. We’ll share some tips for winning in another blog post shortly.
