Friday, September 7, 2007

An Award? For Me?

Do you automatically nominate all the books you publish for the big daddy awards (Caldecott, Newbery, etc)? Or just the ones you feel have the highest chance of winning? Or does somebody else do the nominating? Like the authors themselves? Clearly, I have no clue how those gold and silver medals get stamped on those books.

Editors don't nominate; marketing departments do. The smart ones nominate absolutely everything that could reasonably meet the criteria, so (for example) ours sends every illustrated book that is (a) illustrated by someone living in the US and (b) first published in the current year to the Caldecott committee. It's not our job to decide which of our books are or aren't fit to win the award; it's the committee's job.

I do suggest you read each award's criteria and guidelines before you ask your publisher if your book is being submitted for X or Y. You might be surprised what qualifies and what doesn't for different awards.

10 comments:

Brenda Sturgis said...

Other than the Caldacott for illustration, what other awards can a picture book be nominated for regarding the story?

Editorial Anonymous said...

Jeez, there are piles of different awards. Depends who you are, what the story's about, whether it's a translation, etc, etc. Google children's literature awards, and I'm sure you'll find plenty.

Anonymous said...

All -- Be aware of the real meaning of the word "nominate." Publishers nominate nothing; they "submit" books for consideration. The committees for these awards have an internal nomination process and outsiders never see their nomination list (though rumors can leak out). But we see only the results.

Anonymous said...

Brenda, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award is a nice one.

Brenda Sturgis said...

Oh thank you, I am going to Google and find out what's out there.

Brenda

Wendie O said...

There are books at your public library that list almost every award -- and the criteria for submitting. Your librarian can help you find them.

-librarian/ writer

Anonymous said...

I thought the illustrator had to be American, though perhaps a resident of another country--am I mistaken?

Anonymous said...

To discover the rules for the Caldecott, go to www.ala.org and type in "Caldecott" in the search block. Same to find the rules for the Newbery.

To discover the rules for the Golden Kite, go to www.scbwi.org. The golden Kite award goes to
Illustrator
writer of a picture book
writer of fiction, not picture book
writer of non-fiction.

To discover the rules fo the Boston Globe/ Horn Book award, go to the Horn Book website.

etc.
(or use that book in the library that covers them all, including state awards)

-librarian/ writer

CJ Omololu said...

I'm interested in the Caldecott info because my illustrator is an American living in Switzerland at the moment, and my book will be out in 2008.

According to their website:
It is for artists who are citizens or residents of the United States.

Lordy, I'll have to find out if he kept his citizenship!

I think he's eligible for the Corretta Scott King award too - I'll have to check it out.

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