Alberta Book Publishing Awards
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About the awards
As the critical middle piece of the storytelling process, Alberta book publishers enrich and sustain the cultural and social landscape of our province. Releasing a range of quality titles each year, they bring Alberta’s Story to life and share it locally, nationally, and internationally.
Created to recognize and celebrate the best of the Alberta book publishing industry, the Alberta Book Publishing Awards have grown alongside the industry to capture the excellence and innovation of Alberta’s book publishers.
Each year, the winners of the Alberta Book Publishing awards are selected through a peer jury process in up to 16 award categories. This much-anticipated event draws industry, government, and media attention to the world-class excellence of Alberta’s publishing industry.
Submission Information
The BPAA is accepting submissions for the 2025 Alberta Book Publishing Awards through February 28, 2025.
Download the PDF Media Release
Eligibility
Nominees for Alberta Book Publishing Awards need not be members of the Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) but must meet the following criteria to be eligible to win an award:
1. A publisher will:
- have its chief office of business located in Alberta,
- be at least 80% beneficially owned by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, or be fully owned and controlled by Canadian institutions or associations that are 80% controlled by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants,
- have effective managerial and editorial control by people domiciled in Alberta, and financial control in the hands of people living in Canada,
- publish original Canadian books as a primary, not occasional, activity,
- have no more than 25% of titles in print written by principals, directors or employees of the company, and
- not accept service fees from authors.
2. Titles must have been published between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
3. Revised editions are eligible* if at least two of the following elements are included:
- significant changes in trim size or binding, or
- typesetting additions, or
- changes to at least 20% of the text and significant graphic, or illustrative changes beyond a new cover.
4. Books may be entered in more than one category, and in any or all of the three design categories.
5. Each publisher may submit up to three titles per award category.
* a description of the format and content changes, the release dates, and publishers’ names for previous editions must be supplied.
Conditions
- Submissions must be received in full on or before February 28, 2025.
- All submissions become the property of the BPAA and will not be returned.
- Submission fees are non-refundable.
- Jury decisions are final; including no award in a category.
AI Disclosure
Publishers must disclose in their submission the use of AI-generative technologies, which is a type of AI that produces content such as text, audio, code, videos and images. Disclosures must include how the AI-generative technology was used during the entire writing and publishing process and to which component of the book it was applied (written content, marketing copy, jacket design, etc.). Publishers do not need to disclose the use of spelling or grammar check programs.
When reviewing submissions, jurors will be asked to evaluate the publisher’s influence on the final product, and more value will be given to human-generated content than AI-generated content.
Disclaimer
The Book Publishers Association of Alberta administers the Alberta Book Publishing Awards as a service to the book publishers of Alberta and has no influence on jury deliberations and decisions.
These awards are intended to celebrate and recognize excellence in book publishing, and submissions are evaluated with a view of the full book publishing process. Awards are presented to the publisher, and not to individual contributors.
Submission Checklist
Download the submission checklist as a PDF.
- Completed and signed Eligibility, Conditions, and Attestation form, including an AI disclosure if applicable (please submit to our Dropbox file request). Only one Eligibility, Conditions and Attestations form is required per publisher.
- A high-quality cover photo for each title submitted (please upload to our Dropbox file request).
- Completed Title Information Form for each submission.
- Send four hard copies of each title to be considered for an award. See Note 3.
- If submitting a title in multiple categories please include:
–> Four copies of the book for the first category.
–> Three copies for each additional category. See Note 1 if the title is entered in more than one Design category.
- One copy of each title as an eBook in ePub or PDF format, uploaded to the Dropbox file request for each category the title is entered into.
- Digital copies of all supporting documents, uploaded to the Dropbox file request for each category the title is entered into. The requested supporting documents are included in the criteria documents for each category. See Note 2.
- Submission fees: You can pay by cheque, e-transfer to accounting@bookpublishers.ab.ca, or Square.
–>$45.00 per title, per category for members of the BPAA.
–>$55.00 per title, per category for non-members.
Submission Notes
Note 1: Only one set of copies (a total of four) is required for the Design categories, even when entering into more than one (Book Cover Design, Book Design, or Book Illustration). Three copies for each additional non-design category are still required.
Note 2: Supporting documents should be organized into individual folders for each title. Please upload the folder (zipped or unzipped), not individual files. If submitting a title in multiple categories, please upload ebooks and applicable supporting documentation into the Dropbox file request for each category the title is entered into.
Note 3: Send all hard copy book submissions to:
Book Publishers Association of Alberta
Second Floor, Percy Page Centre
11759 Groat Road NW
Edmonton, AB T5M 3K6
Dropbox File Requests
Links to the Dropbox file requests for each category can be downloaded through the Dropbox file requests document.
Awards Criteria
Criteria documents for each award can be reviewed in our Dropbox Folder.
Past winners
You can find copies of previous winning and nominated titles through the following links:
Read Alberta eBook Collections
2024 Awards
2023 Awards
2022 Awards
2021 Awards
2020 Awards
2019 Awards
2018 Awards
2017 Awards
2016 Awards
2015 Awards
2014 Awards
2013 Awards
2012 Awards
2011 Awards
2010 Awards
2009 Awards
2008 Awards
2007 Awards
2006 Awards
2005 Awards
2004 Awards