Press Release
The 57th annual New England Book Show announced an exciting new category: GRAPHIC NOVELS. Any graphic novel with some link to the New England states (publisher, paper sourcing, design, printing, binding, authors, etc.) are eligible to apply.
The New England Book Show is the United States’ longest-running and among the most prestigious in the United States. They are excited to add graphic novels to their categories. Entries are judged on design and production. Independent, lower-budget, and self-published titles are encouraged to apply.
The deadline to enter is FEBRUARY 4, 2014. The Book Show itself is May 6 in Boston’s Symphony Hall. Enter here: http://www.bbboston.org/callfo
The New England Book Show is organized by the Bookbuilders of Boston. They want to celebrate beautiful, thoughtfully designed and produced books. So for the past 56 years they have collected entries across a range of categories, and a jury of publishing professionals selects Best in Category, as well as first, second, and third runners up for each category. The physical composition of the book is what they are judging. So this isn’t about the words or content, but rather design and production.
Traditionally the categories in the book show have been textbooks (college and el-hi), illustrated trade books, non-illustrated trade books, children’s books, professional books (illustrated and non-illustrated), and reference books. In recent years, the New England Book Show have been working to keep the show relevant and more up-to-date with the addition of categories for multimedia and e-books. Now, they are trying to go farther and include categories that encompass a wider range of the publishing world. New categories this year are graphic novels, poetry, literary journals, cookbooks, and magazines.
The New England Book Show especially try to foster some of the smaller fry of publishing. They instruct the jury members who make the award decisions to consider the point of view of the published work. The New England Book Show know some publishers have big budgets and slick printing methods more easily available to them. But they want to make sure that student work, self-published work, independent presses, etc. are appreciated and honored as well.
The Book Show itself will take place on May 6 this year at Symphony Hall in Boston’s Back Bay. It’s a really fun show — people are encouraged to circulate and look through winning entries. People are free to pick up and leaf through entries. They have a tablet table for e-books and multimedia. The show is planned by a committee of volunteers from different areas of the publishing industry. The jury members who make award decisions are also volunteer publishing professionals from a wide range of different roles at various stages in their careers.
