The Judging Panel and Process
Our judging panel is made up of distinguished book editors, librarians, booksellers, literary agents, and other industry professionals. Many of our judges have experience with other awards programs. Many have advanced literary degrees; some teach university courses in literature, journalism, and/or creative or informational writing. All have rich experience evaluating books with both target readers and the market overall in mind.
Each judge reads three to five books in the categories of their particular expertise. Each book is judged by three independent judges.
Books compete within their individual categories, and also for the top honor as Fiction or Nonfiction Book of the Year.
Judging Criteria
What are we looking for? Fine work, in a professional package.
Our judges look at the whole book:
We take into consideration the interior layout.
We give a little nod to textual correctness and consistency.
We sit up and take note of fine writing.
We focus in deeply on substance: the content of the work and its structure.
The line of thought for informational nonfiction.
Use of language and poetic devices for poetry.
Creative balance for artistic hybrids.
Creativity of style and substance. Uniqueness.
Our goal is to highlight for readers the best of independent publishing, and to recognize authors and publishers for fine work.
The Program: Rules, Regulations, Notices
Professional standards. All submissions will be held to basic publishing standards with respect to attributes such as length and legibility.
Categories. The team reserves the right to combine, divide, or otherwise modify award categories so as to remain nimble and true with respect to submissions. In some years, there may be additional award categories that do not appear in other years.
Award winners. Awards are granted based on judging scores and evaluation. The process is not relativistic: books are measured against standards of excellence rather than each other. If those standards are not met in a particular category in a particular year, no awards will be given for that category, in that year.
Governance. The book awards program is coordinated and managed independently of the hosting organization, and all judging is undertaken by an independent panel of professionals. IPNE’s board of directors has no visibility into, nor is it directly involved with, any of the details or proceedings. The awards coordinator acts as liaison to the board around all things awards.
Reading is the sole means by which we slip,
involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.
JOYCE CAROL OATES
I don’t read a book; I hold a conversation
with the author.
ELBERT HUBBARD
Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.
ANNA QUINDLEN
Have books ‘happened’ to you? Unless your answer to that question is ‘yes,’ I’m unsure how to talk to you.
HARUKI MURAKAMI
The object of art is not to reproduce reality,
but to create a reality of the same intensity.
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI
If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.
MICHELANGELO
QUESTIONS?