China leads LBF International Excellence Awards nominations

China leads the nominations for the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2016 with five nominations, while the USA and Australia are "not far behind" with four each.

The awards, which are held in partnership with the UK Publishers Association (PA), celebrate success in 14 categories, representing the "best publishing ambassadors, cutting edge publishing, and ground breaking initiatives in the industry".

The new Bookstore of the Year Award category represents the breadth and quality of bookshops across the globe, with retailers from Australia, Italy, Estonia and China represented. The Bookseller Adult Trade Publisher Award "promises to be a close battle" between Actes Sud (France), Laguna Doo (Serbia) and Interlink Publishing (USA).

Poland has been nominated for three awards while Italy and Brazil received two nominations each. Israel, Sudan and Serbia are represented for the first time in the award’s three-year history.

In addition to the 10 international awards, which are eligible to companies whose main work is outside of UK, there are four awards which are open to all countries to enter including the UK.

Jacks Thomas, director of The London Book Fair, said: “Now in their third year, the LBF International Excellence Awards are a one-stop showcase for some fantastic innovation and sheer determination to get books and content into the hands of consumers in a variety of classical and creative ways. Just looking at the shortlists makes me want to shout a big three cheers for the global publishing industry and all who work in it.”

Stephen Lotinga, chief executive of the PA, said: “These awards are going from strength to strength and demonstrates that excellence in publishing has no geographic boundary.  This shortlist shows how, from the USA to China, Argentina to Turkey via France, New Zealand, Poland and of course the UK, there are no shortages of exciting developments in the book and publishing industry.”

The winners of a number of other awards will also be presented on the night of Tuesday 12th April, the first day of LBF, including: The Quantum Publishing Innovation Award, The Association for Publishing Education (APE) Student Awards, The IPA Freedom to Publish Prize, The LBF Trailblazer Awards and The London Book Fair Simon Master Chairman's Award.

The London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented.

 The Awards Ceremony will be held at 6.00pm on 12th April in The Conference Centre, Olympia, London.

The full shortlist is below:

The Bookstore of the Year Award
o   Readings (Australia)
o   Hoepli (Italy)
o   Rahva Raamat (Estonia)
o   Sanlian Bookhouse (China)
 
The Literary Festival Award
o   Open Book (South Africa)
o   The Krakow festival (Poland)
o   Flupp (Brazil)
o   FLIP (Festa Literaria Internacional de Paraty) (Brazil)
 
The Publishers Weekly Literary Translation Initiative Award
o   Paper Republic (China)
o   Words without Borders (USA)
o   Archipelago Books (USA)

The Academic and Professional Publisher Award
o   Higher Education Press Limited Company (China)
o   Teseo (Argentina)
o   Auckland University Press (New Zealand)

The Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award
o   Jieli Publishing House Co.Ltd (China)
o   Editrice Il Castoro (Italy)
o   Dwie Siostry (Two Sisters) (Poland)

The Bookseller Adult Trade Publisher Award·      
o   Actes Sud (France)
o   Laguna Doo (Serbia)
o   Interlink Publishing (USA)

The China Publishing & Media Journal Educational Learning Resources Award
o   Kweetet (Belgium)
o   Cambridge University Press (Australia)
o   SuperMemo World sp. z o.o. (Poland)
o   Quirky kid (Australia)

The Global Rights 365 Literary Agent Award
o   Pontas Agency (Spain)
o   The Barbara J. Zitwer Agency (USA)
o   Deborah Harris (Israel)
o   Hedlund Literary agency (Sweden)
 
The Education Initiatives Award
o   Book Aid International (UK) for their work in Sub-Saharan Africa
o   United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) (Sudan)
o   Quirky Kid (Australia)

The Market Focus Achievement Award
o   Market Focus China
o   Market Focus Turkey
o   Market Focus Russia
 
The Total Licensing IP Rights Across Media Award
o   Iain Pears (UK)
o   The Night Zookeeper (UK)
o   HarperCollins UK – ‘Mog’ Christmas campaign with Sainsbury’s & Save The Children (UK)