FutureBook Awards shortlists unveiled

More than 40 companies, individuals and products have been shortlisted across eight different categories at this year's FutureBook Awards, which take place at the annual FutureBook Conference, Europe's largest digital publishing event being held on 2nd December at 155 Bishopsgate.

Battling it out for the coveted Digital Leader of the Year Award are Sara Lloyd, digital and communications director at Pan Macmillan, Oliver Rhodes, founder and managing director of Bookouture, Jacob Cockcroft, co-founder of The Pigeonhole, Emmanuel Nataf, founder of Reedsy, and ‎founder and c.e.o. of Bibliocloud Emma Barnes.

Shortlisted in the Digital Achiever category, sponsored by the Frankfurt Book Fair, are Lorraine Dickey, c.e.o. at 451life.com, Jenny Ridout, publishing director at Bloomsbury Publishing, Lasse Nyrup, c.e.o. of BookBites, Rebecca Evans, head of innovation at Emerald Group Publishing, Xander Cansell, head of digital at Unbound, and digital product specialist Shane Rae.

In the Platform of the Year (Consumer) section are Julian Fellowes's Belgravia (Orion), Penguin.co.uk (PRH), Bookbreak on YouTube (Pan Macmillan), The Pigeonhole, Own It!, and the Rough Guides website. Up for the Reference/Education Platform are SAGE Video, Kortext, Bloomsbury Fashion Central, Cambridge Core, bookbites.com, and supermemo.com.

In the Best Use of Digital in a Marketing/Publicity Campaign, eight campaigns are shortlisted. These are Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins and #ByBook (both Penguin Random House), Clean Eating Alice and Behind Closed Doors (both HarperCollins), Love You Dead and Joe Wicks (both Pan Macmillan), Julian Fellowes's Belgravia (Orion), and the Virtual Qigong Festival (JKP).

In the Digital Book (Adult) category are Julian Fellowes's Belgravia (Orion), Millie Marotta's Colouring Adventures App (Pavilion and Amphio), The Scrapbook of My Life App (Blink), Heavy Metal Thunder - The Interactive SciFi Gamebook, The Bumper Pointless Books App (Blink) and FACE by Pixiwoo (Blink).

In the Children's Digital Book category are RSPB First Birds (Bloomsbury and Aimer Media), Goldilocks and Little Bear (NosyCrow), Kings and Queens (Royal Collection Trust and Aimer Media), Andrew Brodie: Let's Do Spelling Apps (Bloomsbury Education and Aimer Media), Pottermore Presents, and Harry Potter Enhanced Editions.

Start-up businesses selected to compete on the day for the BookTech Company of the Year are Novel Effect, Publishizer, Joosr, Kadaxis, and StoryTourist. A live pitch-off, hosted by FutureBook's associate editor Molly Flatt will take place in front of a panel of judges at the conference, with the winner crowned at the end of the event.

In total there were more than 100 submissions made to the awards this year, a record number for the event. The awards will be presented during the FutureBook Conference this year, with the show to culminate in a drinks reception.

Of the shortlists, Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and programme director for FutureBook 2016, said: "Publishing has shown once again how it rises to the challenges set by digitisation and progress, with ingenuity, dedication, and fortitude. The range and number of submissions this year made the task of shortlisting doubly difficult, but the high standard of the entries should provide inspiration for those looking into publishing's future. In the Platform and Digital Book sectors we had more quality submissions than we had categories for, so we created new ones. The Digital Leader and Achiever categories are also particularly strong this year, with individuals from within traditional book businesses as well as from those disrupting the sector, showing how both increasingly complement each other."

On BookTech, Flatt said: "In only our second year of the BookTech Award, I was delighted to see a huge number of entries come from countries as diverse as India, Brazil, Hungary, Russia, the USA, Ireland and many more. Entries ranged from interactive gamebook makers to big data analysts to collaborative editing platforms, reflecting the breadth of innovation people are attempting to drive into the industry from across the world."

While on the marketing shortlist, she added: "A smart, intuitive digital element is now an expected part of any marketing strategy, so the bar was incredibly high for this year’s award. We were looking for campaigns that didn’t just tick all the usual boxes - influencer outreach, social media engagement, event streaming, Facebook ads, blog tours - but that also demonstrated a deep understanding of the digital behaviours of their particular target audience, and had at their core a fresh and compelling big idea. We got them, so much so that our not-very-shortlist numbers comes in at a whopping eight. If this is the present of digital book marketing, the future looks pretty bright."

Tickets for the FutureBook Conference can be booked at the conference website; shortlisted companies benefit from preferential rates, please contact The Bookseller's events manager Grace Harrison to secure your place. FutureBook 2016 consists of three conference in one, including new events AudioBook Revolution and EdTech for Publishers. For more information visit the conference website.
 
The shortlists
 
Digital Achiever
Xander Cansell, head of digital, Unbound
Lorraine Dickey, c.e.o., 451life.com
Rebecca Evans, head of innovation, Emerald Group Publishing
Lasse Nyrup, c.e.o., BookBites
Shane Rae, digital product specialist
Jenny Ridout, publishing director, Bloomsbury Publishing
 
Digital Leader
Emma Barnes, c.e.o., Bibliocloud
Jacob Cockcroft, founder, The Pigeonhole
Sara Lloyd, digital and communications director, Pan Macmillan
Emmanuel Nataf, c.e.o., Reedsy
Oliver Rhodes, managing director, Bookouture

Platform of the year - consumer
#Bookbreak on YouTube, Pan Macmillan
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia (Orion)
Penguin.co.uk, Penguin Random House
The Pigeonhole
Rough Guides
Own It!

Platform of the year - reference/education
Bloomsbury Fashion Central, Bloomsbury Publishing
bookbites.com, BookBites
Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press
Kortext
SAGE Video, SAGE Publishing
supermemo.com, SuperMemo World
Own It!

Adult Digital Book of the Year
The Bumper Pointless Books app, Blink Publishing
FACE by Pixiwoo, Blink Publishing
Heavy Metal Thunder - The Interactive SciFi Gamebook, Cubus Games
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia, Orion Books
Millie Marotta's Colouring Adventures App, Pavilion Books
The Scrapbook of My Life App, Blink Publishing

Children’s Digital Book of the Year
Andrew Brodie: Let's Do Spelling Apps, Bloomsbury Education and Aimer Media 
Goldilocks and Little Bear, Nosy Crow
Harry Potter Enhanced Editions, Pottermore
Kings and Queens, Royal Collection Trust / Aimer Media 
RSPB First Birds, Bloomsbury Publishing / Aimer Media 
Pottermore Presents, Pottermore

BookTech
Joosr
Kadaxis
Novel Effect
Publishizer
StoryTourist

Best use of digital in a marketing/publicity campaign
#ByBook, Penguin Random House
Behind Closed Doors, HarperCollins
Clean Eating Alice, HarperCollins
Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins, Penguin Random House
Joe Wicks, Pan Macmillan
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia, Orion Books
Love You Dead Campaign, Pan Macmillan
Virtual QiJong Festival, Jessica Kingsley Publishers