FutureBook Innovation Awards shortlist revealed

Books apps from Faber, NosyCrow, Penguin, HarperCollins and Transworld have been shortlisted for the FutureBook Innovation Awards, while new companies including 24Symbols, Anobii, and Unbound have been shortlisted in the best start-ups category.

More than 70 apps/enhanced e-books were submitted for judging at the awards which are to be presented at this year's FutureBook Conference. Shortlisted apps include Cinderella by Nosy Crow, and Penguin's MeBooks in the children's category; Dorling Kindersley's The Human Body and Fiske App published by Sourcebooks in the reference category; and in the adult category, Faber's The Waste Land and The Power of Six Booktrack Edition.

Audio book streaming service Bardowl is up against the e-book rental operation 24Symbols, social reading website Anobii, the out-of-print publishing list Bloomsbury Reader, and the crowd-sourcing publisher Unbound. Anobii is also shortlisted in the best technology innovation category along with HarperCollins' GestureKit, Sage Research Methods Online, and Polpris. Best website features Canongate, Lonely Planet, Yale Books, Vintage Books and Quercus. Pan Macmillan, Harvill Secker, HarperCollins, and Dorling Kindersley have been shortlisted for the best integrated marketing campaign award.

Philip Jones, deputy editor of The Bookseller and co-founder of FutureBook, said this year's entries represented a step-change over the past year. He said: "The shortlists confirm a view that the digital sector is growing up fast. The start-ups seems more assured; the digital campaigns broader; and the apps smarter (and better targeted)."

On the number of apps submitted to the awards, he added: "The popular view is that publishers have taken a pause from developing app products as they wait to see which way the marketplace will develop. But that is not the reality. Instead they have been learning what works through experimentation, and publishing on into a world that is both invigorating and unnerving."

For the full shortlists visit FutureBook,net. The awards will be presented at the end of the FutureBook Conference 2011. To attend the conference book here.