British Book Awards opens for submissions for 2023 Nibbies after record year upon return
Submissions have opened for the next instalment of The British Book Awards, to be held in person and online on 15th May, with awards for all aspects of the book trade.
The 2023 ceremony will take place on 15th May 2023 with a ceremony to be held in London, and a live stream available for those who wish to tune in remotely. The 2022 show attracted the largest audience in its recent history, with more than 1,200 in-person attendees, plus thousands more joining online and in two regional parties in Manchester and Edinburgh. Among the big winners of the year were Marcus Rashford and his co-author Carl Anka, writer Marian Keyes, the journalist Sathnam Sanghera, publisher Simon & Schuster and independent bookshop The Bookery, based in Crediton, which picked up two awards.
Of Simon & Schuster’s 2022 Publisher of the Year crown, c.e.o. Ian Chapman said: “[Winning] was an incredible achievement for Simon & Schuster UK. It means so much to every single person at the company, and all our brilliant authors, to be recognised. It’s a wonderful celebration of the hard work that happens all year round. It is a huge honour and we will never stop reminding people of it!”
Co-autor of the Overall Book of the Year, Anka said: "Marcus Rashford once said that we must allow children to dream because sometimes dreaming is all we have. We were honoured to win a British Book Award for our attempt to help children dream. Books are such an important way to imagine possibilities that can help change the world."
The 2023 ceremony will take place on 15th May 2023 with a ceremony to be held in London, and a live stream available for those who wish to tune in remotely.
Book awards to be presented at the 2023 ceremony include Début, Fiction, Non-fiction Lifestyle, Non-fiction Narrative, Crime & Thriller, and an overall Book of the Year. There will also be awards for Author of the Year and Illustrator of the Year, won last year by Marian Keyes and Dapo Adeola respectively. The ceremony also includes Discover Book of the Year, for underrepresented writers, and Pageturner, for popular fiction published in any format with a particular emphasis on titles from romance, horror and science fiction and fantasy writers.
Trade awards include the highly coveted Publisher of the Year, won in 2022 by Simon & Schuster; Book Retailer, won last year by Bookshop.org; Children’s Publisher of the Year, last won by Knights Of; and Independent Publisher, won by Pushkin in 2022. There are also awards for agents, rights professionals, editors, designers, imprints, marketing professionals and publicists. The Individual Bookseller of the Year award, recognising the vital role booksellers continue to play in the sector, returns again in 2023.
Independent Bookshop and Small Press awards are also open for entries, with the regional and country finalists to be announced on 15th February and 17th February respectively, ahead of the winners for these areas, which comprise the shortlists for the overall awards, in March. The overall winners for these awards will be announced at the May event, and also go on to contest the Book Retailer of the Year and Independent Publisher of the Year awards. Chair of the judges will once again be Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller, with books editor Alice O’Keeffe to preside over the book awards. The shortlists will be announced on Friday 17th March.
Jones said: “The return to an in-person event in 2022 was a big moment for the trade after the two-year break, and a momentous occasion for a business that performed incredibly well during the pandemic thanks to the hard work and innovation across the sector, from authors and illustrators to booksellers and agents. This year has brought its own new challenges, but also represents the first full year of uninterrupted trading since 2019, which is worth celebrating in itself.
“The book trade has once again responded exceptionally to ‘the new normal’, with titles that reflect and interrogate the world around us, as well as providing entertainment, solace and connection. We can’t wait to see the submissions, and once again gather in person and online to celebrate the books, their readers and each other.”
The British Book Awards were first launched by Publishing News in 1990. Now run by The Bookseller, 2022’s winners included Keyes, who picked up the Author of the Year award for her long career as a successful writer; Illustrator of the Year Dapo Adeolo, whose book Hey You! was also named Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year; along with other Books Nibbies winners Meg Mason, Billy Connolly, Caleb Azumah Nelson and Jade LB. Further trade winners included literary agent Becky Thomas, Viper Books, Jessica Kingsley Publishers and Bloomsbury editor Alexandra Pringle.
More information about submissions may be had here www.thebookseller.com/awards/the-british-book-awards.
Key dates
Submissions open - today (9th December)
Submissions deadline - 3rd February
Independent Bookshops Regional & Country Finalists - 15th Feb
Small Press Regional & Country Finalists - 17th Feb
Independent Bookshops Regional & Country Winners - 15th March
Small Press Regional & Country Winners 16th March
Shortlists announced - 17th March
British Book Awards Ceremony - 15th May
The categories
- Books
Audiobook (Fiction | Non-Fiction)
Author
Illustrator
Children’s Fiction
Children’s Illustrated
Children’s Non-Fiction
Discover
Fiction
Fiction: Début
Fiction: Crime & Thriller
Non-Fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated
Non-Fiction: Narrative
Pageturner
- Trade
Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher
Book Retailer
Children’s Bookseller
Children’s Publisher
Designer
Editor
Imprint
Independent Bookshop
Independent Publisher
Individual Bookseller
Literary Agent
Marketing Strategy
Publicity Campaign
Publisher
Rights Professional
Small Press
