Campaigns for Ishiguro, Rooney and Grohl shortlisted for PPC awards

Campaigns for titles by Kazuo Ishiguro, Sally Rooney and Dave Grohl are among those shortlisted for this year’s Publisher’s Publicity Circle (PPC) Awards, which celebrate the best campaigns carried out by publicists in 2021.

The shortlists are divided into 15 categories, covering everything from hardback fiction to celebrity campaigns and children’s. 

Becky Short, head of publicity at Transworld and chair of the PPC, said: “This has been another challenging year for book publicists, so I’m thrilled to see such exciting and agenda-setting campaigns on our shortlist. The committee was particularly impressed by the hard work and tenacity that went into all of these campaigns. Book publicists are no stranger to setbacks, and the past year has shown we are always finding new, creative and innovative ways to connect readers with books. I’m thrilled that we can meet in person on 7th March to celebrate the work of our profession in 2021 and raise a glass to the category winners."

The awards will be judged by an independent panel including representatives from sponsoring organisations, with the winners revealed at a ceremony on 7th March.

The shortlist for Publicity Campaign of the Year at The British Book Awards is selected by the BBA judging team from the category-winning campaigns at the PPC Annual Awards.

The PPC Annual Awards Shortlist 2021 in full:

The Waterstones Hardback Fiction Award

• Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro – Rachel Alexander and Josh Smith, Faber & Faber
• Ruthless Women by Melanie Blake – Tory Lyne-Pirkis, Midas PR for Head of Zeus
• Animal by Lisa Taddeo – Georgina Moore and Hannah Bright, Midas PR for Bloomsbury
• Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo – Kimberley Nyamhondera, Little, Brown
• Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney – Josh Smith, Faber & Faber
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason – Virginia Woolstencroft, Orion

The Bookseller Award for Hardback Non-Fiction

• Good Grief by Catherine Mayer and Anna Mayer Bird – Lily Capewell, HQ HarperCollins
• SLUG and Other Things I’ve Been Told to Hate by Hollie McNish – Clara Diaz, Little, Brown
• Vaxxers by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green – Eleni Lawrence, Hodder & Stoughton
• Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera – Olivia Mead, Penguin General and Ruth Killick, Ruth Killick PR
• Spider Woman: A Life by Lady Hale – Anna Redman Aylward, Vintage
• Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi – Corina Romonti, Penguin Press

Best Celebrity Campaign

• The Storyteller by Dave Grohl – Jess Barratt and Rebecca McCarthy, Simon & Schuster
• Windswept and Interesting by Billy Connolly – Yassine Belkacemi, John Murray Press
• WILL by Will Smith and Mark Manson – Charlotte Bush and Rachel Kennedy, Cornerstone
• Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood – Jessica Duffy, Pan Macmillan
• Celebrating the Seasons with The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen – Tory Lyne-Pirkis, Midas PR for Pan Macmillan
• Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox – Elizabeth Masters and Ana McLaughlin, Quercus
• My Body by Emily Ratajkowski – Milly Reid and Ella Patel, Quercus
• The Madness of Grief by The Reverend Richard Coles – Virginia Woolstencroft, Orion

The Mo Siewcharran Award for Best Debut Campaign

• Assembly by Natasha Brown – Chloe Davies, Penguin General
• Careless by Kirsty Capes – Alainna Hadjigeorgiou, Orion
• Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters – Drew Jerrison, Profile Books
• Luster by Raven Leilani – Gabriela Quattromini, Pan Macmillan
• Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson – Jane Gentle, Anna Ridley and Rosie Safaty, Penguin General
• The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan – Anna Massardi, Bloomsbury

Best Crime & Thriller Campaign sponsored by Bloody Scotland

• Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster – Sian Baldwin, HQ HarperCollins
• Slough House by Mick Herron – Yassine Belkacemi and Charlotte Hutchinson, John Murray Press
• The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse – Thomas Hill, Transworld
• The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward – Drew Jerrison, Profile Books
• A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris – Alexandra Layt, Orion
• How To Kidnap The Rich by Rahul Raina – Kimberley Nyamhondera and Hayley Camis, Little, Brown

The Award for Best Lifestyle, Gift and Humour Campaign sponsored by Books Are My Bag

• There’s No Such Thing as ‘Naughty’ by Kate Silverton – Clara Diaz and Beth Wright, Little, Brown
• Sapphire: A Celebration of Colour by Joanne Hardy – Alexandra Finch, Thames & Hudson
• The Sober Girl Society Handbook by Millie Gooch – Izzie Ghaffari-Parker, Transworld
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman – Aidan O’Neill and Mia Quibell-Smith, Vintage
• Nests by Susan Ogilvy – Corina Romonti, Penguin Press
• The Queer Bible edited by Jack Guinness – Joe Thomas and Sian Baldwin, HQ HarperCollins

The Netgalley Award for Paperback Original - Fiction or Non-Fiction

• All The Names Given by Raymond Antrobus – Alice Dewing, Pan Macmillan
• What White People Can Do Next by Emma Dabiri – Emma Draude and Annabelle Wright, EDPR and Emma Lubega, Penguin Press
• My Mother, Muchausen’s and Me by Helen Naylor – Myrto Kalavrezou, Bookouture
• The Cancer Ladies Running Club by Josie Lloyd – Joe Thomas, HQ HarperCollins

Best Academic Campaign

• John Craxton: A Life of Gifts by Ian Collins – Chloe Foster, Yale University Press
• The Women Are Up To Something by Benjamin J. B. Lipscomb – Anna Gell, Oxford University Press
• How the Just So Stories Were Made by John Batchelor – Stephanie Lee, Yale University Press
• Twelve Caesars by Mary Beard – Kathryn Stevens, Princeton University Press

The Edinburgh International Book Festival Award for Best Generic Campaign

• Luna Loves by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Fiona Lumbers – Paul Black, Andersen Press
• Elmer Pride by David McKee – Paul Black, Andersen Press
• The Hill We Climb and Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman – Lucie Cuthbertson-Twiggs and Mia Quibell-Smith, Vintage
• Jhalak Prize 5th Anniversary with Book Tokens – Emma Draude, Emma Dowson and Annabelle Wright, EDPR
• Children’s Laureate Life-Changing Libraries with Cressida Cowell – Hannah McMillan and Gabriella Drinkald, Midas PR and Rebecca Logan and Dominic Kingston, Hachette Children’s Group
• Bookshop Day – Anna Zanetti and Ashley Baugh, Midas PR

Best Children’s and YA Celebrity Campaign

• The House in the Woods by Yvette Fielding – Paul Black, Andersen Press
• Vetman and His Bionic Animal Clan by Noel Fitzpatrick, illustrated by James Lancett – Hannah Bradridge, Hachette Children’s Group and Elaine Egan, Hachette Ireland
• Escape the Rooms by Stephan Mangan, illustrated by Anita Mangan – Penelope Daukes, Scholastic
• A Year on Adam’s Farm by Adam Henson, illustrated by Rachel Saunders – Ellen Grady, Penguin Random House Children’s
• The Boy with Wings by Lenny Henry, illustrated by Keenon Ferrell – Clare Hall-Craggs and Sabina Maharjan, Macmillan Children’s Books
• You Are A Champion by Marcus Rashford with Carl Anka – Jo Hardacre and Amber Ivatt, Macmillan Children’s Books

Cookery Book Award

• The Green Barbecue and The Sweet Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer – Sarah Bennie, Sarah Bennie PR and Lucie Cuthbertson-Twiggs, Vintage
• Simply Raymond: Recipes from Home by Raymond Blanc – Jessica Farrugia Sharples, Headline
• One Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones – Michelle Kane, 4th Estate
• Jane’s Patisserie by Jane Dunn – Alice King, Ebury

The PPC Award for Best Sports Book Campaign

• It’s Always Summer Somewhere by Felix White – Megan Brown and Karen Baker, Octopus
• Lucky by Ed Jackson – Lily Capewell, HQ HarperCollins and Megan Davies and Mollie Tant, Belle PR
• Too Many Reasons to Live by Rob Burrow – Hannah Corbett and Josie Turner, Pan Macmillan
• Why We Kneel, How We Rise by Michael Holding – Sabah Khan, Simon & Schuster
• ONE: My Autobiography by Peter Schmeichel – Emma Knight, Hodder & Stoughton
• Coming Up For Air by Tom Daley – Joe Thomas, HQ HarperCollins and Jacob Beecham, Carver PR

The Children’s Book Award sponsored by the Daily Mail

• The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Victoria Sandoy – Penelope Daukes, Scholastic
• Sticky McStickstick by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Tony Ross – Nina Douglas, NDPR for Walker Books
• The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter – Harriet Dunlea, Scholastic
• Noah’s Gold by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, illustrated by Steven Lenton – Amber Ivatt, Macmillan Children’s Books
• The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold – Tina Mories, HarperCollins Children’s Books
• My Skin, Your Skin by Laura Henry Allain MBE, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu – Sophia Smith and Jasmin Kauldhar, Penguin Random House Children’s
• Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston – Emily Thomas, Hachette Children’s Group
• The Primrose Railway Children by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Rachael Dean – Tania Vian-Smith, Penguin Random House Children’s and Naomi Cooper, Freelance

Best YA Campaign

• All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue – Rosi Crawley and Becca Oram, Walker Books
• The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna – Katarina Jovanovic, Usborne
• Medusa by Jessie Burton – Emily Marples, Bloomsbury
• The Upper World by Femi Fadugba – Chloe Parkinson and Phoebe Williams, Penguin Random House
• When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler – Eve Wersocki Morris, Simon & Schuster
• Empress & Aniya by Candice Carty-Williams – Annabelle Wright, EDPR for Knights Of

Best Newcomer Award sponsored by Jo James

• The Lost Storyteller by Amanda Block – Niamh Anderson, Hodder & Stoughton
• Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster – Sian Baldwin, HQ HarperCollins
• How Was That Built? by Roma Agrawal MBE, illustrated by Katie Hickey – Grace Ball, Bloomsbury
• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn – Francesca Banks, Little, Brown
• Sapphire: A Celebration of Colour by Joanna Hardy – Alexandra Finch, Thames & Hudson
• The Sober Girl Society Handbook by Millie Gooch – Izzie Ghaffari-Parker, Transworld
• Aftermath by Harald Jahner, translated by Shaun Whiteside – Anna Lambert, Ebury
• How the Just So Stories Were Made by John Batchelor – Stephanie Lee, Yale University Press