Entries open for the British Book Award for Export as prize returns for second year

The British Book Award for Export is open for entries as it returns for a second year, recognising publishers that excel in export sales. 

The British Book Award for Export, or the Export Nibbie, will shine a spotlight on the success of the export teams of the British book trade. Organised by The Bookseller in association with Times Pansing, the award scheme runs in parallel to The British Book Awards, which celebrates Britain’s best books, best publishers and best bookshops.

The Export Nibbie is open to all UK-based publishers across trade and education/academic publishing and winners will be announced at an awards reception at London Book Fair, where two of the famous ‘Nibbies’ will be given for export sales above and below £10 million.

Times Pansing m.d.David Buckland said: "We are sponsoring these awards because we felt that the consistently high calibre of the export sales teams of British publishers – something which we in Pansing experience daily as a customer of many of them – was not perhaps being recognised as much as they deserved.

"Nevertheless, we were very gratified by the response to the revival of the Export Nibbies last year, both in the number and quality of the publishers’ submissions. We know that in this case the cliché about the competition judges finding it very difficult to choose was indeed the case – that it was a struggle to decide which publishers most deserved the award.

"If the judging panel, which also consults an “electoral college” of international customers, will forgive us, we very much hope that this year they have an even more difficult and invidious task."

A strong electoral college of overseas booksellers has been recruited by Emma House, of Oerham Group, and former PRH international sales director Simon Littlewood to decide the winners.  

Walker Books scooped the award for sales below £10m last year, with Collins taking home the Export Nibbie for sales above £10m. 

Chief executive of The Bookseller Nigel Roby said: "Yet again, exports are making a huge contribution not just to the book trade but to the creative industries as a whole. Achieving this success whilst navigating a landscape of volatile exchange rates and Brexit uncertainty is testament to the extraordinary skill of our publishing businesses. The Export Nibbies are back to honour that success and point the way for yet more export growth."

The scheme is now open for entries and will close on 20th December 2019 with the prize-giving at London Book Fair 2020. Entry details can be found here.