Nibbies trade shortlists demonstrate lockdown success

This year’s trade section of the British Book Awards follows a challenging year with a series of strong, long shortlists, including multiple entries for the big publishers but also a wide selection of indies.

In the Publisher of the Year category there are 11 companies vying for the prize, each of which responded to the pandemic’s disruption with innovation and inspiration, embracing digital opportunities while taking care of their staff, authors and bookshops. The final line-up features Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Hodder, Penguin General, Orion, Ebury, Simon & Schuster, Headline, Pan Macmillan, Usborne and Little, Brown.

The Imprint of the Year shortlist is dominated by Hachette UK, with six of the 10 coming from the group. It’s digital-led imprint Bookouture is listed alongside SFF specialist Gollancz, Maggie O’Farrell’s home Tinder Press, the growing Trapeze, Hodder’s Yellow Kite and Brit Bennett’s publisher Dialogue. Hachette’s imprints are up against Penguin General’s Viking, Pan Mac’s Bluebird, plus HarperCollins lists Fourth Estate and HQ.

In the Children’s Publisher of the Year shortlist, there are nominations for the big firms, with Hachette Children’s Group, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Simon & Schuster Children’s Books and Macmillan Children’s Books all in the running. They are up against the likes of Nosy Crow, Scholastic, Usborne, Wonderbly and Sweet Cherry for the prize.

Despite 2020’s obvious challenges, many indie publishers continued to thrive, reflected in a varied final eight Independent Publisher shortlistees. Among them are three making the shortlist for the first time: arts and craft specialist David & Charles, e-book publisher Joffe Books and business-focused Harriman House. Atlantic Books features for the third year in a row, joined by Unbound, digital-led Canelo, Faber & Faber and Canongate.

Booksellers had the most challenging year of all in the trade, negotiating months of lockdowns and social distancing. However, a wide-ranging list of businesses in the Book Retailer of the Year category showed there were still ways to get titles to customers. Among them is family-owned online bookseller A Great Read, shortlisted for the first time. It is joined in the running by more familiar high street names Blackwell’s and W H Smith, plus supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

The ways the trade responded in getting their books seen is marked elsewhere in the shortlists, with the Marketing Strategy of the Year recognising everything from Penguin General’s push for Richard Osman’s blockbuster The Thursday Murder Club to indie Head of Zeus’ e-book lockdown promotion.

The industry’s best editors, publicists, agents, rights professionals and academic publishers are all recognised on the shortlists, while, for the first time the Nibbies now has a Designer of the Year prize, with four freelances among the nominees.

The full shortlists can be viewed here.