Book Design & Effectiveness Awards

We hope you will join us to recognize, celebrate, and encourage excellence in book design across the greater Washington, DC, book publishing community.

Cosponsored by the DC Public Library, the reception and ceremony are open to the public and will be held at the Tenley-Friendship DC Public Library on May 21, 2013, beginning at 6:00 pm.

This year, WBP received over 150 entries, which were evaluated by a panel of four judges for prizes in 13 categories. Judges considered the success of each book's design and effectiveness in achieving the publisher's goals, meeting the readers' needs, and reaching its market. All entries, including winners, will be on display during the reception and ceremony.

Date:         Tuesday, May 21, 2013 

Time:         6 to 9 pm
Location:  Tenley-Friendship DC Public Library
                    4450 Wisconsin Avenue NW
                    Washington,  DC  20016

Tickets must be purchased in advance here by May 16, 2013!

• Tickets Registration Form (PDF)
• Pay online by credit card using PayPal for the total of all individuals buying tickets.

	Members Price $20.00 List Attendees:		Guests/Nonmember Price $25.00 List Attendees:

    
THE RECEPTION AND AWARDS CEREMONY

When is it?
The date is Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

The reception, with food and drink as well as the opportunity to examine the entries and mingle with publishing colleagues and guests, begins at 6 p.m.

The ceremony begins at 7 p.m., with the passing of the ceremonial corkscrew to the incoming WBP president. The awards will be announced in the course of a slideshow presenting the winning entries. Awards will be accompanied by comments from the panel of judges and comments from the first-place winners. The ceremony concludes with the naming of Best of Show.
 
Where is it?
The ceremony will be held at the Tenley-Friendship DC Public Library, located at the Tenleytown Metro on the red line.

Street parking on residential side streets is generally available, but please pay careful attention to street signs and parking restrictions.

Who are the judges?
Kathleen de Boer, OECD
Linda Cannon, Parson Weems Sales Representation
Sam Dorrance, Potomac Books
Arnie Grossblat, GWU Publishing Program
 
What happens to the entries?
After the ceremony, books entered in the competition will be donated to the DC Public Library. 
 
TICKETS
*Purchase tickets online by May 16, 2013.
Tickets cannot be purchased at the door due to restrictions by the venue.

2012-2013 WBP Members: $20.00
Guests and Nonmembers: $25.00

Pay by Check
Checks and the reply form for the attendee must be received at the address below by
May 16, 2013.

Make checks payable to Washington Book Publishers, taxpayer I.D. 522032077. Checks should be mailed, along with the reply form, to:
WBP Membership
c/o Publications Professionals
3603 Chain Bridge Road, #A&B
Fairfax, VA 22030

Pay by Credit Card
Credit cards can be used to pay for tickets via PayPal. The reply form contains links to PayPal. Note that one link is for WBP member tickets and the other is for guests and nonmembers. 

Members Price $20.00
Guests/Nonmember Price $25.00
 
Registration forms without checks can be e-mailed as attachments to WBP membership.

*Tickets cannot be purchased at the door!

QUESTIONS?

Contact Kay Hechler, WBP Vice President, 2012-2013

Now in its 28th year, the WBP Book Design & Effectiveness Competition recognizes, celebrates, and encourages excellence in bookmaking across the greater Washington, D.C., book publishing community.

The competition's judges evaluate the excellence of each book's design and effectiveness in achieving the publisher's goals, meeting the readers' needs, and reaching its market. Prizes are awarded in fifteen categories -- five designs for each of the three publisher categories -- plus Best of Show.

Books will compete against others within the same category of publisher. The publisher categories are:
•    Commercial publisher
•    Small- to medium-size nonprofit publishers (35 or fewer books per year)
•    Large nonprofit publishers (more than 35 books per year) 
Copublished volumes will be judged in the commercial category if any of
the copublishers is commercial. A nonprofit publisher may include membership and trade associations, university presses, branches of federal or state governments, and policy and research organizations.

Design Categories

Awards are given to books that are exemplary in the execution of their text and cover designs in each of the three publisher categories. In addition, one book -- judged to have the best overall design and effectiveness -- will be awarded Best of Show. Books may be entered under any of the following five design categories:
•    Illustrated Text: Illustrations (such as photographs, line drawings, and maps) drive the designs of these books. Examples include (but are not limited to) art, museum, pictorial history books, and illustrated reports.
•    Typographic Text: Typography (the effective use of type) drives the designs of these books, which may include a signature of illustrations. Examples include (but are not limited to) biography, fiction, history, popular science, and social science books.
•    Technical Text: Typography and the presentation of data (in figures, tables, graphs, charts, photographs, and line drawings) drive the designs of these books. Examples include (but are not limited to) scientific, technical, and medical books.
•    Illustrated Jacket or Cover: In this category, illustrations drive award-winning jackets and covers. Photographs, images, and illustrations should dominate the design.
•    Typographic Jacket or Cover: In this category, typographic treatment of words drives award-winning jackets and covers. A textured background or thumbnail image may be present, but words in type should dominate the design.

ABOUT THE JUDGING
The Judging Process
Four judges, representing senior publishing and editorial management, graphic design, marketing and sales, and retail bookselling, will review the entries and may select first-, second-, and third-prize winners in each of the 15 categories, as well as the Best of Show award. Depending on the merit of the entries, the judges may also award honorable mentions or may elect not to award prizes in a category.
 
All judges' decisions are final. Judges with any potential conflict of interest related to the entries in a category will excuse themselves from voting on that category. If a publisher enters a book in an incorrect publisher or design category, WBP reserves the right to reassign the entry to the correct category. WBP's decision in such cases will be final. Books not published between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, will be removed from the competition. Please note that books published on or after April 1, 2013, may be entered in next year's competition.
 
Please note: After the judging, a pdf or tiff file will be requested from the awardees to prepare a slide show and website of winning entries.
 
WBP reserves the right to publish the names of winning publishers, individuals, and books, as well as photographs of said individuals and books.