CATEGORIES

Print Books

  • ​​College Print: Texts intended for college classroom use, including vocational and adult education. Entry may be an individual title or a series of books. ​
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  • El-Hi Print (Kindergarten–High School): Children’s books intended for classroom use, including picture books and young adult titles. Entry may be an individual title or a series of books.

  • Children's Books: Children’s books not intended for classroom use.

  • Young Adult Books: Young adult books not intended for classroom use.

  • General Trade, Illustrated: Books of general interest, sold primarily in bookstores.

  • General Trade, Non-Illustrated: Books of general interest, sold primarily in bookstores.

  • Professional, Illustrated: Technical and scholarly texts.

  • Professional, Non-Illustrated: Technical and scholarly texts.

  • Reference: Books or publishers’ sales catalogs intended for reference and consultation only; illustrations optional.

  • Cookbooks: Texts intended as an instructional reference for the preparation of food or drink. Entry may be an individual title or a series of books.

  • Graphic Novels: Illustrated works of fiction or non-fiction presented as a book, usually in the form of sequential art, or comics.

  • Poetry: Poetry books must have a minimum of 18 pages. Poetry books will be judged on design elements, font usage, form and design, choice of paper and binding and mechanics of style.

  • Literary Magazines: Both national and student editions in print and digital formats are welcome. Must be a publishing collection of short fiction or poetry by multiple authors. Must have a minimum of 18 pages. Literary magazine will be judged on design elements, font usage, form and design, choice of paper and binding mechanics of style/digital delivery as applicable.

  • Coffee Table Books: Images must represent a minimum of 60% of the total book pages. Books must contain a minimum of 50 pages. Examples of Coffee Table style books contain photography and art. Books will be judged on artistic design, choice of fonts, paper and overall presentation.

Spotlights:
  • Diversity in Children's Literature Spotlight: Books for children with themes that focus on diversity, inclusion, and/or multiculturalism. All submissions will be featured.    
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  • Diversity in YA Literature Spotlight: Books for young adults with themes that focus on diversity, inclusion, and/or multiculturalism. All submissions will be featured.

Category note: If a book contains a disk or CD that should be included in judging, please enter as multimedia. If entered as a book, the disk or CD will not be judged.

Small/Self-Publishers Print Books

Self-published books or books from a publisher that releases fewer than 10 books/year.
  • Illustrated: Books of general interest.
  • Non-Illustrated: Books of general interest.
  • Covers: Books of general interest.
Note: Small/Self-Publishers are not limited to these categories and may enter in the main Print Book/Covers/eBook & Multimedia categories.

Covers & Jackets

  • College
  • El-Hi
  • El-Hi Series
  • Professional
  • General Trade
Covers and jackets are eligible. See descriptions in those categories above for
​additional information.

eBooks

  • Reflowable eBook: EPUB 2, EPUB 3, mobi/KF8
    A file rendered on an eReader device or app, such as Apple iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes & Noble NOOK. 
    Includes eInk readers and tablets. Accepted file types: .epub, .mobi, .prc. 

  • Fixed Layout eBook: EPUB 2, EPUB 3, KF8
    A file rendered on an eReader device or app—mostly on tablets—that preserves print-driven design with complex elements and/or illustrations. Files created with iBooks Author, Kindle Comic Creator, Kindle Kids' Book Creator, NOOK Bookbuilder are eligible. Accepted file types: .epub, .mobi, .epib.
NOTE: Static/print-ready PDFs will NOT be accepted in this category.

Digital and Accessibility

  • Accessibility Spotlight: Any projects that were designed to improve the accessibility of your piece to allow for a wider range of interaction with and/or viewership/readership among the population. Up to three projects will be featured in the catalog. 
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  • Interactive Media: A file or environment that encourages user participation through interactive elements. eBook formats are accepted (as defined above) if they include video, audio, and/or animation. Standalone videos, custom eReaders, academic learning environments are also applicable.

Additional accepted file types: iBooks Author, Inkling. Apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Android storefronts are eligible. PDFs are also eligible if they meet the following conditions: (a) Bookmarked links for table of contents, (b) Embedded hyperlinks, and/or (c) Embedded audio/video

  • Product Suite: A collection of files that comprise a series for a given product. Examples include a collection of books, libraries/subject collections. Also accepted in this category: print + ebook bundles.
NOTE: Static/print-ready PDFs will NOT be accepted in this category..

Student Work

Click here if you wish to submit your work as a student.
Need specific examples of what you could enter? Check out The Winners Circle for a list of winning books.
If you have any questions regarding the Book Show entry categories, please contact us.