TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM

Journal Awards (new additions)

Electronic Product Awards (new additions)

1. Best Internet-Based Electronic Product -- Social Sciences/Humanities
2. Best Internet-Based Electronic Product - Mathematics/Science
3. Best Electronic Product on Hard Media - Social Sciences/Humanities
4. Best Electronic Product on Hard Media -- Mathematics/Science
5. NEW Best Launch -- Social Sciences/Humanities (either internet-based or hard media)
6. NEW Best Launch -- Mathematics/Science (either internet-based or hard media)

Here's how to submit your publications:

1. For books, journals, and electronic products, awards will be given for:
   • A sound contribution to the professional and scholarly community;
   • The highest professional editorial standards consistent with the purpose of the project;
   • The highest standards of design and production consistent with the objectives of the project; and
   • Demonstration of the publisher's ingenuity and success in overcoming any special problems encountered in the course of publication.
2. For the Excellence in Design & Production awards, only the quality of the design and production shall be considered. Note that only two Design and Production awards will be given: one for journals and one for books.Only publications specifically submitted for the Excellence in Design & Production will be considered for this category.
3. Only PSP Division members of the AAP may participate. (If you have any questions about your company's PSP Division membership, please call Ms. Lily Clark, AAP Membership Director, 202-220-4546.)
4. Each publisher may submit a maximum of 2 publications for any award. A publisher is defined as a company, division, subsidiary, or imprint. Therefore, any unit within a company may submit 2 publications in each category.
5. All entries must have been published between December 2000 and November 2001. We willaccept entries with a 2002 copyright date if published by November 2001.
6. Collections of original contributions, none of which has been previously published, are eligible.
7. Where a joint venture is involved, the originating, primary publisher must be an AAP/PSP member publishing in the United States.
8. Journal and Electronic Product Awards.To be eligible for these Awards, the product must be published a minimum of four times per year and have originated in the U.S. office of the submitting member company.
   • Best Single Issue of a Journal.You may submit in any or all of six categories: Science, Technology, Medicine, Business, Social Sciences, Humanities.The journal can be of any age, but the issue being submitted must have been published in the award year (2001).The journal may have been started before 2000. You must submit a statement of editorial policy.
   • Excellence in Design & Production.All issues (at least two) published with a 2001 cover date must be submitted, so that consistency of design may be determined.The journal may have been started before 2001.
   • Best New Journal.To be eligible for an award as Best New Journal, the journal must have been started in the award year, 2001). The most recent two issues and a statement of editorial policy must be submitted. Winners are not eligible for re-submission in a later year.
   • Internet-Based or Hard Media Electronic Products.To be eligible for an Electronic Product Award, the product can be of any age, but must still be active (i.e. websites must still be accessible and hard media must still be available for purchase).
   • Best NEW Launch.To be eligible for this Electronic Product Award, the new product must have been created between December 2000 and November 2001.We will accept entries with a 2002 copyright date if published by November 2001.
9. Deadline: The deadline to submit entries is Wednesday, October 31, 2001. If your entry will be published in November, you may submit it up until December 7, 2001.
10. The entry fee is $65.00 per title per category.Make check payable to Association of American Publishers, PSP Awards.

    THE FINE PRINT!

11. THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT ELIGIBLE:
    • Collections consisting, in whole or in part, of more than 5% of previously published material
    • Undergraduate textbooks (ONLY graduate textbooks are eligible);
    • Publications previously published by another company;
    • Publications published in a NON-U.S. company or off-shore division of a U.S. AAP member company.
    • Translations of a publication.
    • Test or pre-launch journal issues.
12. Completed application forms should be attached to your check and shipped with your entries.Entries will be processed for judging only when the entries, forms and fees are received by the AAP.The AAP cannot bill you for the entry fee.One entry form for each major category (books, journals and electronic publications) is attached; make as many copies as you need.
13. Important: Study the criteria, conditions, and requirements.Entries deemed ineligible will not be returned to the publisher, nor will AAP refund fees for ineligible entries.Take care when selecting the categories by choosing one that appears to be the most appropriate for each title.If in doubt, check with your editor or publisher.If an entry appears to have been submitted in the wrong category, the judges will make every attempt to reclassify the title.
14. All publications submitted will be displayed at the Annual Conference.Publishers may arrange with AAP staff to pick up one of the two copies of their entries on the last day of the Conference - except the award winning entries, which are retained in the division library at the AAP New York office.
15. Judging the Entries
    A panel of independent judges will review all entries and select award winners.In each of the categories, the judges will be at liberty to name honorable mentions.As a general rule, awards will be limited to one winner and one honorable mention per category. Depending, however, on the circumstances of individual categories, the judges may also elect to award no honorable mentions, or to award more than one honorable mention.
16. Receipt of your publication, forms and entry fees will be acknowledged by fax, email, or post. If your entries have not been acknowledged within four weeks of your mailing, please call AAP/PSP at (212) 255-0200 (Ext. 226).

HOW TO IMPROVE
YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING
AN ANNUAL PSP AWARD
PSP 'Judge Anonymous'

The seven of us who selected the best PSP books and journals last year invested a great deal of time and work in the effort.Products were sent to us weeks in advance for study.We met for two days at the AAP offices, reviewing and discussing the submissions.

Here is some advice to improve the chances that your submissions will be favorably received.

It would be an enormous help to us if you pay special attention to the Call for Entries question:  “Why does this book deserve an award?”  Explain. Elaborate. Maybe you will draw our attention to something we didn't notice or appreciate. Don't simply refer us to an attachment from your spring catalog.And certainly don't leave the question unanswered! Avoid cookie-cutter comments. One publisher gave the same answer eight times to eight different books:

“This is an excellent example of the book designer's art and craft.A beautifully coordinated and produced package--jacket, binding and text.”

As judges we're going to reward something original, exceptional, significant, with good publishing values. We are less impressed with revisions, third editions, spin-offs, translations, symposia, undergraduate texts. Remember that--above all--these awards recognize the art of publishing.

Read the rules!!!

Last year and this year, for example, it is not the copyright year that makes a title eligible, but rather the publication month. This year we are accepting nominations for titles published between December 1, 2000, and November 30, 2001.Except for the November publications, all submissions must reach the AAP offices by October 30, 2000.November titles must reach AAP by December 7, 2001. (The judging will take place the week of January 6, 2002.) There will be a space on the entry form for you to fill in publication month and year.

Finally, if you are a senior manager, don't delegate this responsibility. It's not a chore, it's a responsibility. And it should be a pleasure if it's been a good year! If you pass the job on to a publicist or an editorial assistant, please ask to review the selections and the completed questionnaires. Last year we were surprised to see that some of your better titles were not submitted while some weaker ones were. If the awards are valuable to your company, and they should be, invest a little of your own time in reviewing what your subordinates are selecting and writing about.