Letter from Chair

Dear PSP Member,

Once again that time of year is upon us—when publishers from across the country compete for the distinguished R.R. Hawkins Award and other top prizes in more than 40 categories presented by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers.  As a member of the PSP Executive Council and the Chairman of the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE), I invite you to submit your outstanding professional, reference, text or scholarly work for the 2009 Awards.

As you already know, the PROSE Awards relaunched with a new name and a new face in 2008.  What followed was a year of firsts – the debut of an exclusive Awards website, www.proseawards.com, the extension of eligibility to Association of American University Press (AAUP) members and the highest number of entries in PSP Awards history.  Additionally, the PROSE Awards Luncheon featured two incredible firsts – the premiere of the first film ever produced for the Awards, The Mind of the Judge, and the presentation of the R.R. Hawkins Award, the top PROSE prize, by Priscilla Hawkins Burns, daughter of its namesake, Reginald Robert Hawkins, the former head of the Science and Technology Division of the New York Public Library.  The Mind of the Judge, along with the other multimedia presentations and videos of the entire Luncheon Ceremony, can now be found on the PROSE website and on YouTube. 

Now entering its 34th year, the 2009 PROSE Awards will continue to build on its success and secure its status as the premier awards for outstanding professional and scholarly publishing in the United States.  The 2009 PROSE Awards features an increased online presence via the PROSE website, continued eligibility to AAUP members and more promotion and publicity pre- and post- Awards.  Moreover, the Awards Luncheon will feature the debut of another new, specially produced film, other multimedia presentations and new special guests.  This year, PROSE highly encourages publishers to submit their book cover art with their entries for use in these multimedia presentations.  Again, PROSE will post these presentations online at www.proseawards.com and on YouTube, which means invaluable exposure for submitting publishers.

The 2009 PROSE Awards also offers publishers an increased chance of winning a prize, by setting no limit on the number of submissions per publisher in any category, expanding the categories to encourage publishers to submit both print and electronic products and adding more electronic product categories.  The Committee also encourages publishers to provide more information about their submissions by including supplementary materials in the form of published reviews; reader reports; and/or editor, publisher or writer endorsements.  These materials help immensely in the judging process.

Further details on judging criteria and eligibility rules, as well as the Awards entry form, can be found on the PROSE website at www.proseawards.com.  Please contact the PSP Division at 212.255.0200 ext. 226 with any additional questions.

I sincerely hope that you will answer the call by submitting your most exceptional works for consideration for the 2009 PROSE Awards.

Best regards,

John A. Jenkins
President and Publisher, CQ Press
Chairman, 2009 PROSE Awards