The Best in World Publishing Vie for Top Awards. US Shortlisted Eight Times, China With Six, Netherlands With Four
The shortlist for The LBF International Excellence Awards 2015 spans the globe with companies from 21 countries being recognised from Philippines to Croatia, and Mexico to Taiwan.
The LBF awards, which are held in partnership with The UK Publishers Association, celebrate success in 18 categories, representing the breadth of the international publishing industry.
This year’s shortlist showcases some of the biggest talents in the industry from the hotly contested Award for Best Use of IP where Mojang, the Swedish developer of video game sensation, Minecraft, take on Aadarsh, the Indian creators of Purple Turtle, the popular franchise of books, apps and YouTube videos. In the highly-acclaimed International Literary Agent Award, a global race is on between renowned agents from Germany, Spain and the US.
UK (11 shortlisted companies), US (8), China (6), Netherlands (4), India (3), South Africa (2) and Belgium (2) all received multiple entries.
Jacks Thomas, Director, The London Book Fair, said:
“These awards, now in their second year and designed to showcase innovation around the world, cover a fantastic breadth of ingenuity and creativity in the international arena. The ceremony promises to be a real treat at which we honour these amazing nominees and shout loudly about what a talented, resourceful and inspirational industry the book world is. Congratulations to all those shortlisted.”
Richard Mollet, Chief Executive, The UK Publishers Association, said:
“This shortlist should leave no one in any doubt as to the exciting developments occurring in publishing around the world. It highlights the amazing innovation taking place as well as the way in which publishers are pushing their traditional boundaries, moving into apps, video games and other forms of multimedia.”
The shortlisted nominees in all categories are:
The International Literary Agent Award
o Anna Soler-Pont, Pontas Literary & Film Agency (Spain)
o Nicole Witt, Literarische Agentur Mertin Inh. (Germany)
o Pierre Astier, Astier-Pecher Agency (France)
o Tom Colchie, Thomas Colchie Agency (US)
The Award for Best Use of IP across Multiple Media Platforms
o Aadarsh Pvt.Ltd (India)
o Mojang (Sweden)
The International Literary Translation Initiative Award
o Asymptote Journal (Taiwan)
o Dutch Foundation of Literature (Netherlands)
o Paper Republic (China)
The International Academic and Professional Publisher Award
o IOP Publishing (UK)
o Sage Publications (US)
o Princeton University Press (US)
The International Education Initiatives Award
o Book Aid International (UK)
o Library for All (US)
o Via Afrika (South Africa)
The International Educational Learning Resources Award
o Caramel Tree (US)
o C.J. Fallon (Ireland)
o Uigeverij Van In (Belgium)
The Bookseller International Adult Trade Publisher Award
o Fraktura (Croatia)
o People’s Literature Publishing House (China)
o Rupa & Co. (India)
International Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award
o Clavis Publishing (Belgium)
o Duckbill Books (India)
o Fondo de Cultura Economica (Mexico)
The Publishers Association Copyright Protection Award
o FILCOLS (Philippines)
o IPCC (China)
o Nigerian Publishers Association (Nigeria)
Mexico Market Focus Outstanding Contribution Award
o Adam Freudenheim, Pushkin Press (UK)
o Daniel Hahn, Director of the British Centre for Literary Translation (UK)
o Pam Dix, IBBY UK (UK)
The Market Focus Achievement Award
o China National Import and Export (Group) Corporation (China)
o Dorling Kindersley China (China)
o Sharjah International Book Fair (UAE)
Accessible Books Consortium Award for Accessible Publishing – Initiative
o BooXtream, a division of Icontact (Netherlands)
o Libri Italiani Accessibili (Italy)
o Syndicat national de l’edition (France)
o Young Power in Social Action, YPSA (Bangladesh)
Accessible Books Consortium Award for Accessible Publishing – Publisher
o Cambridge University Press (UK)
o Elsevier Science Direct (Netherlands)
o HarperCollins (US)
o Sage Publishing (UK)
The Publishers Weekly International Book Industry Technology Supplier Award
o BooXtream (Netherlands)
o Copyright Clearance Center (USA)
o China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation (China)
o De Marque (Canada)
The Publishing for Digital Minds Innovation Award
o Gojimo (UK)
o Join Book Club (UK)
o Rook Labs (UK)
o Snapplify (South Africa)
o The Pigeonhole (UK)
The winners of a number of other awards will also be announced on the night including: The Association for Publishing Education Dissertation and Project Prize; and The London Book Fair Chairman’s Award.
The London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Peter Usborne, founder and Managing Director of Usborne Books.
The awards, which celebrate international excellence in the book industry, cover the whole scope of international publishing, including academic and scholarly publishing, children’s publishing and digital innovation. In each award category the judging panel was made up of experts in that sector.
The awards will be presented at a gala evening in London on 14 April, hosted by the BBC’s Gavin Esler. The invite-only event will be attended by publishers from around the world and will take place at the stunning new LBF venue London Olympia in The Conference Centre.
About The London Book Fair (LBF)
The London Book Fair (LBF) is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Taking place every spring in the world’s premier publishing and cultural capital, it is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future. LBF brings you direct access to customers, content and emerging markets. LBF 2015, the 44th Fair, will take place from Tuesday 14-Thursday 16 April 2015, Olympia London. LBF’s London Book and Screen Week will run for the second year, with the book fair as the pivotal three day event within a five day programme. London Book and Screen Week will open with LBF’s Publishing for Digital Minds Conference on Monday 13 April, the day before LBF opens. Mexico is Market Focus country in 2015, following Korea in 2014. In 2015 LBF’s charity of the year is Booktrust. For further information, please visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk.
THE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
The Publishers Association is the leading trade organisation serving book, journal, audio and electronic publishers in the UK. Membership is comprised of 117 companies from across the trade, academic and education sectors. Its core service is representation and lobbying, around copyright, rights and other matters relevant to members, who represent roughly 80% of the industry by turnover. www.publishers.org.uk