ECPA Christian Book Awards: Official Rules
Submission Period for 2013 program: September 1 to September 30, 2012
Entry Form is online September 1
Books entered must have publication date from October 2011 to October 2012.
Article I
General Rules
1) Submitting Companies
All publishing companies submitting entries must be ECPA members in good standing.
2) Publication Date
Eligible books must be originally published in English by an ECPA
member anywhere in the world, and carry a publication date (as listed in
Bowker's Books in Print) from October 2011 through October 2012.
Re-issued books are not eligible.
3) Book Formats
Books eligible for entry are defined as "bound volumes," either
case bound, paper bound, or spiral bound with the exception of Bibles,
in which media presentation may be eligible. Books in series and sets
are not eligible.
4) Mixed Media Products
Books packaged with supporting mixed media (CD, DVD, cassette,
video etc.) are eligible for consideration. The supporting media must be
supplementary to and released simultaneously with the book.
5) Certification
Publishers will be asked to certify that all information on the
entry form is correct and complies with all rules. An authorized
representative of the publisher, qualified to certify that the publisher
is the original publisher and all rules are adhered to, is to be listed
on the entry form.
6) Category Classification and Eligibility Review
Each book must be entered only in the category that best
describes the book's primary focus. The ECPA Recognition Committee
shall have the final and absolute responsibility for determining the
correct classification and eligibility for all entries. Should it be
determined that any entry has been entered in an incorrect category, or
is ineligible, ECPA will notify the publisher accordingly.
7) Content
To be eligible for entry, each book must include explicit
Christian content, an overtly Christian message, and/or a distinctively
Christian world view (e.g., allegorical fiction). The Christian content
in each entry must be evangelical in nature and may not be contrary to
ECPA's Statement of Faith as follows:
ECPA Statement of Faith
I. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
II. We believe there is only one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
III. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His
virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and
atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in
His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal
return in power and glory.
IV. We believe that for the salvation of the lost and sinful, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
V. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by
whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
VI. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the
lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that
are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
VII. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Article II
Categories
1) Bibles:
This award is for new proprietary material (full text of the
Bible or New Testament) which meets the following criteria:
a) a new translation or paraphrase of the Bible text;
b) a new full-scale revision or media presentation of an already published Bible text; or
c) a Bible published with substantive new material or at least
50% new supplementary material (notes, commentary, etc.) for works
previously published.
Subsequent publication of substantially the same proprietary
material with another Bible text does not qualify, but a complete Bible
published after publication of a New Testament or other portion does
qualify.
2) Fiction:
This award is for full-length, narrative writing whose source is the
imagination of the author and whose intended audience is adults.
3) Children:
This award is for material whose audience is children and includes both
fictional and non-fictional material. This category is inclusive of the
following: Preschool Children, Elementary Children.
4) Inspiration:
This award is for material that is inspirational, motivational, and/or
devotional in nature and designed either for personal use or for
gift-giving. This category is inclusive of the following: Devotional, Inspirational, Gift Book/Poetry.
5) Bible Reference:
This award is for scholarly or ministry-related material inclusive of the following:
Reference Works/Commentaries
(dictionaries, concordances, encyclopedias and other reference works in
the area of theology, doctrine, church history, and biblical studies
including books that offer any analysis, exposition, or annotation of
specific biblical texts);
Works of Theology, Doctrine, or Church History, including explanatory, expositional or analytical works;
Christian Ministry (books for
professional and lay leaders in the areas of Christian education,
pastoral ministry, or preaching, discipleship, counseling, and church
administration);
Bible Study (books offering in-depth personal or group Bible study); and
Christian Education (books primarily intended for use in Church-based spiritual education programs).
Note that curriculum and/or mixed media product may be entered as long as a book is the central core of the package.
6) Non-Fiction:
This award is for material that facilitates or models what it means to live as a Christian in all areas of life.
This category is inclusive of the following: Biography/Autobiography,
Christian Living, Christianity & Society, Family & Parenting,
Marriage, Missions/Evangelism, and Youth.
Note that if the book submitted is
part of a package, the additional materials (video, workbook, etc.) are
evaluated under "Format."
7) New Author:
This award is for material whose audience is children or adult and includes both
fictional and non-fictional material. Entry must be the author's first book-length work in print by a domestic, commercial publisher.
This category is inclusive of the types of books submitted in the other six award categories and will be judged according to the category specifications in which it fits.
Article III
Entry Process
1) Number of Entries
Any ECPA member publisher, imprint or division of a larger publishing
house may enter as many titles in each category as it wishes. Each
title may be entered in only one category. The Recognition Committee
will determine the correctness of the category placement if a question
should arise.
2) Entry Fees
All ECPA member houses in good standing are eligible to submit titles
and will pay according to their annual sales volume the following fee
per entered title:
Annual sales volume
< $ 5 million $175 per title
>= $ 5 million $299 per title
The entry fee is to accompany the Christian Book Award Entry Form and is
not refundable under any circumstances. Online payment form available in the ECPA Store will provide opportunity to pay online or to be invoiced by ECPA.
3) Submission of Entries
- The Entry Form is online September 1.
- Entry submission and payment is to be completed online in two separate steps. You will
receive automatic confirmation upon completion.
- Entry forms and payment must be received by ECPA no later than October 1, 2012.
- One (1) sample book of each book entered must be sent to the ECPA offices immediately upon completion of the entry process at:
ECPA / Christian Book Award
9633 South 48th Street, Suite 140
Phoenix, AZ 85044 - Nine (9) copies of each entered title will be used in program judging. Our program distributor has agreed to
drop ship copies of each entry to program judges. You will not need to
send copies to our distributor, as they keep them in stock. You will
be invoiced separately by the distributor for these review copies.
4) Entry Form
- The Entry Form requires title, author, ISBN, and publication date (month and year).
- Make sure each title complies with the certification called for in Section 1.5.
- Please do not abbreviate. The
exact format in which the title and author is submitted will be the
format used in all publicity regarding Christian Book Award finalists
and winners.
- Finalist publishers will be asked to digitally submit their company logo and finalist book cover for promotion and recognition. Additional book copies for celebration will also be requested for each finalist.
Article IV
Judging Process
1) Evaluation Criteria
Judges will be given a group of books in a particular category to
evaluate each title on the specific category criteria. Please see the
attached Christian Book Award Category Description and Judging Criteria
for the specific evaluation criteria for each category.
2) Tabulation
The judges will evaluate each book based on the official score sheet
provided by ECPA, and will not have access to any other scoring
information. Tabulation of the judges' scores is online and will be
electronically tabulated and managed by the ECPA office.
3) Judge Selection
Each group of judges will consist of two retailers, two authors, and two
experts related to the category (scholars, pastors, counselors,
educators, literary reviewers, etc.)
4) Judging Process
Each group of judges will score their group of submitted titles
according to the category's evaluation criteria. The score for each
title will be tallied and the top five (5) scorers in each of the six
(6) categories will be named as finalists for those categories. The top
scorer in each category will be announced as the winner for that
category. The Christian Book of the Year will be awarded to the
finalist with the top sales figures.
5) Awards
Winners will be announced April 29, 2013 at the ECPA Executive Leadership Summit in Nashville.
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