​2020 Submission deadline: Saturday, May 30, 2020, at 5 p.m. MDT

 

Eligibility:

• The 2020 competition is open to any independently or self-published print or audio book.

• Entries may be submitted by author, publisher or credited service provider (Illustrator, designer, editor, printer, consultant, etc.).

• CIPA membership is not required.

• The 2020 non-member fee includes a one-year membership to CIPA.

 

 

Each Entry:

• Must be in English or Bilingual with English as one of the languages.

• Must have an ISBN and a publication date no earlier than 2018.

• Must not have been entered in any previous CIPA ELF EVVY Awards competition.

• A book that has been revised and has been printed in a second edition may be entered a second time.

• Books may be entered in as many regular categories as desired. Each category entered requires a full entry fee.

• Audio books are considered a technical category.

• To enter a technical category the book must be entered in a regular category first. A copy of the regular category entry email confirmation must be included when books are shipped.

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Pricing and Deadlines for Entries:

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Early Bird Entries: 2/15/20–3/21/20       Member                 Non-member

Regular category entries                            $75                           $140*

 

Regular Entries: 3/22/20–5/30/20          Member                 Non-member

Regular category entries                            $85                           $155*

Technical Awards**                                     $40                             $75

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*   Non-member entry fees include a one-year membership for CIPA! Additional categories, additional books, and Technical Award entries are at the member rate after the non-member fee has been paid one time.

** Technical Awards MUST be entered in a regular category to be considered.

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Entries must be received no later than May 30, 2020. A postmark of May 30 is not sufficient.

Entry fees must be paid online by credit card or PayPal. Checks are not accepted.

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Benefits of CIPA membership include:

 

• Free entry to all of CIPA’s monthly meetings, where guest speakers inform and answer questions.

• Trade show opportunities, such as having your book displayed at regional book shows.

• Access to the skilled designers, editors, and publicists who are your fellow CIPA members. Many CIPA Service Providers offer discounts to members.

• Discounts on future CIPA EVVY Awards entries.

• Affiliate discounts on Independent Book Publishers Association Membership.

• CIPA Online Webinars and Guided Discussions

• Free marketing for your book by submitting your news to the CIPA Signature e-newsletter. The distribution list goes to over 1,000 emails.

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General submission guidelines:

• Do not send any extraneous materials or materials that display mentions of other awards.

• If the book is published only in audio format you may submit audio files, but registration in a regular category is required. If the book is produced in both print and audio formats, the print book must be submitted for judging. Do not upload your entire audio book. Send promo codes from Audible so judges can download the audio book to their preferred device. Please include your book title in the file name. Copies of the book in CD format will also be accepted.

• During the registration process you will need to upload a JPG file of your book cover. The file must be 300 dpi. Minimum width of the cover file should be 1500 pixels. Name the file with the book title. (Example: theadventuresoftomsawyer.jpg). Registration cannot be completed without this, so please be prepared.

• For the Editing category you will need to submit two versions of a chapter of the book—a "before edit" and an "after edit" version. These files may be submitted as a Word document or as a PDF. The edits must be clearly visible. To enter this category, the book must have been entered in a regular category.

• CIPA ELF is not responsible for loss or damage to any entry.

• Entries become the property of CIPA ELF and will not be returned.

• Print books not claimed at the awards event will be donated to various charitable literacy organizations through CIPA ELF.

 

After online registration is completed, mail three book copies for each Regular category entered, plus two copies for each additional category (including technical awards entries) the same submission is entered in, with completed entry forms attached in each copy, to:

 

Sue Ager

12660 Stone Valley Dr.

Peyton, CO 80831

 

• The entry confirmation email with the category circled MUST be included in the mailing.

• Do not send books with a receiving signature required.

• It is a good idea to include tracking in your delivery. Because of the volume of entries, receipt of your shipment will not be acknowledged.

 

 

Submission categories:

    Non-Fiction

Academic/Educational

Animals/Pets

Art/Architecture/Design/Photography

Biography/Autobiography/Memoir—General/Historical

Business—General/Careers/Communications/Entrepreneurship/Finance/Marketing/Public

     Relations/Technology/Writing and Publishing

Children Nonfiction

Cooking/Entertaining—General/International

Cultural Studies/Social Issues

Health/Fitness/Medicine/Sports

History—General/Military/United States

How-To

Motivational/Inspirational

Narrative Nonfiction

Parenting & Family Life

Poetry

Self Help—General/Relationships

Spiritual/Religion

Travel/Outdoors

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    Fiction

Action/Adventure

Animals/Pets/Nature

Children’s Picture Books

Children’s Story Books

Fantasy/Folklore/Mythology

Historical

Horror—Psychological Horror/Gothic Horror/Occult

Humor

Juvenile Fiction—Middle Grade

Literary & Contemporary Fiction

Multicultural Fiction—American experience from minority points of view.

Mystery/Crime/Detective—General Mystery/Cozy/Historical/Police Procedural/Paranormal

Religious/ Spiritual Fiction

Romance—Christian/Contemporary/Romantic Comedy/Erotic Romance/Paranormal/Gothic/Historical/Regency/Reverse Harem/Romantic Suspense/Western

Science Fiction—Hard Sci-Fi/Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Military Sci-Fi/Alternate 

      History/Cyberpunk/Steampunk

Thrillers/Suspense—Espionage Psychological/ Historical/Medical/Supernatural/Military/ Techno

Westerns

Women’s Fiction—These plot lines are characterized by central female characters who face challenges,

       difficulties, and crises that have a direct relationship to gender.

Young Adult: 14–18 years old

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    Technical

Audio Books

Children’s Illustration

Cover Design

Editing

General Illustration

Interior Layout/Design

Printing & Binding

 

 

Judging:

• Judges are selected based on experience, specific expertise, and prior judging experience

• All judges are required to abide by the judging guidelines and code of ethics

• The names of judges are confidential

• Entry scores are confidential and will remain the property of the CIPA Education and Literacy Foundation.

• Submissions must pass a preliminary round before advancing to final judging. If a book has two or more mechanical, grammatical, or spelling errors on any random five pages, it will not advance.

• First, second, and third place may be awarded for each category when minimum scoring criteria are met. If minimum scoring criteria are not met, awards may not be presented in a category.

• Judges use category specific rubrics to determine their scores for an entry.

• In the event of a tie score, duplicate awards may be given.

 

 

CIPA EVVY Judges Code of Ethics

 

As a CIPA EVVY Judge, I hereby pledge to:

 

1. Conduct myself with honesty and integrity and maintain the highest possible standards in my role as a CIPA EVVY judge, and, 


2. Judge my assigned books impartially and fairly according to the CIPA EVVY Judging Guidelines. If I cannot judge a book impartially, I will let the CIPA EVVY committee know immediately so the book can be reassigned to another judge, and, 


3. Remain anonymous throughout the judging process, and, 


4. Never reveal the scores I give or which books I judge outside of the official scoring system. I will retain my personal opinions of the books I judge until after the CIPA EVVY awards banquet in August, whether or not I remove my name from the list of judges. This includes not reviewing the books I have judged on any social media platform, online review sites, in any print publications or on any mass media, and, 


5. Aside from being allowed to keep the books I receive to judge, I understand and accept that there will be no compensation for judging of books. 


 

 

For questions about the contest, contact:

 

Sue Ager

skager3@gmail.com

(719) 439-7009