The Independent Publishers Guild is delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Independent Publishing Awards. They are:
Ingram Content Group Independent Publisher of the Year
Winner
Emerald Publishing
The Paperback Bookshop Trade Publisher of the Year
Winner
Atlantic Books
Blackwell’s Children’s Publisher of the Year
Winner
Nosy Crow
PLS Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year
Winner
Emerald Publishing
Westchester Education Services Education Publisher of the Year
Winner
Bloomsbury Publishing
IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year
Winner
How2Become
Nick Robinson Newcomer Award
Winner
Boldwood Books
IPG International Achievement Award
Winner
Nosy Crow
IPG Digital Publishing Award
Winner
Kogan Page
IPG Marketing Award
Winner
Quarto
Alison Morrison Diversity Award
Winner
Barefoot Books
IPG Sustainability Award
Winner
Cambridge University Press
The Bookseller Young Independent Publisher of the Year
Winner
Michela Pea, Nosy Crow
GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award
Winner
Virtusales Publishing Solutions
Leading
the winners is Ingram Content Group Independent Publisher of the Year Emerald Publishing. It is the 14th
recipient of the flagship prize, as well as the winner of the 2020 PLS Academic
and Professional Publisher of the Year Award. It joins 13 previous Independent
Publishers of the Year: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Templar Publishing,
Alastair Sawday Publishing, Earthscan, Continuum, Constable & Robinson,
Bloomsbury Publishing’s Academic & Professional Division, Usborne
Publishing, Search Press, Nosy Crow, Edward Elgar Publishing, Maths – No
Problem! and Faber & Faber.
Emerald
was one of five Publishers of the Year on the shortlist for the Award. It was
joined there by The
Paperback Bookshop Trade Publisher of the Year Atlantic Books; Westchester
Education Services Education Publisher of the Year Bloomsbury Publishing; IPG Specialist Consumer
Publisher of the Year How2Become; and
Blackwell’s
Children’s Publisher of the Year Nosy Crow.
Nosy Crow added to its
Award with the IPG International Achievement Award, while its senior rights
manager Michela Pea was named The Bookseller
Young Independent Publisher of the Year. Nosy Crow and its staff have now won
no fewer than 17 Independent Publishing
Awards in nine years.
Another returning
winner is Kogan Page, which received
the IPG Digital Publishing Award. Children’s publisher Barefoot Books received the Alison Morrison Diversity Award for the
second time, eight years after the first.
The other four
companies recognized at the Awards were all first time winners. Boldwood Books received the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award,
while Cambridge
University Press won the first ever IPG Sustainability Award. Quarto took the IPG Marketing Award,
and Virtusales
Publishing Solutions received the GBS Services to Independent
Publishers Award.
The 14th Independent Publishing Awards were
presented at a special online event on Tuesday 22
September 2020. The shortlists featured a record 47 nominations, showcasing the
work of 32 different companies and four individuals.
IPG
chief executive Bridget Shine says: “It’s a huge pleasure to take time out of a
challenging year and celebrate the brilliant recipients of our 2020 Independent
Publishing Awards. The achievements of all the companies and people on the
shortlists are inspiring, and show the dynamism and diversity of independent
publishing in 2020. Congratulations to them all.”
The
IPG would like to thank all the sponsors of the 2020 Independent Publishing
Awards: Ingram
Content Group, supporter of the overall Independent Publisher of the Year
Award, Blackwell’s, GBS, Publishers’ Licensing Services, The Bookseller,
The Paperback Shop and Westchester Education Services.
The IPG is also
grateful to all the judges of the Awards: Graham Bell, EDItEUR;
Nick Clee, BookBrunch; Tim Davies, Westchester Publishing Services; Lewis
Dawson, Bookspeed; Elise Dillsworth, Elise Dillsworth Agency; Mary Elliott, Fox
Williams, Vicky Ellis, Clays; Oliver Gadsby, IPG Patron, Gareth Hardy,
Blackwell’s; Carla Herbertson, Zebralution; Ruth Jones, Ingram Content Group; Ross
Lewis, Department for International Trade; David Marlin, MetaComet Systems; Paula
Owen, consultant; Steve Potter, World of Books; Miles Poynton, consultant; Oliver
Rodney, Amazon; Christopher Saynor, EDItEUR; Caroline Summers, The Paperback
Shop; and Karina Urquhart, BIC.
Judges’ comments about
each of the 2020 IPG Independent Publishing Awards winners follow.
Ingram
Content Group Independent Publisher of the Year and PLS Academic and Professional
Publisher of the Year
Emerald Publishing was
an academic publisher firing on all cylinders in challenging markets in 2019.
Launches over the year included an EmeraldInsights platform for researchers and
an Open Access platform called Emerald Open Research. Judges also liked its
strategies to reach non-core customers. “There’s a great energy about Emerald,
and you get a really good sense of what they want to achieve and how,” they
said. “A company that could be resting on its successes and set in its ways is
screaming innovation, creativity and vision.”
Also
shortlisted for the Ingram Content Group Independent Publisher of the Year
Award were Atlantic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, How2Become and Nosy
Crow.
Also shortlisted for the PLS Academic
and Professional Publisher of the Year Award were Bloomsbury Publishing, Bristol University Press,
Edward Elgar Publishing and Kogan Page.
The Paperback Bookshop Trade Publisher of the Year
Atlantic Books is a first-time winner at the
Independent Publishing Awards, having continued its impressive business turnaround
in 2019. Its print and ebook sales both grew sharply, thanks in part to the
phenomenal success of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister the Serial Killer, and it reinvigorated its fiction
imprint. “Atlantic is a remarkable turnaround story and you can feel the
enthusiasm right across the business,” said the judges.
Also shortlisted
for The Paperback Bookshop Trade Publisher of the Year Award were Faber
& Faber, Oneworld and Sandstone Press.
Blackwell’s Children’s Publisher of the Year
Nosy Crow has now won this Award five times in just
nine years, and it had another remarkable year of growth in 2019. The judges
were impressed by its energetic marketing, international reach, dedication to new
and longstanding children’s writers and illustrators and commitment to issues
like diversity and sustainability. “It’s a consistently impressive businesses with
a brilliant team of people across sales, rights and editorial,” they said.
Also shortlisted for the Blackwell’s Children’s Publisher of the Year
Award were Sweet Cherry Publishing, Walker Books and
Wonderbly.
Westchester
Education Services Education Publisher of the Year
Bloomsbury
Publishing’s Education division receives this Award for the
second year in a row. Judges admired its growth in domestic sales, good
translation and coedition deals, new audio and subscription models and smart
marketing via educational conferences and other events. “Bloomsbury had a
humdinger of a year in a tricky market… even considering the resources at their
disposal, they progressed on all fronts,” judges said.
Also shortlisted
for the Westchester Education Services Education Publisher of the Year
Award were Crown House
Publishing and Jolly Learning.
IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year
How2Become had another very strong year in its field of career advisory
guides, achieving record turnover and publishing more books than ever before.
The base of its success was its extensive work on YouTube, and around two
thirds of its sales came direct from its own website. Judges said: “How2Become have really found their niche and gone
for it at full speed… they know their customers and are as digitally astute as
anyone.”
Also shortlisted for the IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year Award
were Infinity Books, Search
Press and SPCK.
Nick Robinson Newcomer Award
Boldwood Books has made an immediate impact in commercial fiction
publishing since launching in early 2019. Judges admired its formula of
releasing books in all formats simultaneously, its collaborative approach to
authors and its international ambitions. “Boldwood has really hit the ground
running… it is already showing amazing innovation and has found a huge variety
of ways to kickstart its sales,” they said.
Also shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award were Muswell Press
and September Publishing.
IPG International Achievement Award
Nosy Crow receives this Award for a fourth time. Its tireless
team achieved more stellar international rights growth last year, with the US
and China among the best performers. Export sales grew too, after it brought
management of them in-house for the first time. “Nosy Crow’s achievements in
rights and coeditions are extraordinary… it’s an international powerhouse and
getting even better,” said the judges.
Also shortlisted for the IPG International Achievement Award were Kogan
Page and Walker Books.
IPG Digital
Publishing Award
Kogan
Page wins this Award for its Accessible Ebook Programme,
which opens up textbooks to visually impaired students. Having reengineered its
workflows, consulted widely and refined interactive features, the programme has
been warmly received by those campaigning for better accessibility in
publishing—and future-proofed the business’ tech as well. “This is important
work… Kogan Page’s commitment to accessibility is to be applauded,” judges
said.
Also shortlisted for the
IPG Digital Publishing Award were Barefoot
Books, Bloomsbury Publishing and How2Become.
IPG Marketing
Award
Quarto wins this Award for
the marketing of Zoe Tucker’s Greta and
the Giants. It launched the book about Greta Thunberg with a promise to
plant a tree for each pre-order, and has acted on its own book’s messages by
finding ways to reduce the environmental impacts of its production processes in
the future. “The marketing of the book was right in line with its values… it
was a cohesive strategy and an innovative approach to promotion,” judges said.
Also
shortlisted for the IPG Marketing Award were Atlantic Books, Bristol University
Press and Usborne Publishing.
Alison
Morrison Diversity Award
Barefoot Books receives
this Award for the second time. It last won in 2012, and has since extended its
superb track record for celebrating diversity in all its forms across
children’s books. Judges applauded publishing that showcases other cultures, as
well as global literacy initiatives and collaborations with BookTrust and Books
for Africa. “Barefoot don’t have to work hard at inclusivity or make a big deal
of it—it’s just part and parcel of the way they work and what they publish,”
they said.
Also shortlisted
for the Alison Morrison Diversity Award were Aurora Metro Books and Carcanet
Press.
IPG Sustainability
Award
Cambridge University
Press is an influential contributor to sustainability through
its publishing, which has included important academic research and trade books
like Mike Berners-Lee’s There Is No
Planet B. Judges also saw internal commitment, via projects like a new
solar panel roof and ISO standards accreditation. “CUP have brought a lot of
visibility to the subject of sustainability and are making big changes
themselves,” said the judges.
Also shortlisted for
the IPG Sustainability Award were Lonely Planet and Nosy Crow.
The Bookseller Young Independent
Publisher of the Year
Michela Pea at Nosy
Crow has made a huge impact on her company since joining
in May 2016. Initially as rights assistant and now as senior rights manager,
she has kept Nosy Crow’s international sales growing fast, excelling in rights
and coeditions and in the Chinese market in particular. “Considering she’s only
a few years into publishing she’s achieved an outstanding amount. She is
obviously right at the heart of the business already,” said the judges.
Also shortlisted for The Bookseller
Young Independent Publisher of the Year Award were Vicky Barker at bsmall publishing and Sarah Head at
SPCK.
GBS
Services to Independent Publishers Award
Virtusales Publishing Solutions supports many
medium and large sized independent publishers with their publishing management via
its Biblio suite of software. Its clients pay tribute to the way Biblio
simplifies workflows and saves countless hours of labour, all backed up by
superb customer service. “Virtusales are dream partners… I wish all suppliers
and software solutions could be as effective and intelligent as Biblio,” said
one client.
Also shortlisted
for the GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award were Compass Independent
Publishing Services, Inpress and Suzanne Collier.
For any further information about the 2020
IPG Independent Publishing Awards, please contact Bridget Shine, IPG chief executive
Tel 01437 563335 Email [email protected]