FAQ – Awards

Q. Can a book in Shortlisted in more than one category?
A. A book can only be Shortlisted in one category of Early Childhood, Younger Reader, Older Reader, Picture Book or Eve Pownall Award. It may also be Shortlisted for the Award for New Illustrators.

Q. When are the Awards Announced?
A. The first announcement is for the Notable list, which is released at 7pm AEST on the last Tuesday of February. The Shortlist is released at 12noon AEST on the last Tuesday in March and the final Winners and Honour Books are announced at the beginning of CBCA Book Week on the third Friday in August.

Q. What if I don’t pay the fees?
A. The books will not be considered by the judges and marked ineligible. Unfortunately we cannot return the books posted to our National Office as this would be cost prohibitive.

Q. What are the Entry Fees used for; I thought the CBCA Awards Foundation money was used for the Awards?
A. The fees are used to administer the Awards, including posting the books to judges, judges conferences to discuss the books every couple of months, printing of materials for announcements and paying part-time staff to administer the entries. The CBCA Awards Foundation uses the income from their investments to fund the prize money, medallions and certificates for the Winners and Honours in each category.

Q. Does the Entry Fee include GST?
A. CBCA is registered for GST and the entry fee is GST-inclusive.

Q. I have just finished my manuscript; can I enter it in the CBCA Awards?
A. No, the CBCA Awards are for published works only. There are other awards you can enter your unpublished manuscript in.

Q. Can we find out who has entered?
A. The list of entries is confidential and not released to the public. The full list is kept for archival purposes and can be obtained by writing to the National Office to seek permission, stating the reason for needing to see the complete list.

Q. Do we get feedback from the judges about our entries?
A. The judges provide general feedback via the Judges’ Report, which is available at the Winner and Honour Announcement. You can see previous reports on our website under previous winners. They are unable to provide individual feedback for entries as over 450 entries are received each year. If, as an author or illustrator you are interested in finding out more about the CBCA Awards, contact your local CBCA Branch who regularly hold creator nights and discussions about the Notable, Shortlist and Winning books of the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

Q. Has there ever been consideration to a separate category for first-time authors similar to the Crichton Award for first-time illustrators?
A. At this stage there is no CBCA Award for first-time authors. We have found that there are many opportunities for first-time authors to enter competitions for their work and few for illustrators. The Crichton Award was started by a donor in Victoria who wanted the prize to be given to illustrators.

Q. Do you accept self-published books?
A. We certainly accept self-published books. The book must be in printed format (it doesn’t matter where it was printed) and it needs to be available for purchase by the Australian public. Generally, this precludes Amazon and Google sites where it is only available in USD. Ideally Australians should be able to purchase the book or have access it to the book via a library. The ISBN should identify the book as published in Australia.

Q. What if it was printed last year, can I still enter in this year’s CBCA Awards?
A. To be eligible the book must be published and released in Australia during the year of the Awards.