ELIGIBILITY
CRITERIA
Award Categories and Criteria
All sports books, published in the UK in hardback or paperback in calendar year 2023, are eligible. However, different editions of titles shortlisted in last year’s awards are ineligible for submission.
It is anticipated that the key winning titles in each of the relevant categories will be available in a paperback format for the winners campaign after middle of May – June 2024.
Please send 1 copy of each submitted title to:
SBA C/O AGILE IDEAS,
Studio 106, Leather Factory Studios,
Brook Lane, Holt, BA14 6RL.
If you are submitting for the Football Book of the Year, in association with the Football Writers’ Association, please also send 2 copies of the title to the FWA:
Anastasia Romanovskaya,
55 Greenland Mews,
London, SE8 5JW.
Each title successfully shortlisted attracts a small levy of £385 per title from BSBA LTD to cover the costs of the design, printing and distribution of the official pos to libraries and retailers. In addition, the winners of each category will incur a further levy of £425 to cover the extra costs of the greater PR coverage and retail exposure.
Consent must be obtained from authors, illustrators and any contributors by publishers before submitting titles.
The Awards
If you are not sure which category of award your book falls into please read the guidelines below. Please note that some books may fit comfortably in two or more categories.
For all sports autobiographies of author/subjects born in the UK
For all sports autobiographies of author/subjects not born in the UK.
Any work of non-fiction related to cricket.
Any work of non-fiction related to football.
Any work of non-fiction related to cycling.
Any work of non-fiction related to rugby.
For all sports books covering the health, fitness and wellbeing genre
Any work of sports-related fiction or a work of non-fiction focussed on sports NOT listed above.
Best use of photographs and/or drawings in an illustrated sporting title.
A biography of a sports-related personality, authorised or unauthorised.
Any sports book aimed at children that encourages a love for reading, sports and physical activity.
At the end of the awards ceremony the Overall Sports Book of the Year will be announced. This will be decided by the judges from the winning books of each category.
Notes
Each of the specific sports category awards will be judged by either, the relevant Sport’s Writers’ Association or a separately selected specific panel of judges, under the guidance of SBA Chairman David Willis. All collated submission lists are passed to the individual judging panels for assessment before the shortlists are set. Further titles may be called in by the judging committees.
The number of submissions for each category will confirm which awards are actually presented, so the number of categories may vary from the above if too few are submitted in any category.
Still need help?
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