ARCHITECTURAL
BOOK AWARDS 2025

Rules for entry

The 2025 Architectural Book Awards are open to books published between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2025 

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Deadline for all entry forms: Friday 27 December 2024 

 

Deadline for receipt of finished works: Friday 10 January 2025 

 

Late entries by publishers may be accepted at the discretion of the Organiser, on receipt of an emailed enquiry

 

Unless otherwise agreed, by Friday 10 January 2025, publishers must have sent to the Organiser:

1. a high-res image of the book cover (minimum 800 pixels high) 

2. colour photographs of the author (at least one horizontal and one landscape) at a minimum of 4,000 pixels wide)

3. an author bio

4. a press release for the book

5. a PDF of the book

6. five physical copies of the book.

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Direct any submission queries to: book@booklaunch.london

 

ABOUT THE AWARDS

Architectural Book Awards are intended to recognise excellence in books about architecture written in the English language. Several awards may be given for what the judges consider the best book in categories that they shall determine. An overall award will be given for the book that, in the opinion of the judges, ranks as the single best architectural book of the year among all the category winners. 

 

JUDGES

The panel of judges will be anonymous, to avoid the conflict of interest that can exist when judges and entrants are known to each, as is often the case where the parties involved are eminent. Such discretion was once normal in publishing, with influential book reviews—in the Times Literary Supplement, for example— appearing unsigned. It is now unusual, for reasons that we find regrettable. Anonymity assists in ensuring that all parties are protected from the risk of compromise, and our judges have agreed to keep their identities private, along with all other conditions of the awards.

 

SELECTION PROCESS

The judges will read the submissions and will be responsible for compiling shortlists of up to six books in categories that they will choose. Category winners will be chosen from these shortlists, and the primus inter pares—the all-over winner—will be selected from the category winners.

 

SUBMISSION PROCESS

There is currently no restriction on the number of submissions per publisher but this may change in future years.

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COSTS

No cost is attached to submitting a book but if a submission is shortlisted, the publisher will contribute £300 to the awards scheme, the sum to be paid within seven days by BACS on receipt of an invoice. Please note: any number of books that you submit may be shortlisted. If you wish to limit the total of books that our judges promote to shortlisting, you must advise us accordingly by email.

 

PRIZE

The author of the winning book in any shortlisting category will receive a copy of the other books in the same category, to be presented at a prize-giving ceremony. The overall winner will receive a copy of every book submitted to the current year's awards scheme, wth the exception of their own. In both cases, where a winning book is the product of multiple authors, the copies shall be shared among the authors, as they shall decide amongst themselves.

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ELIGIBILITY

a. Any work on architecture or any aspect of architecture, whether in print or electronic format, originally written in the English language or translated into English) and published in the UK by an imprint that sells its books in pounds sterling is eligible. 

 

b. Only publishers may submit works. Submissions by authors will not be accepted, unless agreed with the Organiser.

 

c. Publishers may include self-publishers, as long as the self-publisher in question can demonstrate adherence to what the Organiser considers normal publishing practice. A book will not be ineligible if the publisher is a company set up to publish the work in question, and/or because the author is the person who owns the majority shareholding or otherwise controls such a company. Works published via a commercial arrangement by which the publisher is paid by the author are also not ineligible. (For the avoidance of doubt, clarification should be sought of the Organiser.)

 

d. The work must be or have been published in the UK between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2025. The Organiser will not take into account the date of first publication of a work originally published overseas in another language.

 

e. No work will be ineligible because its author has previously won another prize, including our own prizes.

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f. Entries may include works never previously published or never previously translated in English, written by authors who are now dead. 

 

g. In all matters, the decision of the Organiser as to whether a work is eligible will be final and binding. 

 

KEY STAGES OF THE AWARD

All entry forms to be received by Friday 27 December 2024 

All five print copies to be received by Friday 10 January 2025

A PDF of the text to be received by Friday 10 January 2025

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E-books are accepted as bona-fide entries on condition that the publisher will send five bound print copies to the Organiser by 11 April 2025. (Publishers must inform the Organiser by 10 January, 2025, if printing will be later than the due date.)

 

Unless published only as an e-book, at least 150 copies of the work must be available for retail in the UK at the date of publication.

 

The Organiser, in consultation with the judges, may reject any revised proof or finished copy that differs substantially or materially from a first submitted proof, in which case the work concerned will not be considered further.

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(Full details of where to submit are in the NEXT STEPS section towards the end of this document.) 

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CALL-IN NOMINATIONS

Following the closing date, the judges may call in as many works as they consider appropriate that have not been submitted by their publisher. If the publisher agrees that the work may be considered, the publisher must then submit the online entry forms, thereby signing the undertaking to comply with all the rules of the awards. The work will not be further considered without this signed undertaking.

 

SHORTLISTING

If a work is shortlisted, its publisher will:​

• have no fewer than 150 print copies available for retail sale in the UK within 10 days of the announcement of the shortlist.

• have no fewer than 150 print copies available for retail sale in the UK by the publication date, where the work concerned is published after the announcement of the shortlist.

• use their best efforts to ensure that, where references to the shortlisting are included on the front or back cover, the awards’ shortlisted branding will be used, and that this requirement will be brought to the attention of the literary agent, publicist and counterparts elsewhere.

MARKETING AND EXPECTATIONS

It is a strict condition of entry that publishers agree to use their best efforts to ensure that UK-based authors whose works are submitted or called in make themselves available for publicity and events as required and that, if shortlisted, authors will participate in such awards ceremony as may be arranged. If there is any problem over the author’s availability, the Organiser must be informed immediately.

 

The publisher, publicist and agent of a shortlisted author are strongly advised to attend any briefing meeting that may be convened by the Organiser after the shortlist is announced.

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At any time following the announcement of the shortlist, but before the awards ceremony, publishers should use their best efforts to arrange a speaking event for the author (if UK-based) of their shortlisted book, to take place in London, at a place and time likely to attract the largest audience (and, should they wish, anywhere else) in liaison with the Organiser.

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None of the print copies required as part of the submissions process or as call-ins will be returned to the publishers.

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AWARD WINNERS

If a work is shortlisted, its publisher will use their best efforts to ensure that references to the work’s having won an Architectural Book Award are included on the front or back cover, and that the scheme’s award branding will be used, and that this request will be brought to the attention of the work's literary agent and other counterparts.

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EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE

Booklaunch reserves the right to revise the Rules, and to publish all such changes and updates here, without wider notification.   

 

NEXT STEPS

1. Complete our online submission form (one form for each submitted title)

 

2. Send five physical copies of each submitted book, together with name and contacts details of the individual making the submission, to the address below:

 

    Dr Stephen Games

    Architectural Book Awards

    Booklaunch

    12 Wellfield Avenue

    London

    N10 2EA

 

3. Email a PDF of each submitted book, plus a high-res image (at least 1mb/300dpi) of the book cover and colour photographs of the author (at least one horizontal and one landscape), an author bio and a press release for the book to Booklaunch via: book@booklaunch.london

 

QUERIES

Please send all submission queries to Architectural Book Awards at: book@booklaunch.london

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Entry forms are now online here: www.booklaunch.london/archisubmissions1 

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