Will Your Book Be Considered For the 2012 Golden Kite Award?

Awards can give your book buzz.  It can raise your cache.  It can boost sales. (Interestingly, Publisher's Lunch is reporting that Bloomsbury upped its reprint order for National Book Award fiction winner SALVAGE THE BONES by Jesmyn Ward to 50,000 copies.)

Being a member of SCBWI makes you eligible for the Golden Kite Awards.

The Golden Kite Statuette

Here's the scoop from the SCBWI website:

Presented by the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators the Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children’s literature, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. Authors and illustrators will also receive an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI’s Summer Conference in August and a lifetime membership in SCBWI.

Here's Rukhsana Khan giving her Golden Kite Award acceptance speech - she won for picture book text for "Big Red Lollipop":

Rukhsana brought down the house at #LA11SCBWI

A commemorative poster with the winners will be created and distributed to, among others, various schools, libraries and publishers.

Last year's winners are featured in the debut poster beautifully illustrated by John Parra, 2010 Golden Kite winner for picture book illustration:

In addition to the four Golden Kite Award winners, four honor book recipients will also be named by the panel of judges which consists of children’s book writers and illustrators.

Instituted in 1973, the Golden Kite Awards are the only children’s literary award judged by a jury of peers. More than 1,000 books are entered each year. Eligible books must be written or illustrated by SCBWI members, and submitted either by publishers or individuals.

Sara Rutenberg, SCBWI's Golden Kite Award Coordinator, lays out these five steps for

How can you make sure your book is a contender for the 2012 Golden Kite Awards?

1. Go to www.scbwi.org and click on awards to familiarize yourself with the guidelines for the Golden Kite Awards.

2. Make sure that your SCBWI membership is current!

Only current members of SCBWI are elligible for the Golden Kite Awards. Not sure when your membership expires? Log in at SCBWI.org and click on "Membership Renewal." Your member expiration date will be shown at the top of that page.

3. Log in at scbwi.org and update your publication information!

Click on "Manage Profile" and be sure to enter the name and publication date of your most recent book. Then, choose your publisher from one of the drop-down menus. If you have any trouble updating your profile, feel free to call the SCBWI offices at 323-782-1010 during business hours (9 AM - 5:30 PM, Pacific, Monday - Friday) and someone will be happy to assist you.

4. Check with your publisher to see if they've sent us your book.

Most publishers have their publicity departments handle awards submissions, but a quick email to your editor to make sure that someone is submitting your book for the Golden Kite Award is a good idea.
 
5. If you're an individual submitting your own book, be sure to follow the guidelines for individual submissions carefully.

So what are you waiting for?  Don't you want the chance of getting one of these

for the book you illustrated and/or wrote?  Make sure your book is considered for a Golden Kite Award!

Good Luck,
Lee


credits:  The Golden Kite statuette photo is by Stephen Mooser.  The photo of Rukhsana Khan accepting her Golden Kite award is by Rita Crayon Huang.  The Golden Kite Poster was designed by John Parra.  The Golden Kite seal was designed by Don Freeman.