The Publishers’ Publicity Circle (PPC) is delighted to announce the shortlists for the 2024 PPC Annual Awards, which celebrate the best campaigns carried out by book publicists between December 2023 and November 2024.
The awards will be judged by a panel of book industry and media professionals consisting of
- Bea Carvalho – Head of Books, Waterstones (Head Judge)
- Jo James – Jo James Events & Festivals Management
- Joe Haddow – Author, Producer and Podcast Host
- Sarah Shaffi – Journalist, Editor and Author
- Emma Corfield-Walters – Owner of Book-ish
- Bex Lindsay – Presenter at Fun Kids Radio
The winners of the PPC Annual Awards will be announced at a ceremony for PPC members on Monday 3rd March, and go forward to be considered for Publicity Campaign of the Year at The British Book Awards. The BBA judging team will select a shortlist from the category-winning campaigns at the PPC Annual Awards.
Anna Frame, Communications Director at Canongate and Chair of the PPC, said:
‘As any member of the committee will tell you, the day we spend judging the PPC Awards is always the highlight of the year. Against the backdrop of an increasingly unpredictable and competitive media and events landscape, the campaigns submitted seem to be getting only more impressive – and reading about the creativity, passion, determination and thoughtfulness that publicists pour into their work is endlessly inspiring. These shortlists celebrate a wide array of approaches from every corner of our industry, and we’re so grateful to our judges for whittling them down to the final winners; they certainly have their work cut out for them.’
The full shortlists are as follows:
The Waterstones Award for Best Hardback Fiction Campaign
Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson – Becky Short, Transworld
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker – Susanna Peden and Libby Haddock, HarperVoyager
All Fours by Miranda July – Anna Frame, Canongate
You Are Here by David Nicholls – Louise Court, Hodder & Stoughton, and Emma Knight, Studio49
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney – Josh Smith, Faber
Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes (trans. Frank Wynne) – Myrto Kalavrezou, Quercus
Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan – Rachel Alexander and Kate Burton, Faber
The Bookseller Award for Best Hardback Non-Fiction Campaign
WANT: Sexual Fantasies Submitted by Anonymous, collected by Gillian Anderson – Fran Owen, Mari Yamazaki, Annabel Robinson and Hayley Camis, Bloomsbury
A History of Britain in Ten Enemies by Terry Deary – Chloë Rose, Transworld
The Golden Road by William Dalrymple – Hayley Camis and Anna Massardi, Bloomsbury
Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik – Laura O’Donnell, Atlantic Books
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – Matt Hutchinson, Penguin Press
All That Glitters by Orlando Whitfield – Robert Loyko-Greer and Lily Evans, Profile Books
The Connell MPA Award for Best Celebrity Campaign
Sonny Boy by Al Pacino – Charlotte Bush and Olivia Thomas, Cornerstone
Vanessa Bares All by Vanessa Feltz – Chloë Rose, Transworld
I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You by Miranda Hart – Ellie Hughes, Penguin Michael Joseph
Lucky by Louise Thompson – Lucy Brown, Ebury
Personal Best by Adele Roberts – Alainna Hadjigeorgiou, Hodder & Stoughton
Dancing in the Rain by Amy Dowden – Gabriella Drinkald, Little, Brown
The PPC Award for Best Debut Campaign
The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson – Maddie Watts and Thi Dinh, Penguin Press
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton – Aisling Holling, Canongate
Poyums by Len Pennie – Anna Frame, Canongate
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey – Isabelle Ralphs and Charlotte Bush, Cornerstone
Piglet by Lottie Hazell – Izzie Ghaffari-Parker, Transworld
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna – Naomi Mantin, 4th Estate
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable – Ros Ellis and Isobel Turton, Bloomsbury
The PPC Award for Best Children’s and YA Celebrity Campaign
Max Magic: The Incredible Holiday Hideout by Stephen Mulhern with Tom Easton, illustrated by Begoña Fernández Corbalán – Amber Ivatt, Bonnier Books
Evenfall: The Golden Linnet by Alexander Armstrong, illustrated by Tom Roberts – Hannah Penny and Madeline Adeane, Farshore
Deborah Meaden Talks Money by Deborah Meaden – Madeline Adeane and Sarah Sleath, Red Shed
The Cosmic Diary of a Future Space Explorer by Tim Peake – Namishka Karia, Hachette Children’s Group
The Daily Mail Award for Best Children’s Book Campaign
Science is Lit by Big Manny and Subi Bosa – Lily Orgill, Penguin Random House Children’s, Risha Dhaliwal, Media Hive
The Clockwork Conspiracy by Sam Sedgman – Emily Marples, Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm by Ash Bond – Amber Ivatt, Bonnier Books
Skandar and the Skeleton Curse by AF Steadman – Eve Wersocki Morris, EWM PR (for Simon & Schuster)
Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler – Penelope Daukes, Scholastic
The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees, illustrated by Vivienne To – Sarah Doyle and Sophia Pringle, Penguin Random House Children’s
The PPC Award for Best YA Campaign
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson – Madeline Adeane and Rory Codd, Electric Monkey
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland – Pippa Poole, Bonnier Books
Songlight by Moira Buffini – Bethany Carter, Faber
Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood – Tina Mories, Scholastic
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – Fritha Lindqvist, Usborne and Zekra Rahman, Colour PR
Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher – Isabelle Tucker, Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The PPC Award for Best Crime and Thriller Campaign
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller – Alice Dewing, Cornerstone
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton – Ben McCluskey, Bloomsbury
Argylle by Elly Conway – Chloë Rose, Transworld
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin – Ella Patel and Emily Patience, Quercus
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker – Ellen Turner, Orion
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee – Mia Quibell-Smith, Vintage
The PPC Award for Best Academic Campaign
Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman – Chloe Foster, Yale University Press
The Conservative Effect, 2010-2024: 14 Wasted Years? edited by Anthony Seldon and Tom Edgerton – Jeff Scott, Platypus PR, and Chris Burrows, Cambridge University Press
The Political Thought of Xi Jinping by Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung – Amy Stewart, Oxford University Press
The Books Are My Bag Award for Best Lifestyle, Gift and Humour Campaign
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 2025 – Aoifke McGuire-France, Cornerstone
The Book of Gifts by Lucy Claire Dunbar – Frankie Banks, Penguin Michael Joseph
Feel Good in 15 by Joe Wicks – Sarah Lundy and Isabel Williams, HQ, and Sophie Calder, Calder Publicity
Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake: A Compendium of Classic Authors’ Favourite Recipes – Rosie Catcheside, Faber
Unstressable by Mo Gawdat and Alice Law – Maya Conway, Pan Macmillan
The How To Academy Award for Best Generic Campaign
GollanczFest 2024 – Jenna Petts, Orion
The Yoto Carnegies 2024 – Emma Draude, Sabina Maharjan and Katey Pugh, ed public relations
Little, Brown’s Big Book Bash – Katya Ellis, Gabriella Drinkald and Bryony Rogers, Little, Brown
Announcement of Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024-2026, Frank Cottrell-Boyce – Hannah McMillan, Midas, Emily Laidla, Midas
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess by Jeff Kinney – Ellen Grady, Penguin Random House Children’s
Independent Bookshop Week 2024 – Anna Zanetti, Midas
The PPC Award for Best Cookery Book Campaign
The Food for Life Cookbook by Tim Spector – Alison Davies and Susie Merry, Vintage and Sarah Bennie, Sarah Bennie PR
SO GOOD by Emily English – Ellen Turner, Orion
Greekish by Georgina Hayden – Ellen Williams and Lian Wilson, Bloomsbury
SIFT: The Elements of Great Baking by Nicola Lamb – Francesca Thomson, Ebury
Spud Man’s Spudtacular Baked Potato Cookbook by Spud Man – Hilary Stein, HarperNorth
Speedy Weeknight Meals by Jon Watts – Isobel Turton and Brittani Davies, Bloomsbury
The PPC Award for Best Sports Book Campaign
Inside Mercedes F1 by Matt Whyman – Hana Sparkes, Cornerstone
Unbroken by Katarina Johnson-Thompson – Josie Turner, Pan Macmillan
Black Arsenal edited by Clive Chijioke Nwonka and Matthew Harle – Aoife Datta, Orion
Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1 by Guenther Steiner – Izzie Ghaffari-Parker, Transworld
All That Matters by Chris Hoy – Rebecca Mundy, Hodder & Stoughton
How to Win the Premier League by Ian Graham – Aoifke McGuire-France, Cornerstone
The PPC Award for Paperback Campaign
The Prison Officer by Gen Glaister – Emma Fairey, Transworld
The Fate of Mary Rose by Caroline Blackwood – Katya Ellis, Little, Brown
BUTTER by Asako Yuzuki – Patrick Hargadon, 4th Estate
DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee (trans. Sandy Joosun) – Ollie Martin, Headline
The Unexpected by Ellen Wiles – Felicia Hu, HQ
The Jo James Award for Best Newcomer Campaign
The Forever Wardrobe by Anna Cascarina – Lian Wilson, Bloomsbury
Challenger by Adam Higginbotham – Annie Lucas, Penguin General
Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake: A Compendium of Classic Authors’ Favourite Recipes – Rosie Catcheside, Faber
Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by Peter F. Hamilton – Olivia-Savannah Roach, Pan Macmillan
Unstressable by Mo Gawdat and Alice Law – Maya Conway, Pan Macmillan
How to Win the Premier League by Ian Graham – Aoifke McGuire-France, Cornerstone
Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher – Isabelle Tucker, Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Issued by:
Anna Frame, Communications Director at Canongate and Chair of the PPC