PPC ANNOUNCE 2024 ANNUAL AWARDS JUDGING LINE-UP & SHORTLISTS

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, Rishma 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 and Emily Laidlaw, Midas
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess by Jeff Kinney –Ellen Grady and Lily Orgill, Penguin Random House Children’s
  • Independent Bookshop Week 2024 –  Anna Zanetti, Henrietta Richardson, Jane Lau and Ashley Baugh, 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  (with the Arsenal PR team)
  • 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

anna.frame@canongate.co.uk

 

PPC Quarterly Awards

Following feedback, we are making some changes to the PPC Quarterly Awards submission process and criteria. This means that the submission deadlines for Q1 and Q2 will be combined. Deadlines are:

  • Q1 (December, January, February) – Friday 7th April
  • Q2 (March, April, May) – Friday 4th July
  • Q3 (June, July, August) – Friday 3rd October
  • Q4 (September, October, November) – Friday 5th December
  • Annuals (December 24 – November 25) – Monday 5th January 2026

To submit your Q1 campaign please complete the form here
To submit your Q2 campaign please complete the form here
To submit your Q3 campaign please complete the form here
To submit your Q4 campaign please complete the form here

You can submit for the Annual Awards here

Submission criteria
– Submissions should be made using the Google Form links above. You can find a sample form here.
– When submitting a campaign please make sure that all contributors are members beforehand. Contributors that are not PPC members will not be eligible to submit. Please contact publisherspublicitycircle@gmail.com for membership enquiries.

Categories
– Definitions of each category and eligibility can be found on the link here.
– Campaigns can only be submitted for one category with the exception of those entered for Newcomer.
– We reserve the right to move books into an alternative category that the shortlisting panel considers more suitable.

Content notes
– This form could be read by journalists, please do not include anything you do not want disclosed to a third party.
– PR and Marketing budget are essential to include. If you’re an agency / freelancer, please ensure that you’ve sourced this information from the book publisher as, due to the quantity of submissions, we won’t be able to chase this up individually.
– In your aims, please spell out what you hoped to achieve with the campaign. Detail on how you achieved this should be included in your campaign statement.
– Please note the character limits for each section carefully. The Campaign Statement has been increased to 6,500 characters this year (equivalent to 1,000 words).

NEW – Coverage Highlights
– The Awards are now accepting one page of coverage highlights. This can be uploaded as a PDF at the end of the form. This PDF is in lieu of the printed cuttings we used to request. It’s your personal choice whether you chose to highlight one key piece of press, or offer a collage of images such as press cuttings, sales graphs, social media or events. It must not be more than 1 A4 page and cannot include any text (except to label sales graphs).

Annual Awards:
– All campaigns – apart from the quarterly winners – need to be resubmitted for the Annual Awards. They will not automatically go through if you have entered a quarterly and not won.
– Each quarterly winner will automatically be shortlisted in the same category for the Annual Awards.
– The campaigns by the winners of the PPC Annual Awards will then be sent to the Bookseller who will make their own shortlist for the British Book Awards’ Publicity Campaign of the Year.  They will then select a winner from that shortlist.
– Please keep a copy of your submission on file as you may be asked to re-submit your form if shortlisted for an annual award.

You can submit for the Annual Awards here

If you have any queries please contact publicitycircleawards@gmail.com