CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2025 CCBC Book Awards
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is now accepting submissions for it children’s book awards. In total, seven prizes will be awarded. If you click on the links below you will find submission and criteria information about each award. Please be sure to read all of the submission information and criteria for each of the awards, as it varies from award to award, and some of the criteria have updated from last year.
- Amy Mathers Teen Book Award
- Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
- Jean Little First-Novel Award
- Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
- Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award
- Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction*
2024 marked the 20th anniversary and final year for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award / Prix TD
The TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award has played a vital role in recognizing and supporting excellence in Canadian children’s books. Over the years, it has positively impacted the lives of many authors, illustrators, and publishers, and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is grateful for all the achievements that have been celebrated through this award. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to TD Bank Group, whose generous support has been instrumental in making this award a success since 2004. Read more here.
The submission deadline is January 15, 2025. Only works by Canadian authors and illustrators are eligible for submission. In the case of translations, the translator must also be Canadian. For the purpose of the awards, our definition of Canadian is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident (minimum two-year residency), or First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of the land that is now called Canada. The award marked with an asterisk (*) is only open to Canadian publishers (books distributed to the Canadian market that are published by non-Canadian imprints are not eligible; they must be published under a Canadian imprint). All books must be published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
In 2021, the CCBC reviewed its awards and its criteria to align with the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion policy approved by the CCBC board of directors. The award guidelines now contain updated and inclusive language. The result is an acknowledgment of the fact that the celebration of diversity is an equally significant element to achieving excellence. A work of excellence in Canadian children’s literature should also be successful in making people feel a sense of belonging in their communities.
The Canadian Children's Book Centre acknowledges that not all voices have been given the same opportunity or heard equally. To ensure voices and stories from underrepresented creators are not excluded, we strongly encourage publishers to include in their submissions works that reflect diverse voices, specifically those that are by and about Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC); Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and Agender, Two-Spirited, plus other identities and communities (LGBTQIA2+), as well as stories by and about individuals with different abilities. Finally, we also acknowledge this change is not the final stop but part of the journey to inclusion and the need to amplify underrepresented voices in Canadian children’s publishing.
Jury Selection and Composition
The CCBC staff will select jurors for each literature award from a national pool of individuals with demonstrated expertise in the critical assessment of literature for youth; in its commitment to the principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the CCBC will endeavour to include as many jurors as possible for underrepresented groups.
Publisher and Creator Expectations Prior to Submission
- Publishers agree to pay the $35 non-refundable submission fee per title per award.
- If a book is shortlisted, the publisher, author and illustrator may be asked to participate in a series of events highlighting and promoting the shortlisted author and illustrator, in addition to the award celebration.
- The CCBC is unable to assume the costs for travel and accommodation. It is our hope that publishers will assist the award winner(s) with providing the resources for attending the in-person awards ceremony (should we be able to hold an in-person event) or for creating an acceptance speech video of appropriate quality should the creator(s) be unable to attend an in-person event.
- Publishers agree to prepare and encourage their authors and illustrators to participate in all reasonable publicity associated with the award(s): interviews, readings, appearances, etc.
- Publishers agree to spend an appropriate sum on media advertising the winning book (i.e., whatever your advertising budget allows).
How to Submit
Please complete a title submission form for each title you are submitting. You can submit to multiple prizes, provided the title meets the eligibility requirements for each prize. Please indicate on the form which award(s) you are submitting to.
Upon completion of the form(s), please email PDFs of your title(s) to meghan@bookcentre.ca. For the physical books, we require five (5) copies of each title for each award that you are submitting to. Therefore, if you are submitting BOOK A to two awards, we require 10 copies of BOOK A. Please send the physical books to:
CCBC Book Awards 2025
c/o Tinlids Inc.
130 Martin Ross Avenue
Toronto, ON M3J 2L4
Please be advised that Tinlids' warehouse will be closed for the holidays between December 20 and January 2. We kindly ask that you avoid delivering your shipment(s) within this timeframe.
Note to US publishers, foreign publishers and self-published authors using printers in the US
When you are sending your submissions, please make sure that all mailing/courier charges, including duty, are billed to the sender. The CCBC nor Tinlids cannot incur these costs. Packages flagged as COD will be refused.
Books submitted that do not meet the eligibility requirements and criteria will not be considered and will not be returned, nor will the non-refundable submission fee. Furthermore, the books are not returned once the juries finish their deliberation process.
Submission Fees
There is a $35 non-refundable fee for each title submitted to each of the CCBC book awards. Therefore, if, for example, you have a title that meets the criteria for three of the awards listed above and you would like it considered for all three awards, the submission fee for that particular title is $105 ($35 x 3). The fees will be used to offset administration costs, as well as costs associated with the presentation of the awards.
Submission fees are payable by cheque or online. To pay online, visit bookcentre.ca/submissionfees. If paying by cheque, please complete the submission fee form and either enclose it with your shipment of books or mail it to the address at the bottom of the form.
CCBC Membership
Please also consider becoming a member of the CCBC. Member support helps us to continue bringing attention to Canadian children’s books through our programs such as these book awards. Through your support, we can keep showing Canada, and the world, that Canadian children’s books are best.
Accessible Formats
The title submission forms include a question about accessible formats. While these formats are not a requirement for submitting to the CCBC book awards, we would very much appreciate it if you could let us know if the title(s) is available in an accessible format and if so, which format(s).
Submission Deadline
The submission deadline is January 15, 2025. If you have any questions about eligibility or the awards in general, please contact Meghan Howe at 416.975.0010 ext. 3 or meghan@bookcentre.ca.
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