Eligibility Criteria

Publication

Books published between January 1 and December 31 of the given prize year. 

Authors

The New Brunswick Book Awards are open to traditionally published and self-published authors whose primary residence is in New Brunswick and they have lived there for three of the last five years, including the award year. For example, to be eligible for the 2020 awards, an author needs to be a New Brunswick resident in 2020 and two of the previous four years. 

​Books

Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry books must meet the criteria of UNESCO's definition of a book: "a non-periodical printed publication of at least 49 pages, exclusive of the cover pages, published in the country and made available to the public."

Picture Books are definied as books for children that contain illustrations that are just as important as the words in telling the story. Picture books are usually 24-32 pages. 

Self-published books that meet the above criteria are also eligible. If you know someone who has self-published a book, tell them to get in touch with us! There is no entry fee: we just need two copies of the book sent to us before December 1. (For books with a publication date in December, we require galley proofs.)