Nautilus Book Awards

The Nautilus Book Awards are named for the mollusk whose beautiful, pearl-lined shell contains chambers of increasing size which the sea creature constructs for itself as it grows. The nautilus symbolizes both ancient wisdom and expanding horizons; both the elegance of nature and a continual growth of understanding and awareness.

Build thee more stately mansions,
O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome
more vast,
Till thou at length are free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

~Oliver Wendell Holmes,
The Chambered Nautilus

Since ancient times, storytellers and scribes worldwide have gathered and shared the culture's words and ideas in ways that encourage its people to think, feel, and improve the lives of upcoming generations. For centuries, the world's great philosophers and leaders have used books to inspire the masses and affect their attitudes and emotions - not always for the better. Today, with mass global communication, political unrest, depletion and destruction of our natural resources along with religious and secular fanaticism all growing at an alarming rate, the need for books that promote positive social change is great, and the phrase, "Changing the World One Book at a Time" is more meaningful than ever before. Authors and publishers and their books CAN and ARE making a difference.

The Nautilus Book Awards were conceived to recognize and reward these world-changing books, and celebrate how they contribute to positive social change, spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, and responsible leadership. We have 23 categories , including three children's book categories.

Our new categories are : AGING REJUVENATION; ENERGY MEDICINE; CONSCIOUS MEDIA/JOURNALISM and INDIGENOUS/MULTICULTURAL.

Nautilus Book Awards Winners and Finalist are carefully selected in a unique three-tier judging process by an experienced team of book reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, book store owners, and leaders in the publishing industry. Each year we showcase these creative, inspirational, and life-changing books in our booth at the Book Expo America, where many of the authors of Finalist and Winning titles sign their books.

Books are now the first draft of history as well as the last, since the most of the news media have abandoned the field.
- David Swanson

These books are creating a curriculum for the folks out there who are yearning for a new story ...
- Jean Houston, PhD.

Award winning titles will be exhibited in a 2008 Nautilus Book Awards Showcase at BookExpo America in the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 29 - June 1 , 2008. One gold winner and several silver winners will be named for each category, a special award will be given to the top small press or self-published title, and two overall Grand Prize winners (one adult and one children's) will be announced with the Nautilus Book Awards. Winning titles will be featured for one year - and thereafter kept in the Nautilus Book Awards archives for easy viewing on our popular website - www.nautilusbookawards.com

For more information contact Marilyn McGuire at marilyn@marilynmcguire.com
The Nautilus Book Awards is created and administered by Marilyn McGuire & Associates, Inc. of Orcas Island , WA in association with The Independent Publishers Online Traverse City, MI.

The Nautilus Story