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Entry Guidelines

GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR 2025 SEASON IS OPEN

SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 - FEBRUARY 1ST, 2025

We welcome those of you who are both returning and new to Nautilus. We're happy you are here!

***We typically announce our award winners in May of the award Year. For example, the 2025 Award Season will be announced in May of 2025.

General Criteria

Eligibility Criteria for Book Submissions

To qualify for submission, books must meet the following requirements:

(Criteria in PDF format)

Published Format

Your book must be available in English, with an ISBN, and may be self-published, hybrid-published, or released by a small or large press (see definitions below).

Publication Date

The copyright or publication date must be within 2023 or 2024, as displayed on or near the title page. 

*If your book lists a 2025 publication date but was physically published and available for purchase by December 31, 2024, please contact us at office@nautilusbookawards.com for clarification.*

High-Quality Writing

Your book should demonstrate excellence in writing.

Relevant Message

The content of your book must align with the category selected during submission.

Submission Format

Please submit a completed PDF version of your book, including both front and back covers.

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Alignment with Nautilus Values

Your book must reflect one or more of the four core values of the Nautilus Book Awards.

First-Time Submission

Books previously entered into the Nautilus Awards are ineligible. If special circumstances apply, please contact us for accommodation.

Note

We do not provide individual feedback on book evaluations.

Nautilus Values

  • Conscious and restorative earth practices

  • Wellness/love/beauty

  • Spiritual growth

  • Social change and Social justice

Nautilus Mission and Book Assessment

 

The core values of the Nautilus Mission play a significant role in the assessment process. Each Reviewer Team carefully considers these aspects when recommending Finalists for each category, and the Final Review Team references them to select outstanding books as Award Winners.

 

While a book does not need to embody all four qualities of the Mission to win an award, books that are infused with two or more of these values typically receive higher ratings.

 

Our dedicated Reviewers focus on recognizing books that radiate care, hope, collaboration, and creativity—qualities that help bring more love into the world. We take pride in celebrating the authors who share these values with their readers!

 

For an overview of past award-winning books, visit our Nautilus Winners pages and the Winners Archive

DURING EACH SEASON, WE ACCEPT ENTRIES IN 35+ GENRE CATEGORIES.

We accept entries in 35 subject categories (a few with A and B segments and Special Focused Topics see Categories webpage, and 8 of those categories are for Children, Mid-Grade Teens, and Young Adults.

We accept Entries from Self-publishers, Small Presses (2- 10 Titles annually and from multiple authors), Hybrid-publishers, and traditional Larger publishers (more than ten books annually) in the English language.

Each year the Nautilus Book Awards presents honorary awards that we acknowledge and recognize in a variety of categories depending on the books submitted in the season.

Please note: A book cannot be entered for these Special Honors.  All qualified, paid submissions become candidates for the "Best of and/or Special Focused Topics..." awards.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTRY

for eligible Nautilus Entries

We have an online Submission Process whereby each Entrant completes their registration with our online form and submits payment via credit card. During submission, you will be asked to upload a digital copy of your book (with front/ back cover or dust jacket image/s).

**Please note that a physical copy is needed in addition to a PDF for categories 09, 21, 30 A&B, and 31 A&B.

Entry Fees and Deadlines

  • Early Bird Entry: $95 (Available from September 1st to November 30th)

  • Regular Entry: $130 (From December 1st to February 1st, the final submission deadline)

 

Additional Categories:
There is an additional fee for each additional category entered (up to a maximum of 4 categories per book). $50 (Early Bird Entry) and $75 (Regular Entry)

 

Payment Methods:
All payments must be made via Credit or Debit Card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

There are 4 simple steps that the online process will guide you through:

1. Your Book Details                         3. Upload your PDFs
2. Send Your Books                           4. Entry Fee and Payment

We thank you for considering the Nautilus Book Awards for your treasured books!

Please click the link below to enter our 2025 Season.

How Winners Are Selected

As the Nautilus Book Awards launches its newest season, the program offers authors and publishers an opportunity for success for their books as they are reviewed, evaluated, and acknowledged in a different way than they were when they were newly released into the marketplace.

The Nautilus Awards has a three-tier system judging process that offers a course of examination and scrutiny designed to sort and distinguish books as they are assessed against a prepared list of notable characteristics. This process is detailed and labor-intensive. It is carried out by three teams of qualified and experienced reviewers. Their experiences in careers as editors, writers, librarians, schoolteachers, parents, psychologists, health professionals, poets, and bookstore owners are matched with a passion for books that offer new ideas and options for a better world for everyone. We honor these special people for their dedication and commitment to the Nautilus Awards program.

Each book is evaluated by at least two reviewers at each phase of our review process. Silver Winners are nominated from each category by the readers of Team #2, and these titles are then passed along to the Final Review team where the Silver, Gold, and Grand Winners are chosen.  For many reasons (after 24 years) we have decided to accept digital/eBook copies (PDF preferred) of printed books this year. For specific categories (09 - Gift & Specialty; 21- Photography & Arts; 30A/B Childrens Picture Non & Fiction 2-6yrs;  and 31A/B- Childrens Illustrated Non & Fiction 6-9yrs) we also request one (1) printed copy be mailed to our US office, in addition to the digital copy. 

This is a multifaceted process that is carefully monitored. Each reviewer uses our prepared Evaluation Form for assessing each book, assigning individual scores to a long list of parameters that will produce the rating for each book, as well as qualitative comments. Two reviewers must agree on each Silver nominee. Consensus is also required at the Final Review team (third level) for selecting the Silver, Gold, and Grand Award Winners.

In most instances, this process creates several Silver and one Gold winner in every category.  However, because our reviewers work from a rating system that requires a certain score to achieve the status of a Nautilus Silver or Gold winner, in some years we do not have a Gold Winner in a category, or at times only one or two Silver Winners.  This same system of rating also allows the Final Review team, at their discretion in special cases, to award two books with equal ratings for a Gold Award. For books with unusually exceptional high ratings, a Grand Winner may be selected from the areas of Adult – Children/Mid-Grade/Young Adult – plus "Best of..." awards for Self Published, and Small Press. In addition to the Nautilus Seal for Grand Prize-Winning book, the Grand Winner is awarded a cash prize.

Each of our reviewers and judges has been through our in-depth training program that addresses all phases of reviewing and evaluating Nautilus books. Each reviewer has been carefully interviewed, is required to attend our annual Reader's Workshop (or tutorial session online), and is paid an honorarium stipend for their participation in the assessment process.

We have developed our review process over the past twenty-three years, and continue to expand and improve our parameters and our system of evaluation. It is our purpose and intent to seek, review, identify, and celebrate books that we feel best support the co-creation of a Better World.  Our goal is to offer life-affirming options with imagination and possibility to a world that longs for a new story.

We appreciate the opportunity to honor and celebrate literary and heartfelt contributions to spiritual growth, green values, wellness, responsible leadership, social change and social justice, art, creativity, and inspiration.
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rev: Jan. 2024

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