In less than a month the Children's Book Council will be naming their shortlist for the book of the year awards. From a publisher's point of view, this is the time of year where we hold our breath and hope. The CBC awards are the only children's books awards in Australia that cause books to be sold. I cannot wait for this to change, for the Inkys and the premiers' awards to gain traction. In a market that is small and extremely talented, many writers who deserve to be on the CBC list don't make it, and every year this is pretty much heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, there are two things I'd love to see in the CBC awards: a category for debut authors—so books like Notes from the Teenage Underground don't get pushed aside—and for the non-fiction to be divided into age ranges, as the fiction is, so picture books aren't competing with upper-YA.
Good luck to everyone on April 12. I will be forgetting to breathe.
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