ABSTRACT
Publishers need to consider the awards process as a marketing expense and evaluate the costs and benefits appropriately, as they would with any other marketing expense. It is increasingly evident that the issue of publishing and prizing is scarcely one of purely esoteric or secondary consideration. This chapter proposes a set of check-list items that may guide a publisher in making a reasoned decision as to whether or not to honor a particular request. Is the organization making the book request an international, national, regional, or even local group. Is the organization making the book request in an area in which the publishing firm has a critical mass of titles? Is the organization careful to spell out the terms and conditions of the particular award, so that the publisher knows if a particular entry is appropriate? The final point that needs to be made is that publishers should look carefully at the age of an award.
